Amherst College: Founded in 1821, Amherst has been one of the most exclusive liberal arts colleges in America since its earliest days, having taught (amongst others) President Calvin Coolidge, preacher Henry Ward Beecher, Prince Albert II of Monaco, novelist David Foster Wallace, and Raymond Teller (of Penn & Teller)

Hampshire College: Founded in 1970 by the other members of the Five Colleges (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass), Hampshire is America's preeminent "alternative college" and maintains a large, farm-like campus that includes the Eric Carle Museum and the National Yiddish Book Center, amongst other sites

University of Massachusetts: Founded in 1863 and popularly known as "UMass," UMass-Amherst is the flagship university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is home to approximately 25,000 students who make up a huge portion of the small town's population

Emily Dickinson Museum: Made up of two distinct homes – the Dickinson Homestead, the birthplace and childhood home of the poet and the site where her poems were discovered after her death, and the Evergreens, which was built by Dickinson's father

W. E. B. Du Bois Library: Located at UMass, the library is the tallest library in the U.S., standing tall at 26 stories and 297 feet (90.5m), and is the focal point of the UMass campus

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art: Located at the Hampshire College campus, the Carle Museum is dedicated to showcasing art from picture books, particularly children's books, such as those that Eric Carle himself has published

Theodore Baird Residence: Built in 1940 and located on Shays Street, the Baird Residence is the only building in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright

Amherst Amtrak Station: Located on the Vermonter line of Amtrak, the Amherst station is one of the best examples of a small-town train station still in use, serving less than forty passengers a day on average on its one platform stop