Vinal Babeu and Sophraine Adam brought their family to North Adams, Massachusetts from Champlain, New York after 1870. Their son Vinal Babeu married Maria Zephryn Hebert. Vinal Babeu and Maria Zephryn Hebert's son Rodolphe was born in North Adams, MA in 1894. He and Rose Belanger were married there in 1917.

North Adams, 1881

At the time of their marriage, Rodolphe was living at 74 Cleveland Avenue. His father, Vinal Babeu lived there the rest of his life. Below is how the house looked in October, 2000.

Linda, Jamey & Emily at 74 Cleveland Ave., North Adams (2000)

Rose Belanger's father Frank Belanger was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The caption for the picture below of the Mohawk trail says that it stretches from North Adams to Greenfield.

Mohawk Trail, 1910

Leo Babeu was born in February 1924 on Gallup Street. Below is Gallup Street in October 2000.

 
Emily, Jamey & Linda on Gallup Street, North Adams (2000)

History of North Adams
(from North Adams Homepage)

The City of North Adams is sited in the valleys created by the confluence
of the north and south branches of the Hoosac River. It is an industrial
community with narrow twisting streets that climb steep hills. The river
valleys were known to be subject to flooding, so no large farming community was developed in the area, but the water power of the rivers was available for industry.

In 1760, the Commonwealth sold the area to three men if they would develop it. They did...with lumber mills exporting high quality pine boards, grist mills, blacksmith shop, fulling mill, cut nail makers, brickyards and
textile mills. Many settlers from Rhode Island with textile experience in
power looms moved to the town, aiding in the creation of its industrial
economy. Development, however, was slow because the town was cut off from the eastern portion of the state by the Hoosac Mountain Range and hampered by a lack of capital. In the late 1820's the first cotton print mill was established and in 1846 the first rail line to Pittsfield was opened.
Blast furnaces and shoes were manufactured in town and the Hoosac Tunnel, direct rail line between North Adams and Fitchburg, was begun in 1851 and completed in 1875 using the city as the headquarters for the tunnel operations.

The Civil War stimulated the shoe and textile operations and handsome Greek Revival, Second Empire, and Italianate homes remain as testimony to the fortunes that were made. The Blackinton Mansion, an outstanding example of Second Empire design, is now the city library. The growth of the mills led to development of the city as a regional commercial center in the
Berkshires. Residential neighborhoods began climbing the hills about 1850
and the city is now known for its decorated slate roofs and towers.
Mill owners built a large number of multi-family houses for their workers,
who were mainly immigrant French Canadians, Italians and Irish. By the
later 19th century, shoes and boots had grown to be more significant to
North Adam's economy than textiles. North Adams State College was
established in 1894 and Sprague Electrical Works moved to town in 1929.
North Adams is more diversified in modern times and much less of an
industrial community, with a major effort underway to create the largest
Museum of Modern Art in the country on a site in the community.

Main Street, North Adams, 1908

Church Street, North Adams, 1908

  
Massachusetts Seal

North Adams, MA