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Historical links and information about Pittsfield Massachusetts

My Pierce ancestors first came to Pittsfield in ~1848 and that has lead to much “research” into their lives and has revealed many interesting facts about Pittsfield’s past. My grandfather, Samuel Newton Nicholls, came to Pittsfield ~1904 from Caistor Centre Ontario Canada and the Agricultural College in Ames Iowa at invitation by John Buckler to work on the Blythewood Estate on Churchill Street. He then went to work on Tor Court, the Salisbury Estate, as the Estate Manager/Superintendent and lived in the farmhouse on that estate.

I dedicate this website to my ancestors who graduated from Pittsfield High School
My Great Grandfather, William Alton Pierce, Class of 186x (more research needed), and his siblings of that era.
My Grandmother Clara Winthrop Pierce, Class of 1901, and her siblings of that era.
My Father, George Alton Nicholls, PHS Class of 1940

List of PHS graduates from 1870 thru 1906 - Here

1908 post card “Pittsfield in the near Future"
Pittsfield MA Massachusetts History
Last edited Wednesday, January 04, 2023
Back home: http://www.phs1968.com
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Pittsfield and Berkshire County History

Some early books found on line documenting Pittsfield’s early beginnings.

LARGE collection of Pittsfield and Berkshire postcards linked below.

Also included below are recent photo essays of downtown Pittsfield events.

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But first, I am searching for Pittsfield Directories which were published every year back into the 1800s.  Appearance similar to this one from 1936:

Please contact me here

Interesting period 1964 Pittsfield Directory similar to above (Manning) sections as pdf files:
Advertising - here - Street listings - here

1923-1925 directory of South Berkshire County - here

Also looking for information about the Old Elm Baseball Team. My GGrandfather William Alton (Joe?) Pierce played starting around 1869. Some history of the Old Elm baseball team:

1859 First Intercollegiate baseball game played at North and Maplewood in Pittsfield. Williams vs. Amherst. Amherst wins in 26 innings, score 73-32.

1862 Elms Base Ball Club founded in Pittsfield.

1865 African-American second baseman, Ulysses F. “Frank” Grant, born in Pittsfield. (Nominated for the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006) Grant is the most prominent and successful Black player on integrated teams before leaving to join the Negro League.

1872 Pittsfield Old Elms team re-formed. They win over 80% of their games before disbanding in 1892. They lose 65-19 to the Cincinatti Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team in history.

At one time the Old Elm baseball club had a field on one of the corners of Maplewood Ave and First St (North First Street at that time I believe it was called).

My GGrandfather W. A. Pierce won (inscribed): "Prize Bat awarded to "Joe" Pierce for best score in the match Old Elm vs. Woronoco May 18th (18)69 Score 46 to 7"
This bat has been accepted and donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, almost 150 years after it was awarded. It survived in the family all those years.

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The Online Books Page, list of books pertaining to Berkshire County that are available online - here (added March 2, 2014)
Many of the books downloadable below are available at this link, and more!

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Maps of the City of Pittsfield taken from city directories 1894 1949 1953 1958 1961 1965
Thanks to my PHS 1968 classmate David Ingram for preparing and scanning these maps with his access to a large scale scanner! (added May 10, 2019)
These files require downloading and viewing on your computer using an image viewing application.

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Municipal Registers of the City of Pittsfield 1895 1898 1900 (links to Google Books) interesting information about Pittsfield and the various schools. The PDF files below are mostly from Google Books but cannot all be found there now or are hard to locate there.
Link to Google Books search for these Registers - Here
They aren't in chronological order, however.

Link to the Hathi Trust collection of these Registers is - Here
This location provides an excellent viewing and text conversion system.

Note that the 1899 and 1902 Municipal Registers are full of very interesting information concerning the Pittsfield roads and sewer system, in addition to Schools!

