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PITTSFIELD

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 682 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PITTSFIELD , a See also:

city and the See also:county-seat of See also:Berkshire county, See also:Massachusetts, U.S.A., in the western See also:part of the See also:state among the Berkshire Hills, and about 150 M. W. of See also:Boston. Pop. (1890), 17,281; (1900), 21,766, of whom 4344 were See also:foreign-See also:born; (1910 See also:census), 7,2,121. See also:Area, about 41 50 M. It is served by the New See also:York, New Haven & See also:Hartford and the Boston & See also:Albany (New York Central & See also:Hudson See also:River) See also:railways, and by two inter-See also:urban electric lines. Pittsfield is a popular summer resort; it lies in a See also:plain about r000 ft. above See also:sea-level, is surrounded by the picturesque Berkshire Hills, and is situated in a region of numerous lakes, one of the largest—See also:Lake Pontoosuc —being a summer See also:pleasure resort. On either See also:side of the city flow the See also:east and See also:west branches of the Housatonic river. See also:Standing in the public See also:green, in the centre of the city, is the See also:original statue (by Launt See also:Thompson) of the " Massachusetts Color See also:Bearer," which has been reproduced on the battlefield of See also:Gettysburg, See also:Pennsylvania. The See also:principal institutions are the See also:House of See also:Mercy See also:Hospital, with which is connected the See also:Henry W. See also:Bishop Memorial Training School for nurses, the Berkshire See also:Home for aged See also:women, the Berkshire See also:Athenaeum, containing the public library, the See also:Crane See also:Art Museum and a See also:Young Men's See also:Christian Association. Prominent buildings are St See also:Joseph's See also:Cathedral and the buildings of the Berkshire See also:Life See also:Insurance See also:Company, the Agricultural See also:National See also:Bank and the Berkshire County Savings Bank.

In the See also:

south-western part of Pittsfield, on the boundary between it and See also:Hancock, is Shaker See also:Village, settled about 1790 by See also:Shakers. Pittsfield has See also:water-See also:power and important manufacturing See also:industries. In 1905 its factory products were valued at $8,577,358, or 49'1% more than in 1900. Fully See also:half of the manufactures consist of textile goods. The first See also:settlement in what is now Pittsfield was made in 1743, but was soon abandoned on See also:account of See also:Indian troubles. In 1749 the settlement was revived, but the settlers did not bring their families to the frontier until 1752. The settlement was first called " Boston See also:Plantation," or " Poontoosuck," but in 1761, when it was incorporated as a township, the name was changed to Pittsfield, in See also:honour of the See also:elder See also:William See also:Pitt. In 1891 Pittsfield was chartered as a city. It was here, in the See also:Appleton (or See also:Plunkett) House, known as " See also:Elm Knoll," and built by See also:Thomas See also:Gold, See also:father-in-See also:law of Nathan Appleton, that in 1845 Henry W. See also:Longfellow (who married Nathan Appleton's daughter) wrote his poem " The Old See also:Clock on the Stairs." For See also:thirty years (1842-1872) Pittsfield was the home of the Rev. See also:John Todd (1800-1873), the author of numerous books, of which Lectures to See also:Children (1834; 2nd See also:series, 1858) and The Student's See also:Manual (1835) were once widely read. From 1807 to 1816 Elkanah See also:Watson (1758-1842), a prominent See also:farmer and See also:merchant, lived at what is now the See also:Country See also:Club, and while there introduced the See also:merino See also:sheep into Berkshire county and organized the Berkshire Agricultural Society; he is remembered for his advocacy of the See also:building of a See also:canal connecting the See also:Great Lakes with the See also:Atlantic Ocean, and as the author of See also:Memoirs : Men and Times of the Revolution (1855), edited by his son, W.

C. Watson.

End of Article: PITTSFIELD

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