Buildings

Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building, Pittsfield, Mass

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The Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building at the corner of North and West Streets in Pittsfield, around 1900. Image from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Vicinity (1900).

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The building in 2016:

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This building at the heart of downtown Pittsfield was built in 1868 as the home of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. It was designed by Louis Weissbein, the same architect who would later design the courthouse on the opposite side of Park Square. Like the courthouse, this building once had a mansard roof, which was common in Second Empire architecture. However, while these buildings are still standing, both have undergone significant renovations that have, among other things, removed the original roofs.

When the first photo was taken around 1900, the Berkshire Life building still looked essentially the same as it had when it was completed. However, in 1906 it was expanded in the back, along the West Street side of the building. Just a few years later, the building grew again, when two stories were added to the original section in 1911, replacing the old mansard roof in the process. Both of these additions matched the original architecture, although the new roof gives the building more of a Renaissance Revival appearance than Second Empire.

Today, the building is one of many historic 19th century buildings that surround Park Square. The interior was damaged by fire after a gas explosion in 1970, but the building survived and was restored. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and later became part of the Park Square Historic District.

Van Sickler’s Mill, Pittsfield, Mass

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Looking upstream on the east branch of the Housatonic River, from the Dawes Avenue bridge, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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Pittsfield is located at the confluence of the east and west branches of the Housatonic River, and for several centuries these two waterways have helped develop industries in the city. The first mill dam in Pittsfield was built on the east branch, a little further upstream of here near the present Elm Street bridge. It was in existence by 1778, when Ebenezer White leased it and used it to operate a sawmill. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, though, riverfront property would be in high demand for large-scale industrial uses.

In 1832, a group of businessmen, including Samuel McKay and Curtis Fenn, purchased the dam and the property downstream of it. That same year, the building in the first photo was completed, and was used as a cotton mill. It went through several ownership changes over the years, starting in 1839, when it was purchased by Thomas F. Plunkett. He removed the old dam and built one closer to the factory, as seen in the first photo. Along with this, he expanded the building and increased the workforce to 100 employees, enabling the mill to produce around 1.5 million yards each year.

A year later, in 1840, Martin Van Sickler became an overseer in the mill, and steadily worked his way into ownership. He purchased a quarter interest in the company in 1849, and after several ownership changes his percent of the company increased until 1867, when he became the sole owner. However, by the late 1800s Pittsfield’s textile industry was already in decline. The cotton mill closed in 1883, and Van Sickler found himself $70,000 in debt. He sold the building, which was subsequently used for other industrial purposes, and Van Sickler died eight years later, penniless and homeless.

Although no longer a cotton mill, the old building was still in use when the first photo was taken. In 1930, while being used by Dale Brothers Laundry, it was gutted by a fire, nearly a century after it first opened. Today, a corrugated sheet metal building stands on the site. The old 1845 dam is also gone. It was removed in 1966 to improve drainage and to avoid sludge buildup, and the Housatonic River now flows freely through this scene, with hardly a trace remaining of the mill that once stood here.

Irving House, Dalton, Mass

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The Irving House at the corner of Main Street and Curtis Avenue in Dalton, around 1910-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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The small town of Dalton, located just east of Pittsfield in the Berkshires, has long been a major papermaking center. Dalton’s largest employer is Crane & Co., a paper company that has been based here for over two centuries. Crane supplies the US government with the paper used to print the nation’s currency, and has done so since the 1870s, when Winthrop M. Crane, the son of the company’s founder, first obtained the contract.

Papermaking was not Winthrop Crane’s only business venture, though. In 1888, he and his brother Zenas opened a hotel here, named the Irving House. It was located in the center of town, just a short walk from the paper mill, and like many hotels of the era it housed temporary guests as well as long-term residents. The 1880s was a good time to build a hotel here. Not only was the Berkshires a popular summer destination, but also the growth of Crane & Co. had resulted in a dramatic increase in Dalton’s population. This, in turn, meant more visitors and residents to stay in their hotel.