Municipal Registers of the City of Pittsfield and City Reports available on this website as pdf files for download:
1882
1892 alone 1892+1893 1893 alone 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
1920 1921 1922

Pittsfield Annual Report - 1942 (added 12-25-2022, Thanks to Anita Norton)

Pittsfield Annual Report - 1952 (added 12-25-2022, Thanks to Anita Norton)

Pittsfield City Report - Bicentennial Issue (1761-1961) - here (added June 7, 2015)

Pittsfield Massachusetts - Know Your City 1969 - League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire
Illustrated by Nancy E. Bookless - 1969 (added 1-4-2023, Thanks to Anita Norton)

New Additions - Nov 26, 2019:
1882
1894 1896 1897 1899
1903
1913 1917
1893 was in the same PDF as 1892 all along. I will work to separate them.
1910 added February 20, 2021. 1919 still eludes me!
There is much interesting information about Pittsfield in general and the various schools in these books.
The 1902 registry has information of the sewage treatment system at the time.

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1898 was the first year of Pittsfield High School on the Common and the above registers of that period have much information about the building and its construction. Sounds grand! See links below to my historical information of the schools and particularly PHS on the Common, below.

My grandmother graduated from Pittsfield High School (on First/Second Street, the Common) class of 1901,
my father the class of 1940 from Pittsfield High School on East Street (opened Fall of 1931).
I graduated from the Pittsfield High School class of 1968 during double sessions.
Note: Charles White Whittlesey of the "Lost Battalion" in WW1 was in my grandmother's class of 1901 here at PHS. He lived at 38 Pomeroy Avenue. That house still exists.
I will be posting the extensive Berkshire Eagle account of the graduation of the class of 1901.

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If you want to learn the history of the old neighborhood schools in Pittsfield you should study these links.
Further information is included in the other yearly Municipal Reports available above from this website also.

Pittsfield Schools 1897, as part of the Municipal Register of the City of Pittsfield, 1898 - Here
Includes photos of the old PHS on the Common taken in 2011- Here

Pittsfield Schools 1900+, as part of the Municipal Registers of the City of Pittsfield, 1901 thru 1909 - Here
Many photos, will take a while to load

Pittsfield Schools 1922, as part of the Municipal Register of the City of Pittsfield, 1922 - Here
Amazing details of Pittsfield and the Schools 1922 - searchable (using Ctrl-F)
PHS on Second Street is already deemed obsolete after only 24 years in use.

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In 1854 Mr. J.E.A. Smith assumed under Henry Chickering the editorship of the Berkshire County Eagle and held it until 1865. In September, 1866, he began to write his "History of Pittsfield".

The work owed its inception to a speech made in town meeting by Thomas Allen, and the town in August, 1866, voted its first appropriation for the cost of preparing a local history, to be expended by a committee headed by Thomas Colt. To this task, under the general direction of the town's committee, Mr. Smith devoted nine laborious years. His first volume was published in 1869, his second in 1876, In Pittsfield homes the books shall always be his honored monument.

The "History of Pittsfield" is, of course, the chief product of Mr. Smith's talent and industry, but he made valuable historical and biographical contributions to many works, notably to the "History of Berkshire", published in 1885. He published in Pittsfield in 1895 a little volume which he called "Souvenir Verse and Story", and somewhat earlier a brochure of Berkshire reminiscences of Oliver Wendell Holmes, entitled "The Poet Among the Hills". His pen found frequent employment in the local press, because of his peculiar knowledge of local men and affairs. On October twenty-ninth, 1896, he died at Pittsfield.

His old age was shadowed by care and poverty, for in business affairs he was an infant, and he was at the last a somewhat pathetic figure—bent, gray-faced, moving absent-mindedly through the streets with a little basket of books and papers on his trembling arm. Everybody in Berkshire knew him but he had few intimates, and these discovered in him strange, harmless peculiarities of social and religious belief. A sweetly-tempered and courteous man, he could be excited to surprising wrath by that which he judged to be bigotry or injustice; nevertheless in what he wrote there was never harshness, and he was by mental habit a searcher for the best in humankind. To the loveliness of nature he responded as if to music, and in his last years he retained for it the passionate affection of his youth. The grateful hills of Berkshire can smile upon no man's grave more tenderly than upon his.

