Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #70 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
23 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and five historic districts with 106 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1790.
Pittsfield dates its founding to 1752 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pittsfield is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #70 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Pittsfield’s 32.7 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 142 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Pittsfield’s post office has been open since 1794. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pittsfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pittsfield.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pittsfield.
The Mohicans, an Algonquian people, inhabited the area that would later come to comprise Pittsfield until the early 18th century, when the population was greatly reduced by war and disease brought by European Colonists. Many migrated westward or were subjugated to live on the fringes of their land.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Pittsfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mr. Hibbard's inaugural address was attuned to the same chord of courageous hopefulness which had vibrated throughout Judge Barker's farewell to the town. Said the mayor: "The record of the town of Pittsfield, just closed, is secure, the record of the City of Pittsfield is yet to be made. A record as distinguished and brilliant we are not justified in expecting, but a record no less honorable is possible, if we will but carry into the new system of local self-government the spirit of the old; if our public servants
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pittsfield Journal Co., 311 Pittsfield Kindergarten Association, 225 Pittsfield Manufacturing Co., 252 Pittsfield National Bank, 261 Pittsfield Publishing Co., 312 Pittsfield Shakers, 94 Pittsfield Sun, 303
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHerman Melville House is built
Born hereWilliam Miller is born here
In the archive1788 Berkshire Chronicle Pittsfield, Massachusetts July3
In the archiveRecto Berkshire Bank 10 dollars 1807BuiltPark Square Historic District is builtBuiltOld Town Hall is built
In the archiveUS 1864 Pittfield MA Maplewood Seminary Advertising cover
In the archivePittsfield (Massachusetts)
In the archive[Allen Library for Thomas Allen
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveUS 1892 Pittsfied MA Agricultural Society Advertising CoverBuiltOld Central Fire Station is built6 decades in the archive, from the 1780s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1840sUS 1864 Pittfield MA Maplewood Seminary Advertising c…1860Pittsfield (Massachusetts)
1863A View from the Berkshire Hills, near Pittsfield, Mas…1872[Allen Library for Thomas Allen1890sUS 1892 Pittsfied MA Agricultural Society Advertising…
1898A Mill Stream in the Berkshires, Pittsfield, MassPostcardFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 8Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pittsfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,992 and 57,879 people in every census since 1790.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pittsfield’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1752, according to Wikidata. Pittsfield’s post office opened in 1794, and the first U.S. census counted 1,992 people here in 1790.
Pittsfield is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #70 of 283 in Massachusetts. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
23 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 16 buildings, among them the Herman Melville House (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), 5 historic districts with 106 contributing buildings, and 2 sites. 142 historic buildings in all.
38% of Pittsfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1950.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (23), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
