Pittsfield NH Photo Links Home Page
Various web page links focusing upon Pittsfield, New Hampshire
It's Homes, Sights, and Events
by
Paul Oman
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Pittsfield, NH is a small community of 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, become 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!
SUNCOOK RIVER VALLEY CUPOLAS
During 2005 Paul began taking photos of cupolas in towns along the Suncook River (Pittsfield, Center Barnstead,
Parade Barnstead, Epsom, and Chichester, NH). CLICK HERE
ONE YEAR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Starting in Sept 2002, Paul photographed the front of his house every two weeks for a full year. See what the weather
is really like in Pittsfield, NH through the year. CLICK
HERE
THEN AND NOW PHOTO EXHIBIT
Side by side comparisons of postcard photos (1906 - 1916) and the same shots taken in 2006 in and around the town.
- plus commentary about living in Pittsfield. CLICK
HERE (Pittsfield Then and Now)
PITTSFIELD ARTICLE - "PITTSFIELD - PLAIN AND SIMPLE AND LIKING IT THAT WAY!" - By Kathleen D. Bailey
Published in New Hampshire ToDo magazine (www.nhtodo.com - June 2009) Reprinted/posted with permission of the magazine.
CLICK HERE (Pittsfield nh article)
TOWN PHOTO ALBUM
Just an album of shots taken in Pittsfield, NH. CLICK HERE
DOWNTOWN MYSTERY PHOTOS
Can you find these 24 objects as you stroll along in downtown Pittsfield? We're looking at door knobs, signs, and house trim etc. on and off Main Steet. Walk with your eyes and not just your feet! CLICK HERE
THE BEST AND THE WORST
CLICK HERE (Pittsfield Landmarks)
Enjoy the town's 2007 Old Home Days parade
CLICK HERE (Pittsfield nh Parade photographs)
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Info on the men listed on the town's Civil War monument -(www.pauloman.com/monument.html)
More info about certain people on both of Pittsfield's CW markers - written as Memorial Day and Vet. Day articles -(www.pauloman.com/memorialday.html)
Return to Paul Oman's Pittsfield NH Pages home page
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