("The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year 1876 to the year 1916" by Boltwood, Edward, 1870-1924, pg 316-317)

“The History of Pittsfield (Berkshire County) Massachusetts, from the year 1734 to the year 1800"
Compiled and written, under general direction of a committee, by J.E.A. Smith.
45MegaBytes PDF file (searchable), please download and save to your hard drive! -
here and here
Click on the link and once the file is downloaded to your computer you can save it to your hard drive. If you download this pdf file to your computer (right-click on the link and then save-target-as) you can search the document for key words using ctrl-f

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“The History of Pittsfield (Berkshire County) Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876"
Compiled and written, under general direction of a committee, by J.E.A. Smith.
45MegaBytes PDF file (searchable), please download and save to your hard drive! -
here
Go to page 361 for a very interesting story of one distant branch on my family tree, the Butlers.
Butler Lumber then Berkshire Lumber. Mayor Butler...

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“History of the Town of Pittsfield in Berkshire County Mass.” 1844

By Rev. David D. Field, formerly pastor of the Congregational Church in Stockbridge, 1844 - 90 pages
I highly recommend reading this book. It is short and a good read for those with some knowledge of Pittsfield early history.

(5MegaBytes, please download and save to your hard drive!) - here or b&w version: here

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

Edward Boltwood - Pittsfield (Mass.) - 1916 - 387 pages

(21MegaBytes, please download and save to your hard drive!) - here

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“The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts: from the year 1916 to the year 1955”

George F. Willison - Pittsfield (Mass.) - 1957 - 558 pages

(38MegaBytes, please download and save to your hard drive!) - here

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"Gazetteer of Berkshire County Mass 1725-1885" compiled and published by Hamilton Child 62MB PDF file (searchable), please download and save to your hard drive! - here

in the above document, starting on page 421 is "Business Directory of Berkshire County Mass. 1884-1885" published by Hamilton Child which is similar to the Pittsfield directories listing all inhabitants of the various Berkshire towns

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Pittsfield 1859 business directory here as page images. This book contains a short history of the area
Downloadable as a .PDF file with an index to names and businesses - here

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"The Book of Berkshire" by Clark W. Bryan published in 1886, "For the Season of 1887 "describing and illustrating its hills and homes and telling where they are, what they are and why they are destined to become the most charming and desirable summer homes in America" - here 14MB, searchable.
Do not miss this! Includes a fantastic assortment of advertising!
I think this and the next book are the same, different PDF format.

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"The Book of Berkshire" by Clark W. Bryan published in 1887 "describing and illustrating its hills and homes and telling where they are, what they are and why they are destined to become the most charming and desirable summer homes in America" - here 22MB, searchable.
Do not miss this! Includes a fantastic assortment of advertising!
I think this and the previous book are the same, different PDF format.

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The outcome of a thorough revision and re-writing of The Book of Berkshire, originally published in 1886, is A New Book of Berkshire for 1890.
"The New Book of Berkshire" by Clark W. Bryan
"… describing and illustrating its hills and homes and telling where they are, what they are and why they are destined to become the most charming and desirable summer homes in America" - here 19MB, searchable.
Do not miss this! Includes a fantastic assortment of advertising! - added March 1, 2014

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Yet another "Book of Berkshire Papers by its Historical and Scientific Society" published by the society. Pittsfield Mass. Press of the Sun Printing Company. 1889

PREFATORY NOTE.

The Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society is glad to present to the public for the second time some of the results of its past and present work in the pamphlet now in the hands of the reader.

here 10MB, searchable.

added October 15, 2018

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“Streets, Public Buildings and General Views of Pittsfield Mass” published in 1886 by O.J.Copeland & Co. - here
Wonderful photographs of the period!  (4MB)

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“Picturesque Berkshire” published in 1893 - here  (56MB) a rare find!

