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Pittsfield, Massachusetts | |
| Founded as Pontoosuck Plantation in 1753, Pittsfield was later renamed in honor of British Prime Minister William Pitt, who championed the colonists’ cause before the American Revolution. | ||
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by Tom Brosnahan |
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Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the largest city in the Berkshire Hills (population 45,000), is the governmental, commercial and transportation center of Berkshire County. Located 136 miles (219 km) west of Boston, 40 miles southeast of Albany NY, and 151 miles (243 km) north of New York City (map), it is easily reached by interstate highways, train and bus. More... For people living in the Berkshires, Pittsfield is the county seat, the town with the largest shopping centers, the most important court houses, the Amtrak train station and regional bus service, and other important services. For visitors, it offers the Berkshire Museum, the splendid old Colonial Theaterand newer Berkshire Theater Group, the best selection of budget- and medium-priced hotels in the Berkshires and, on its outskirts, Hancock Shaker Village. Pittsfield has an interesting history. Water power from the many creeks flowing into the Housatonic River brought commerce and industry, helping Pittsfield to grow into the largest town in the Berkshire Hills. The Merino sheep brought from Spain in 1807 provided the raw material to make Pittsfield the center of woolen manufacturing in the United States. In 1891 Pittsfield electrical entrepreneur William Stanley produced the first electric transformer, giving birth to a company later to be known as General Electric. As with so many New England towns, changing trade and commerce patterns took away many of Pittsfield's sources of wealth later in the 20th century, so the city redefined itself as the commercial and cultural center of the Berkshires, although the large SABIC Innovative Plastics factory on the east side of the city still provides many jobs. The historical contrast between Pittsfield, a typical New England town of creative, hard-working, innovative, striving commercial men and women, and the retiring, thrifty, artistic, religious, abstemious folk of Hancock Shaker Village is striking. More....
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South Street and North
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