It was Miss Flo's that first drew my husband and me to the area of Northampton known as Florence. As diner aficionados, we were compelled to make the pilgrimage to the area's only 1930's barrel-roof Worcester dining car. There it stands, a commanding presence in the village center, its gaudy but loveable neon sign beckoning hungry travelers as it has since the establishment opened its doors in 1941. Miss Flo's is legendary (especially for its homemade pies), but as I've discovered, it's just one attraction in a place with a rich historical past and truly unique character.

Northampton was settled in 1654, but since Florence's history is so intertwined with that of its parent town, it's difficult to pinpoint its exact beginnings. From the start, though, it was industry that put the village on the map. In the 1830s, Florence became a major silk manufacturing center, an industry that was a mainstay of the area's economy for 100 years. The machine twist process developed by local manufacturer Samuel Hill enabled the Nonotuck Silk Company to fuel worldwide demand created by the newly invented sewing machine.

In 1842, a utopian community called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry was organized around Florence's communally owned silk mills. Members sought to create a society in which "the rights of all are equal without distinction of sex, color or condition, sect or religion." Many were followers of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, including Sojourner Truth, the former slave, who joined the community in 1843. When the association disbanded in 1846, Truth remained in Florence, buying a home on Park Street in which she lived until 1857. For the past few years, a hard-working committee has endured lengthy political wrangling and an extended fundraising drive to commission and erect a statue of Truth at the intersection of Pine and Park Streets in Florence. At long last, the unveiling is scheduled for spring 2002.

The anti-slavery movement espoused by the Northampton Association continued in Florence through the antebellum years, when several prominent businessmen offered up their homes and businesses as stops on the underground railroad.

But lest you think that Florence was all about politics and industry, the village had its amusements, too. 1865 saw the organization of the Florence Eagles, a baseball outfit recognized as Western Mass champions for their record of 53 wins, 7 losses in a three-year period. Another team, the Florence Braves, wowed audiences in the 1920s.

In 1930, Fannie Burr Look donated 150 acres in Florence to Northampton for the establishment of Look Park, a living memorial to her late husband Frank Newhall Look, chief executive of the Prophylactic Brush Company. Funded by a trust fund, visitors fees, grants and gifts (but no tax dollars), Look Park is a lovely public space, home to a summer concert series and other seasonal events.

While downtown Northampton has morphed from Hamp to Noho, modern day Florence has stayed true to its working class roots. Most of the major industry has gone, but in its place are artisans and organizations that have located in Florence as much for its neighborhood feel as its proximity to Noho. In the early 1990s, the old Florence Manufacturing Company on Pine Street was transformed into the Arts & Industry Building. One of the most successful examples of a rehabbed Massachusetts mill, the building currently houses more than 160 people working in light industry, commercial and arts and crafts operations. But businesses are tucked into buildings and homes all over Florence. It's an industrial Renaissance of sorts that ensures the future of this thriving village.

If you haven't explored Florence, I highly recommend it. Take a walk in Look Park. Join the morning regulars at Miss Flo's. Peruse the shelves of the Lilly Library. It's worth the trip to experience this different side of Northampton.

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