Charming Pittsfield, New Hampshire

A New Hampshire Online Photo Album

Homes and Sights

by

Paul Oman

Pittsfield, New Hampshire 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!

Appropriate Audio

Main road into Pittsfield, NH

Fall colors in New England

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Pittsfield, NH

"Foggy day on the farm"

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Pittsfield, NH

Reflections on the Suncook River

Pittsfield, NH

Looking up Main Street (Factory Hill) into downtown Pittsfield

The New Hampshire show continues

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New Hampshire cupolas; New Hampshire Civil War stuff; Harvey Lake - Northwood, NH; WWII coming of age letters; and more neat stuff! -CLICK HERE