Автор посетил восемь из девяти городов США с названием Питсфилд и выяснил их историю

I was a junior at Pittsfield High School in 1961, the year of Pittsfield’s bicentennial. The city was incorporated 200 years earlier in 1761 when its population reached 200. To celebrate the milestone anniversary, Mayor Raymond Haughey appointed a committee to organize year-long events. One of the subcommittees was headed by Gladys Allen Brigham, executive director of the United Community Services (precursor to United Way) and for whom the community center on East Street is named. During the baby boomer years, the center was home of the Pittsfield Girls Club. As one of Brigham's projects she contacted the administrators of nine other towns or cities in the United States named Pittsfield to share about our city’s anniversary and inquire about their entities. I believe she heard back from three of the towns. Interested in history, I decided to research these namesake places and some day visit all of them. The states with locales named Pittsfield (alphabetically) are Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin. Over the years I have visited eight of the nine other Pittsfield locations with the exception of the one in Wisconsin, which I hope to visit some day. I wanted to learn if any of the locales were similar to Pittsfield in size and demographics, how they got their names, any relationship to our Pittsfield and anything unique about them. Pittsfield, Mass., was named for William Pitt, a British orator and statesman who became the British Prime Minister. Pitt was well respected as he later would champion the colonists’ cause before the revolution. I wondered if other communities were named directly for Pitt as well or maybe settled by people from our city and thus named for their home area. I thought I would share in this column what I learned about the other Pittsfield locales. One of the first locales I visited was Pittsfield, Maine, In 1961 our city’s population was at its peak of 58,000, while the Maine’s town was just over 4,000. Pittsfield, Maine now has a population closer to 3,900 spread over the town’s 48.5 square miles. In comparison, our Pittsfield has a population close to 43,000 in a smaller area of about 42.5 square miles. Historically the Maine town was the home of several woolen mills, but like our Pittsfield’s mills, they closed or relocated south. Their population only dropped by 100 in 65 years or 2.5 percent. Our Pittsfield’s closing of the General Electric Co., its major employer, contributed to the more significant loss for our community of over 25 percent since 1961. Pittsfield, Maine’s first settler came in 1794 and the town had a number of successive names including Plymouth Gore, Sebasticook Plantation, and Warsaw. Until 1820 Maine was a part of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and in that year, it became its own state. In 1824 residents wanted to change the Warsaw name and were influenced by a landowner named William Pitts. With his push the town became Pittsfield. Thus, it was not named for the British statesman. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this town is all of the high schoolers attend Maine Central Institute. This well-known New England private day and boarding school, built in 1866, was created as a college preparatory school and now also includes curricula for vocational careers. The most interesting of these namesakes to our Pittsfield has to be the one in Ohio close to my current home. Pittsfield, Ohio is a township, 4 miles south of Oberlin, Ohio, the home of Oberlin College and Music Conservatory. When I visited this Pittsfield in the 1980s there were all new buildings at this crossroad town. Near the intersection there was a large explanatory sign that read: “Pittsfield: settled 1821 – named in honor of Pittsfield Mass. home of our founding fathers. Destroyed by a tornado on Palm Sunday 1965. Rebuilt by the determination and efforts of a truly united community combined with the faithful assistance of our many friends near and far.” Pittsfield, Ohio, was founded by Milton Whitney, a blacksmith from Pittsfield, Mass., who bought the Ohio tract of land in 1821 and settled his family there. Others from the Berkshires migrated to the area. The town was not named Pittsfield until after Whitney’s death in 1839 when the residents had a vote and Pittsfield won 23 to 21 over the alternative choice, Whitneyville. At the time of the tornado the Pittsfield population was only 50 people and nine of these lost their lives due to the impact. A dozen homes were demolished, along with two churches and the City Hall, which formerly stood behind a Civil War monument. Only the base of the monument and one house were not demolished. However, the house was picked up and moved 50 feet from its foundation. At the base of the monument lay the figure of a Civil War solider that was toppled from the stand. The residents all chose to rebuild rather than relocate elsewhere. With the help of 100 Amish carpenters, farmers and craftsmen from a community 80 miles away, the town was rebuilt. The Amish do not drive so people donated trucks to transport them from their community. The Amish graciously donated their time to help the devastated community. Because of the connection between the two locales, City Councilman Edward Dobbins, an attorney, initiated a fundraising effort in the Berkshires to help the Ohio community in its recovery. The funds collected helped with landscaping efforts. Today Pittsfield, Ohio, has a population of over 1,500 in its 26 square miles. Pittsfield, Ill., with a population of 4,420 and only 4.97 square miles in size, is located about 70 miles west of Springfield, the state capitol and longtime home of Abraham Lincoln. In fact. Lincoln was known to have many friends in Pittsfield and to have frequented the town beginning in the 1830's. His law practice and later, political ambitions, brought him back to Pittsfield often. The town is mostly known for pork production and agriculture and was once called the “pork capital of the Midwest.” The town was named in 1833 