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Amazing addition provided by Joe Stergis
“Industrial Edition of the  Evening Eagle Illustrating Pittsfield and Dalton Mass in the year 1897”
published in 1897 - here (21MB)

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“History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men”
Volumes 1+2 combined, published in 1885
(500MB! may take 15 or more minutes to download) - here

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Catholic Pittsfield and Berkshire - Katherine F Mullaney - 1897 - here
Pittsfield History, Pittsfield Irish History and more!
An amazing piece of work, worthy of anyone's perusal. added August 16, 2020

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“Biographical Review Volume XXXI - Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Berkshire County Massachusetts” published in 1899 (60MB) - here

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“Lenox and the Berkshire Highlands” published in 1902 - here

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“Pittsfield - The Gem City of Berkshire” printed in 1905 for the Berkshire Life Insurance Company (there is a somewhat newer edition of this same title) - here

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Berkshire history with stories about the people behind the street and school names:
“Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Berkshire County Massachusetts, volume 1” - Edited by Rollin Hillyer Cooke (Genealogist, Author of " Picturesque Berkshire County," Member of the Berkshire County Historical and Scientific Society, and Secretary of the Berkshire County Chapter, Massachusetts Society, Sons of the American Revolution.) - 1906
15 megabytes, please download and save locally! searchable, added March 1, 2014

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Berkshire history with stories about the people behind the street and school names:
“Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Berkshire County Massachusetts, volume 2" - Edited by Rollin Hillyer Cooke (Genealogist, Author of " Picturesque Berkshire County," Member of the Berkshire County Historical and Scientific Society, and Secretary of the Berkshire County Chapter, Massachusetts Society, Sons of the American Revolution.)” - 1906
36 megabytes, please download and save locally! searchable, added March 1, 2014

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The Story of the Wollison family, who built and lived in the Octagon house on Union Street and built their building on North Street - here

added January 17, 2022

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In the 1908 For Sale adv. Abby Lodge (located on Holmes Road across from Arrowhead, purchased from the Cooley (in that timeframe Abby Lodge house burned down) estate by Dr. Eugene Brielman and currently in the family) was part of Meadow Farm, Walter Cutting's estate/farm that was located where Miss Hall's School is now. That estate house burned and a new fireproof building stands in that location.
Correct spelling is Abby, for Richard Lathers' wife's name. Eugene Brielman built the present house across from Arrowhead where Abby Lodge once stood using parts of a deconstructed Crane mansion in Dalton.
Ownership of Abby Lodge: Lathers (original), Cutting, Cooley, Brielman.
Richard Lathers' Brother-in-law was Allan Melville of Arrowhead, across the street.

"REMINISCENCES OF RICHARD LATHERS" (published 1907)
(Sixty years of a busy life in South Carolina, Massachusetts and New York)
Edited by Alvan F. Sanborn - here - Berkshire memories start on page 361
Much information of the day in Pittsfield, particularly concerning Abby Lodge on Holmes Road, which Richard Lathers built.
PDF file, 9MB Searchable added November 12, 2018

If you are a Civil War buff, this book will be of interest.

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A Century and a Half of Pittsfield Massachusetts - 1761-1911
July 2, 3, 4, 1911 Official Souvenir - here
A fantastic journey thru Pittsfield's early history
Photos and History added August 16, 2020

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"HISTORICAL PAPER Prepared and Read by Honorable Allen H. Bagg Mayor of Pittsfield
at the DEDICATION OF THE HOME of the WOMEN’S CLUB OF PITTSFIELD"
42 Wendell Avenue Thursday Evening September 16, 1937 - here added April 14, 2019

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Pittsfield Almshouse 1897 (the City Farm, located where BCC is now) - here added March 21, 2017

Pittsfield Almshouse 1900 (the City Farm, located where BCC is now) - here added March 21, 2017

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Photos of Pittsfield High School on Second Street (1898-1931) taken in 2011 and more recently.
Some supporting photos added - here

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Pittsfield Directory 1908 advertisements - here added January 5, 2014

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Official Automobile Blue Book 1917 (has some references to Pittsfield and environs, 142Mb) - here added February 1, 2018

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New American House photos and newspaper clippings, 1900-1937 - here added June 16, 2019

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The Berkshire Hills - here added June 30, 2019
Compiled and Written by
Members of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts
Sponsored by the BERKSHIRE HILLS CONFERENCE, Inc.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1939
Fascinating presentation and photographs!

