Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Old Farmhouse North of Onota, (Built 1777)

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Van Sicklers Mill, 1906

The cotton factory, erected in 1832 a short distance south of the Elm Street bridge and near the site of the first mill dam built in the town, was owned in 1876 by Martin Van Sickler. He died in 1891, having long outlived his once prosperous enter-prise.

The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year 1876 to the year 1916

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Berkshire Life Insurance Building

Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building is a historic commercial building at 5-7 North Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is located in the heart of downtown Pittsfield, facing Park Square across North Street. Built in 1868, it is one of a trio of Second Empire buildings designed by Louis Weisbsein, a Boston architect, whose style influenced later construction in the city. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. wikipedia

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

1890 Parade down North Street

Berkshire Athenaeum

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Central Fire Station

The present central fire station, of brick, facing the head of School Street, was erected in 1895, and
after the dedication of the building, on September twenty-fourth of that year, all divisions of the Pittsfield fire department were, for the first time in its history, suitably housed.

The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year 1876 to the year 1916 by Edward Boltwood

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Hotel Wendell, 1898

Located right in the heart of downtown Pittsfield, it opened in 1898 to much fanfare, with dignitaries including Lieutenant Governor Winthrop M. Crane, the paper magnate from nearby Dalton who later served as governor and US senator. It was designed by local architect H. Neill Wilson, in a Renaissance Revival style that was fairly common for hotels at the turn of the century, and included 110 guest rooms and a 250-seat dining room. At the time, Pittsfield was the urban center of the Berkshires, the Gilded Age playground of New York’s rich and famous, and a hotel here was a wise investment...

However, the Hotel Wendell was peaking just as inner-city hotels were about to enter a precipitous decline. The Great Depression had just started and World War II would soon follow, and after the war automobiles and interstate highways drew business away from city centers. Pittsfield, once an important stop on the way from Boston to Albany and points west, was completely bypassed by the Massachusetts Turnpike, which opened in 1956, more than 10 miles to the south.

The Hotel Wendell closed in 1965, and was demolished soon after... lostnewengland.com

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

North Street, Pittsfield, Mass.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Pontoosuc Lake, Pittsfield, Mass.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Maplewood Hotel. Pittsfield, Mass.

What began as the Maplewood Institute, a school for girls, was transformed into the Maplewood Hotel in 1887, three years after the school closed. The hotel could not survive the Great Depression, and it was sold at a bankruptcy auction in 1936. lostnewengland.com

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

First Baptist Church

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

East Street

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

High School

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

House of Mercy Hospital

The history of what would become Berkshire Medical Center begins with the House of Mercy. In the 1860's, Dr. Henry H. Childs witnessed poverty and suffering in his clinics and saw the need for a hospital in Pittsfield. The Reverend John Todd, pastor of the First Congregational Church, called for a refuge for sick and poor, or a "House of Mercy." In September of 1874 $5,874.22 was raised at a community bazaar. The eight bed House of Mercy was located at 214 Francis Avenue and opened January 1, 1875, becoming the first house-based hospital in the United States. In its first year the House of Mercy treated over 20 patients. Two years later, when it had outgrown its initial building and moved to a new larger structure at First, North and Tyler Streets, 34 patients were cared for in its thirteen beds.

The House of Mercy took pride in keeping up with new inventions of the day. The first telephone was installed in 1879, a horse drawn ambulance was donated in 1891, and in 1906 an x-ray apparatus was installed. In 1889, the Henry W. Bishop III Memorial building was built across the street from the hospital, doubling its capacity and providing a home for the Bishop Memorial School of Nursing. The House of Mercy was expanded again in 1932 when the Edward A. Jones Memorial wing was dedicated and opened to the public.

In 1949 the House of Mercy was renamed Pittsfield General Hospital. A new seven-level, 245-bed hospital was opened in 1962.

berkshirehealthsystems.org

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Court House, 1905

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Crane Museum, 1905

In 1903, Berkshire Museum founder Zenas Crane, inspired by such institutions as the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, decided to blend the best attributes of these establishments in a new museum for the people of Western Massachusetts. Thanks in large part to Crane’s efforts, the broad and varied collections of Berkshire Museum include objects from virtually every continent, from important fine art and sculpture to natural science specimens and ancient artifacts.

As the third-generation owner of Crane & Company, a paper manufacturer that was (and continues to be) the official supplier of paper to the U.S. Treasury, Crane invested his wealth in his community. He actively sought out art and artifacts for Berkshire Museum, and encouraged the development of collections that would bring home to the Berkshires a wide cross-section of the world’s wonders. Berkshire Museum became a “window on the world.”... berkshiremuseum.org

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Former Home of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1906

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Briggs School

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Pittsfield, Mass. The Heart of the Berkshires

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Berkshire County Jail

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

North Street from Hotel Wendell, 1908

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

The Athenaeum

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Entrance to Cemetery and Mortuary Chapel

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

City Hall & St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Dalton Ave., looking East

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Old Ladies Home

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Longfellow House, East Street

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Post Office, 1910

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Boston & Albany Railroad Depot, 1910

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Bel Air Dam

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Residence of Mr. Bishop

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Colonial Theatre

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

St. Joseph's R.C. Church and Convent

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

A Bit of Lake Morrwood

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Notre Dame Church

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Onota Lake

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

St. Charles Church and Rectory

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

St. Stephens Church

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

East Street, showing city Hall, St. Stevens' Church, Berkshire County Savings Bank and Berkshire Life Insurance Building

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Greetings from Pittsfield, Mass.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

North St., showing Y.M.C.A. Building

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

First Congregational Church

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

The New American Hotel

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Stanley Electric

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

West Street from Park

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Agricultural National Bank

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

North Street from Americn Hotel

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

South St. from Park Square, Pittsfield, MA - 1916

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Masonic Temple, 1917

On South Street the Masonic Temple was built in 1912, at a construction cost of about $50,000, and devoted to the uses of the Masonic fraternity.

The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year 1876 to the year 1916 by Edward Boltwood

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Savings Bank

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Y.M.C.A.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

Union Station

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA (Coltsville)

In the Berkshire Hills