by Col. William Ross one of the early settlers along with others from Pittsfield, Mass. He and three bothers headed west in 1820 and first settled in Pike County, Ill., of which Pittsfield is the county seat. Because Col. Ross, loaned the local government $200 to purchase the original 160 acres of the community, he was given the right to name the town. He named it after his hometown in Western Mass where he was born in 1792. Pittsfield, Vt., is 18 miles northeast of Rutland, and also was named for Pittsfield, Mass. It was chartered by Gov. Thomas Chittenden in 1781 to 130 settlers, including many from Western Massachusetts. The honor of naming the locale was granted to sawmill owner Charles Goodrich, who chose to name it for his previous hometown. The town covers 20 square miles and has a current population of about 500 residents. This town is known for outdoor endurance events and recreation. It also has proven to be a suitable place for grazing livestock because of its mountainous terrain. As a result, 19th century humorists attributed Pittsfield to the invention of the one-legged milking stool. The traditional three-legged stools would be unstable on the uneven terrain and barn floors of the area. (Truth is the one-legged stools have existed and were strapped to the waist to allow a milker to save time by being able to move milking apparatus and not have to carry a stool too.) Pittsfield, N.H., is about 15 miles northeast of the state capital, Concord. The town covers a little over 24 square miles and has a population of 4,075. like its Massachusetts namesake it too is named for William Pitt, the British statesman. It was first settled in 1768 by families from Hampton, N.H., who introduced grist mills and sawmills as the earliest businesses. Today Pittsfield, N.H., is home to the headquarters of Globe Manufacturing. This company founded in 1887 is North America's oldest and largest producer of firefighter protective clothing and boots. Since 1981 the community has been host to an annual August hot air “Balloon Rally.” But if you ask locals for what this Pittsfield is most famous, they might tell you that the town made the Guinness Book of Records in July 2001. The reason? It is the place where the most people wore Groucho Marx glasses at the same time — 525 of them! Pittsfield, N.Y., is about 23 miles northeast of Oneonta. The town is about 38 square miles with a population estimate of 1,300. Dairy farming was most prevalent in the community’s earlier years. There were no major industries or employers in the town and many residents commute to Oneonta or other communities for jobs. The town was first settled in 1793 by people from Pittsfield, Mass. Including Capt. Aaron Noble, Dr. Joseph Cone and Samuel Tyler. It was officially named Pittsfield by Noble for his hometown. Pittsfield Township, Mich., is 5.7 miles south of Ann Arbor and has an estimated population of over 40,000. Pittsfield has light manufacturing and tech companies and is the home to innovation centers specializing in chemical production and automotive research and development. It was first settled in 1824 by George W. Noyes, who purchased the land from the federal government. Soon afterward the area became a draw for farming. In 1834 it was formed as Pitt Township with the name suggested by Ezra Carpenter to recognize William Pitt the British stateman for admiration and respect. Carpenter was from Attleborough, Mass., and Groton, N.Y., and had no connection to Pittsfield, Mass. The current name of Pittsfield was adopted in 1839. The Michigan Legislature voted in 1972 to make the township a charter township. (A charter township is a special status given to growing communities to provide extra local control and more public services. For example, it can more easily build and run its own police and fire departments, set up modern public utility or municipal services, and levy more taxes for which a general township is limited in doing.) Pittsfield Township, Pa., is 14 miles west of Warren, and about 48 miles southeast of Erie. Pittsfield Township is 55.6 square miles with an estimated population of 1,200. Settlers came to the area as early as 1795 and many were lumberman attracted by the rich forests. The easy access to the Brokenstraw Creek allowed them to move their lumber to markets. Many families combined farming with lumbering to make a living. The first name for the village was “The Corners,” which was founded 1829 by Mark Dalrymple from Connecticut. His son in-law, James Acocks, and family moved to the area in 1834. Soon after his arrival Acocks worked with his father-in-law to lay out the village lots. In 1837 Acocks, who was born in Hancock, Mass., successfully petitioned for a local post office and named it Pittsfield after his home region. He served as the village's first postmaster for 16 years. Today, Pittsfield Township is known for its quiet rural-suburban charm, and scenic natural setting along Brokenstraw Creek. Pittsfield, Wis., is a township with a population of 2,800 and an area of 32 square miles. It is located about 17 miles northwest of Green Bay. In 1852, four years after Wisconsin became a state at an initial meeting of settlers, the name Pittsfield was recommended by Isaac Knapp to honor his hometown in Massachusetts by the same name. Wisconsin’s Pittsfield Township was located in an area covered with dense forests of pine and hemlock which encouraged the development of a lumber industry with numerous sawmills along the Suamico River and other waterways. Today the area is mostly known for farming. There is one small company in the township, called Industrial Engraving, that makes the rollers for engraving initials, names or logos on napkins. In sum, of the 10 Pittsfields in the United States, our Massachusetts home town is the largest in population and industry. Nine of the 10 locales are named for Pittsfield, Mass., or William Pitt. And I have to chuckle when I learned one of the towns achieved recognition in the Guinness Book of Records. And for that unique accomplishment, I can only quote Groucho Marx by saying, “You bet your life!”