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Pittsfield City Report - Bicentennial Issue (1761-1961) - here added June 7, 2015

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Photos of the Pittsfield Baseball Glove Sculptures - 2006

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Downtown Pittsfield, May - 2007

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History of Miss Hall's School, Spring 2008 Bulletin (page 12) - 2008

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Berkshire Park, Aero Park and the Old Elm by Susanlyn Fish - here
Please everyone read this, particularly the information of the Old Elm!!

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Pittsfield Memories slideshow from Jim Shulman - here Enjoy and make comments!

Pittsfield Busses - remember the Blue Busses? from Jim Shulman - here

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Pittsfield Memories from Jim Pivero - here Enjoy and make comments!

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Interesting Pittsfield tidbits concerning Pittsfield and the Berkshire Brewery Association here, here and here (the 3rd one I found March 2014)
and Marshall Field info - here
Did you know that Marshall Field got his retailing start at England Brothers (turns out not to be true)?
Why were the following Pittsfied-odeons in his will (1906-07-19)?

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Is Pittsfield on the map? Thoughts from Jim(my) Shulman
Pittsfield Carousel project (remember the Merry-Go-Round at Pontoosuc lake?) is working on a Carousel for downtown Pittsfield!
Carousel event May 3, 2008

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"A tiny graveyard on the western slope of Lebanon Mountain, tucked away just off Route 20 in Bates Memorial State Park, remains as a very obscure local reminder of the legacy of the Bates family for whom the park is named, and a physical window into the curious story of the mammoth obelisk that very nearly got built there. It contains only a few simple headstones, clustered around a six foot tall granite cross marking the grave of Lindon W. Bates Jr. The cross bears the inscription "Le vrai caractere perce toujours dans le grandes circonstances, true character always shows through in great circumstances."  from article linked below by Joe Durwin, joe@durwin.net

Don't miss these articles in the Berkshire Eagle by Bernard Drew here and here

Graves of the Bates family on top of Lebanon Mountain, South side of Route 20.
Fascinating information, overview of The Missing 'Monument to Sacrifice' here,
William here,  Lindon Jr. here and here

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Interesting historical tidbits at Greener Pasture - Here

Berkshires Historical Photos/Postcards - Here
THOUSANDS of them!!

History of Elmwood Court, corner of Bartlett Ave and Broad St - Here

Pittsfield 250 anniversary articles relating to the schools - Here

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If you want to learn the history of the old neighborhood schools in Pittsfield you should study these links.
Further information is included in the other yearly Municipal Reports available from this website also.

Pittsfield Schools 1897, as part of the Municipal Register of the City of Pittsfield, 1898 - Here
Includes photos of the old PHS on the Common taken in 2011- Here

Pittsfield Schools 1900, as part of the Municipal Register of the City of Pittsfield, 1901 - Here
Many photos, will take a while to load

Pittsfield Schools 1922, as part of the Municipal Register of the City of Pittsfield, 1922 - Here
Amazing details of Pittsfield and the Schools 1922 - searchable (using Ctrl-F)
PHS on Second Street is already deemed obsolete after only 24 years in use.

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Soldiers' Memorial in Park Square history and original dedication information here it was restored and rededicated in 2013

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Rensselaer County NY documents:

One branch of my ancestry comes from Petersburgh NY, over the state line and up Rt 22 from Pittsfield

1870-1871 Gazetteer and Business Directory of Rensselaer County NY - here(pdf)

www.phs1968.com Home

Photographs:

Pittsfield Schools

Berkshires Historical Photos

Website courtesy of Clark W. Nicholls, PHS 1968 CWNicholls@aol.com

History of Pittsfield High School and other school buildings 1900 - here.
Information and photos of all the schools back then!!

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