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In 1790, the town decided to separate church and state and replace the old Congregational Church with a new church and a distinct meetinghouse, or town hall. The plan for both buildings called for the removal of the tall, stately elm in their front yards.  As the story goes, on the third chop of an ax,  Lucretia Williams, wife of John Chandler Williams, threw herself in front of the tree to prevent its destruction. John Chandler Williams stepped in and offered some of his adjacent land as the building spot of the first meetinghouse in order to save the tree his wife was so bravely protecting. In 1863 skilled woodsman Sylvanus Grant was hired to take down the famous elm after it was struck by lightning.

The first Agricultural Fair in the United States took place in 1810 on Park Square under Lucretia’s Old Elm Tree, now commonly referred to as the Pittsfield Elm. Farmer Elkanah Watson initially organized the Berkshire Agricultural Society, whose members would go on to host a fair which featured, among other things, several exhibits of Merino Sheep that Watson had imported from Spain. The fair attracted a variety of people, from working farmers, “gentlemen farmers”, and other interested men and women, to Pittsfield’s center.  Homer Hill, a friend of Norman Rockwell, depicted the scene on Park Square in his painting, The First County Fair. (Courtesy, Berkshire Museum.)

It’s hard to believe, but for many years, just one house sat on this entire block, belonging first to the Reverend Thomas Allen, whose service in the War for Independence against England earned him the name “The Fighting Parson.”  At the age of just 21, Allen took up his duties as the first Congregational Minister in 1764.  He went on to serve 46 years in that position, but also stirred controversy in the town by promoting from the pulpit the political ideas of Thomas Jefferson.  Allen’s grandson, also named Thomas, made his fortune in the railroad business in the west and eventually inherited the property where he built a large summer mansion on the site that he called “Eagle’s Nest.”  The street heading down to City Hall bears the name of Allen, a commemoration of one of Pittsfield’s first families.     (Nonextant)

 

 

58. Berkshire Medical Institute Boarding House, corner of East and Allen Streets

The Berkshire Loan and Trust was riding the wave of general prosperity in Pittsfield after World War I when it decided to open its own offices in this striking building in 1922.  Originally chartered in 1895, with only a tin box, the company had grown over the following twenty years to hire the Holmes and Winslow architect firm from New York City to build in this Classic Revival style.  Its large rounded-arch windows and pilaster columns give it an air of a Greek temple, right along North Street. 

The site chosen for the bank, prominently placed near Park Square, housed a variety of businesses before Berkshire Bank and Trust Co. moved here.  Previously, in the early 1800s, Spencer Field’s Saloon was located here.  By 1844 the saloon gave way to a shop that sold clothing and other items owned by H.G. Davis; this eventually became the original Holden and Stone Department Store.  Just ten years later, the Geer Block was built on the site, with assorted offices and shops.   

With a new name, the Berkshire Bank and Trust Co. went through a series of mergers before finally being incorporated into the Berkshire Bank group.  The bank later moved to West Street, and Allegrone Construction now owns this property. 

48. Berkshire Bank, 28 North Street

The original First Baptist Church was built a few blocks away on North Street in 1850, with renovations in 1876. By the 1920s, the old structure was no longer serving the needs of the congregation, and its location had become increasingly commercial.  In 1922 the current site at South and Church streets was secured, and a committee was formed to solicit plans for a new building.  George Merrill, architect for the American Baptist Home Mission Society put together preliminary plans at that time.  His initial ideas were further developed by local architect Joseph McArthur Vance, who produced final plans and specifications by early 1925.  The Parish House was the first section to be built, and was dedicated in May, 1926.  Worship services were held in the auditorium of this section until the sanctuary was completed.  Ground was broken on the main building in May 1929, and it was dedicated on October 19, 1930.   The First Baptist Church is of colonial design and is built of brick with stone trimmings.  Topping a six-pillared portico is a tower and belfry, which house a bell and an 1873 Seth Thomas clock, which were removed from the old church building when it was demolished in 1926.  The interior is simple and elegant, typical of the colonial style.  The sanctuary has a gallery on three sides; altogether there is seating for 750 worshippers. 

 

20. The Hotel Wendell, 2-68 South Street  (no plaque)

The Colt-Pingree House takes its name from two prominent Pittsfield families whose members resided here for close to 110 years. The house was built in 1819 by Ezekiel R. Colt who was the cashier of the Agricultural National Bank, the Secretary of the Berkshire Agricultural Society, a State Bank Commissioner, and a member of the party that escorted General Lafayette to Pittsfield when he was on his famous return tour of the country in 1825. Colt’s daughter Catherine married Thomas Perkins Pingree, who was a well-known Pittsfield attorney. Catherine and Thomas had one daughter, Catherine Pingree, who married Henry Laurens Dawes, Jr., the son of U.S. Senator Henry Dawes, Sr.

The house’s beautiful Ionic columns and its Greek Revival elements have been preserved and well maintained, but the elegant homes that once surrounded this house have now given way to commercial development.

 

12. Berkshire Auto Company, 109 South Street  

The plaque commemorates one of the first judges to serve in the new Berkshire Courthouse behind the marker. Briggs was the son of the only Pittsfield resident to become Governor of Massachusetts.  Even before the Civil War broke out, Briggs had joined the Allen Guards, the region’s militia.  Because of his college education, he was elected to serve as captain.  He was shot through both legs at the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862, and, following his recovery, he rose in service during the war to the rank of Brigadier General.  After the war, he returned to Pittsfield and filled several government positions before his selection as a county judge.    

 

4. Berkshire Athenaeum, 44 Bank Row