The Pittsfield Center Historic District encompasses the civic and commercial heart of

Pittsfield, New Hampshire Pittsfield is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 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 (C ...

. This area is defined by a roughly square bend in the

Suncook River The Suncook River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which flows to the Gulf of Maine. Course The Suncook River begins at the outlet of Crystal Lake in the town of Gilmanto ...

, whose power provided an impetus for the development of the town in the 19th century. The dominant feature of the district is the 1827 Joy Cotton Mill, a four-story brick building at the base of Main Street. There are three churches, including the 1863

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and the town office building, a significantly altered 1789 meeting house. The district also includes the main commercial district and some of the surrounding residential areas. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980. Pittsfield was settled in 1770, when John Cram erected a sawmill on the Suncook River and built his house, now part of the Washington House at the central Washington Square. The first

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

was built in 1789, roughly midway between his house and mill, the route between these points defining what is now Main Street. Taverns were built near the meeting house soon afterward, creating the nucleus of a town center. In the 19th century, the river's water power was harnessed for use by

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s, resulting in the construction of both mills and mill worker housing. One boarding house, built in 1827 for single women who worked in an early textile mill, is among the oldest buildings of its type in the state. The arrival of the railroad in 1869 spurred another development boom, in which the shoe industry took hold.

References

{{NRHP in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Federal architecture in New Hampshire Georgian architecture in New Hampshire Victorian architecture in New Hampshire Historic districts in Merrimack County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Pittsfield, New Hampshire

See also

References