Pictures, Comments, History, Links, Insider Information

Entering downtown Pittsfield

Concord Hill Road

The Pittsfield Town Hall is the old grammar school. It was designed by a famous New England Architect

built in the early 1900s.

Pittsfield, New Hampshire is a small community of homes and about 5,000 people located in central New Hampshire. Concord, the state capital is about 18 miles due west and the seacoast is about 35 or 40 miles east. Being not quite in the "Lakes Region", not in the White Mountains, and not on the seacoast, it gets overlooks by the tour books and visitors. We like that. It is a part of the state the people pass through but often don't stop. The town straddles the Suncook River and it was dams and water power that created Pittsfield and turned it into a typical New England mill town. The town became the hub community for the surrounding smaller towns. Pittsfield had shopping in its small downtown, jobs in the mills, and after 1869 railroad connections to the outside world. It peaked in perhaps 1900 with mansions along Main Street and stone / brick public building designed by well known architect. Its Pittsfield Academy was the school of choice for the region's young men and woman and it graduated some well known people.

Today, the town is much different, a shadow of its former self. The mills are gone. The mansions are now apartment buildings. The school system needs improvement and teen crime and drugs were front page news in the Concord Monitor newspaper during the summer of 2007. The railroad is gone. The grand old buildings are silent reminders of better times that are gone for good. Yet traces of the old charm and character remain. While downtown can be described as 'rundown' it is too small in area to invoke any feeling of 'skid row' or 'inner city.' To me, living here is more like putting on an old, albeit worn, jacket that is comforting in its memories and fit even it is no longer in the best of shape.

Of course, the town is not alone in its decline. Nearly all New England communities have seen better days. Only the luck ones become spruced up Norman Rockwell tourist sites. Most, like Pittsfield NH, became home to hard working, blue collar folks more interested in making a living than in downtown historic preservation. While that is a sad thing in one way, it is a rather ordinary, comforting and natural state of existence in another way. It's my home and I like living here!

My contribution to the "We Love Pittsfield NH" lifestyle is to document the sights, history, and spirit of a genuine New England town. I like the location of Pittsfield relative to the rest of New England including Boston and shopping malls in Concord and I find the town and the area a beautiful place for picture taking, as you will see in the links below.

Love an old fashion, all American parade? Check out the annual Pittsfield Old Home Days 2007 parade - CLICK PITTSFIELD PARADE

See what New Hampshire's ToDo Magazine wrote about Pittsfield NH in an article published 6/2009 - CLICK PITTSFIELD ARTICLE (PDF FORMAT LINK) .

TOWN WEATHER DATA