Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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Pittsfield is a city located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 45,793. It is the county seat of Berkshire CountyTemplate:GR and one of the population centers of Western Massachusetts. It is home to the new Hebert Arboretum.
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Downtown Pittsfield
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History
Pittsfield was first settled in 1752 and was officially incorporated in 1761. Named after British nobleman and politician William Pitt.
Historic Events
On September 3, 1902 at 10:15 AM, during a two-week tour through New England campaigning for Republican congressmen, the barouche transporting president Theodore Roosevelt from downtown Pittsfield to the Pittsfield Country Club collided head-on with a trolley. Roosevelt, Massachusetts governor Winthrop Murray Crane, secretary to the president George Bruce Cortelyou, and bodyguard William Craig were thrown into the street. Craig was killed; he was the first Secret Service agent killed while on a presidential protection detail. Roosevelt, whose face and left shin were badly bruised, nearly came to blows with the trolley engineer, Euclid Madden. Madden was later charged with manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to six months in jail and a heavy fine.
Baseball in Pittsfield
Professional baseball has been played in Pittsfield's Wahconah Park since 1918. As of 2005, Wahconah Park was the home stadium for the NECBL Pittsfield Dukes, a summer amateur team.
In 2004, historian John Thorn discovered a reference to a 1791 bylaw prohibiting anyone from playing "baseball" within 80 yards of Pittsfield's new meeting house. A librarian found the actual by-law in the Berkshire Athenaeum library, and its age was verified by researchers at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
The tradition that baseball was invented in 1838 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown has long been acknowledged as, at best, a partial truth. Jeff Idelson of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown stated, "Baseball wasn't really born anywhere." If authentic and if actually referring to a recognizable version of the modern game, the 1791 document, would be, as of 2004, the earliest known reference to the game and in Idelson's words, "would be incredibly monumental."
Commerce
Pittsfield is the headquarters of General Electric Plastics Division.
Geography
Pittsfield is located at 42°27'8" North, 73°15'6" West (42.452184, -73.251530)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 109.6 km² (42.3 mi²). 105.5 km² (40.7 mi²) of it is land and 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.76% water.
The two primary streets in Pittsfield are East/West Street and North/South Street. East Street runs from to Dalton, MA (at its East end) until the town center, at which point it becomes West Street and continues until Hancock, MA. North Street runs from Lanesborough, MA (at its North end) to the town center, at which point it becomes South Street and continues to Lenox, MA.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 45,793 people, 19,704 households, and 11,822 families residing in the city. The population density is 434.1/km² (1,124.3/mi²). There are 21,366 housing units at an average density of 202.5/km² (524.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 92.58% White, 3.66% African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.77% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 2.04% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 19,704 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% are married couples living together, 13.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% are non-families. 34.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.26 and the average family size is 2.89.
In the city the population is spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $35,655, and the median income for a family is $46,228. Males have a median income of $35,538 versus $26,341 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,549. 11.4% of the population and 8.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 16.7% of those under the age of 18 and 7.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Recent population trends
| 1930 | 49,677 |
| 1940 | 49,684 |
| 1950 | 53,348 |
| 1960 | 57,879 |
| 1970 | 57,020 |
| 1980 | 51,974 |
| 1990 | 48,622 |
| 2000 | 45,793 |
| 2002 | 45,023 (estimate) |
Sources: Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research (http://www.umass.edu/miser/index.html) and U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division (http://eire.census.gov/popest/data/cities.php)
Education
- High Schools
- Pittsfield High School (Public School)
- Taconic High School (Public School)
- St. Joseph's High School (Private, Catholic school)
- Universities
- Berkshire Community College BCC (http://www.cc.berkshire.org)
External Links
- City of Pittsfield Homepage (http://www.pittsfield-ma.org/)
- Pittsfield Baseball (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/11/pittsfield_stakes_its_claim_in_baseball_history/)
- Wahconah Park (http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Wahconah-Park.html)