The original Irving House burned down in 1894, but the Cranes apparently rebuilt quickly, because the hotel in the first photo was standing here by the end of the 19th century. By this point, Winthrop Crane had become a prominent figure in state politics. He served as lieutenant governor from 1897 to 1900, and then served three one-year terms as governor from 1900 to 1903 before finishing his political career as a US Senator from 1904 to 1913.

Zenas Crane died in 1917, and Winthrop in 1920, but the Irving House remained in operation for many more years. By the early 1950s, it was purchased by Crane & Co., who renamed it the Crane Inn. It was marketed as an “early American inn,” and it was in business until the mid-1960s. However, it was demolished in 1966, and a bank was subsequently built on the site.

Berkshire County Courthouse, Pittsfield, Mass

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The Berkshire County Courthouse at Park Square in Pittsfield, around 1900-1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The courthouse in 2016:

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For many years, the town of Lenox was the county seat of Berkshire County. However, by the middle of the 19th century, Pittsfield’s population growth had dramatically outpaced its small neighbor to the south, and in 1868 the county government shifted to Pittsfield. The old courthouse eventually became the Lenox Library, and still stands today, and a new courthouse was built here on East Street in Pittsfield, facing Park Square.

The courthouse was completed in 1871, and was designed by Boston-based architect Louis Weissbein. Its exterior was constructed of marble quarried from nearby Sheffield, and it originally had a mansard roof, giving it a distinctive Second Empire appearance. However, the courthouse was later renovated and a new roof was added, and an annex was built in the rear of the building. Otherwise, though, the building’s exterior looks much the same as it did over a century ago, and it is still in use as a county courthouse. In 1975, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Park Square Historic District.

Elm Knoll, Pittsfield, Mass

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Elm Knoll, at the corner of East Street and Appleton Avenue in Pittsfield, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The site in 2016, now Pittsfield High School:

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This house on East Street in Pittsfield was built in 1790, and by 1800 it was owned by Thomas Gold. It remained in his family for many years, and was a summer home for his son-in-law, Nathan Appleton, a prominent merchant from Boston. Appleton’s daughter Frances married poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1843, and the newlyweds spent part of their honeymoon here in this house. During their stay, Longfellow wrote a poem, “The Old Clock on the Stairs,” based on a clock in the house.

By the time the first photograph was taken, the house had evidently undergone some changes. Earlier photos show a very different looking house, so in the late 19th century it was apparently brought into line with Victorian tastes, with a bay window over the front entrance and a mansard roof in place of the earlier hip roof.

The prominent Plunkett family owned the house by the time the first photo was taken. Its last resident would be Harriet E. Plunkett, who lived here until 1929, when the house was demolished to build Pittsfield High School, which now stands on the site. However, a replica of the house was built for her at 20 Crofut Street. This house is still there, showing what Elm Knoll looked like prior to its Victorian renovations.

First Church, Pittsfield, Mass

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The First Church at Park Square in Pittsfield, around 1865-1885. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

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The church in 2016:

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Pittsfield’s first church was built on this site in 1761, on the north side of Park Square. It was, in turn, replaced by a more substantial building designed by Charles Bulfinch in 1793. This second church building was among his early works, and Bulfinch would go on to become one of the most prominent architects in the early years of the United States. Many of his works still stand, but the Pittsfield churches heavily damaged in a fire in 1851, and was subsequently replaced with the present building.

Like its predecessor, the new building was also designed by a noted architect, Leopold Eidlitz. It was completed in 1853, with a Gothic Revival style that was becoming common in church architecture. Eidlitz’s design incorporates many Gothic elements, including the off-center tower, pointed arches, steep roof, and decorative trim along the eaves. However, several parts of the old church were preserved, including the bell and the clock, and were added to the new building.

Today, the historic church building is still standing, with few modifications from its original appearance. The clock from the previous church was removed in 1994 and donated to a museum, and a replica of the clock face was installed in its place. Otherwise, though, little has changed, and the church is one of many historic buildings around Park Square, including the Berkshire County Savings Bank Building on the left and the old town hall on the right.