Pittsfield is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in
Merrimack County,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
, United States. The population was 4,075 at the 2020 census.
The main village in town, where 1,570 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the
Pittsfield census-designated place (CDP), and is located on the
Suncook River in the west-central portion of town. It consists of the built-up village centered on the intersections of Barnstead Road, Catamount Road, Carroll Street, and Depot Street.
History
For many years prior to its 1782 incorporation, the area was an unnamed
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of
Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
. Like
Pittsburg in the north, Pittsfield was named for
William Pitt,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
, and a great friend of the
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
prior to the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. The town was settled in 1768 by several families originally from
Hampton, New Hampshire
Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. On the Atlantic Ocean coast, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination.
The densely populated central part ...
. Founder John Cram built grist and
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s here in the late 18th century. Since 1901, Globe Manufacturing has made protective clothing for
firefighters here.
The town claimed the
Guinness World Record in July 2001 as the place where the most people wore
Groucho Marx glasses at the same time (522). Before Pittsfield's attempt, no other town had tried to set the record.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 1.19% of the town.
Pittsfield is drained by the
Suncook River, part of the
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...
watershed. The highest point in town is the summit of Catamount Mountain, at above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
, southeast of the town center.
Adjacent municipalities
*
Barnstead (north)
*
Strafford (east)
*
Northwood (southeast)
*
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
(south)
*
Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
(southwest)
*
Loudon (west)
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 4,106 people, 1,579 households, and 1,076 families residing in the town. There were 1,769 housing units, of which 190, or 10.7%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the town was 96.9%
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.6%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.3%
Native American, 0.6%
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
n, 0.0%
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawa ...
or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.4% from two or more races. 1.9% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race.
Of the 1,579 households, 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were headed by
married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57, and the average family size was 3.00.
In the town, 23.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.7% were from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
For the period 2011-2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $47,959, and the median income for a family was $63,631. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $23,910. 16.3% of the population and 14.8% of families were below the poverty line. 17.2% of the population under the age of 18 and 5.4% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.
Artistic tributes
In 1934, the American composer
Alan Hovhaness
Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...
(1911–2000), who spent time with his maternal family members (specifically the family of the Reverend Walter Scott, his grandfather) in Pittsfield during his youth, wrote a fantasy for cello and piano entitled ''Legend of the Sunkook ' Valley'' (Op. 1, no. 4).
Education
There are two public schools in the town. Pittsfield Elementary School serves students in pre-school to 5th grade, and
Pittsfield Middle High School serves grades 6–12.
Current members of the Pittsfield School Board, which governs the district, include Adam Gauthier (chair), Sandra Adams (vice chair), Molly Goggin, and Sarah Marston Duval.
Notable people
*
John M. Berry (1827–1887), Minnesota Supreme Court justice, legislator born in Pittsfield
*
Frank Ellsworth Blaisdell (1862–1946), professor of surgery, noted entomologist
*
Warren Chase
Warren Chase (January 5, 1813 – February 25, 1891) was an American pioneer, reformer, and politician. He served in the state senates of Wisconsin and California, and was a candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the election of 1849.
Early ...
(1813–1891), pioneer, reformer, politician; co-founder of
Ripon College
*
Ebenezer Knowlton (1815–1874),
congressman from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
,
Free Will Baptist
Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...
minister, and co-founder of
Bates College
Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...
in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...
*
Ed Siudut (c. 1947–2012), Holy Cross and professional basketball player
*
John Swett (1830–1913), founder of the California public school system
*
Harrison R. Thyng (1918–1983), US Air Force general, World War II flying ace
See also
*
New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 197: Jonathan "Jockey" Fogg, Patriot
References
External links
*
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
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Towns in Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Towns in New Hampshire