A Look Back, June 27

50 Years Ago

■The Northampton DPW has just completed its first week of spraying the residential areas of the city with pyrethrin, an insecticide made from chrysanthemums, and so far it has received no complaints. The spraying is done from 7 to 12 p.m.

■The Northampton Conservation Commission last night voted to request an impact study of the proposed nuclear power plant in Montague. Commissioners agreed to send a letter to Gov. Francis W. Sargent asking that a review be undertaken to measure the economic, social, health and environmental impact of the proposed plant.

25 Years Ago

■Firefighters were working late into the night Friday trying to extinguish an underground fire spread over eight acres of the Holyoke Range off Chmura Road. The fire was first spotted Thursday afternoon by rangers stationed at a Pelham fire tower and has been difficult to control because it has been smoldering 12 inches below the surface and erupting randomly.

■Northampton High School students will head to Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School for gym this fall, after trustees voted last week to share the school’s athletic facilities while the high school renovation project is under way.

10 Years Ago

■After hearing a request to paint a red, white and blue crosswalk downtown, several members of the Board of Public Works conceded Wednesday that they opened Pandora’s box when they approved a rainbow crosswalk in May. Katherine Osborne has suggested adding the patriotic palette to the Main Street crosswalk between Pulaski Park and the corner of Masonic Street as a way to honor veterans, especially since Memorial Hall and the war memorials are nearby.

■Smith College is selling a house on its campus for $1 but there’s a catch. The house must be moved once it is purchased, and that may cost up to $70,000. The house at 65 Paradise Road, built in 1860, was used as rental housing for faculty until the college decided to build new apartment-style student housing where the house and several other structures now stand.