Western Gateway Heritage State Park occupied a former railroad freight yard in North Adams, Massachusetts, and centered on the history of the Hoosac Tunnel and the railroad that reshaped the city. North Adams had long been isolated by surrounding mountains, but rail ambitions in the 19th century sought to connect western Massachusetts with eastern New York. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad, chartered in 1848, made the town a key point on that route, and the yard became the eastern terminus of service to Troy in 1859. Before the tunnel opened in 1875, it served as both freight and passenger depot, helping bind North Adams more closely to the region.

North Adams, Massachusetts · USA