When reading or hearing about Pittsfield’s history, you may come across many names of places that are simply not there any more. This could be because that place was renamed, or because it now has another use, or because it is under different ownership. This can be frustrating for the casual history buff. This page hopes to solve some of those “missing places” dilemmas.
For places that have more than one way of referring to them, see Synonyms, below.
Also see Past Businesses.
Eelweir Road—Once comprised the section of road running from Rte. 100 (South Main St.) to the Sebasticook bridge, whence it became the Mount Road in Burnham. Renamed to Mount Road in Pittsfield in 2007 when street names were reorganized for E911. Here’s an old photo of the Eelweir Bridge over the Sebasticook, connecting Pittsfield to Burnham.
Forest Ave.—Formerly ran from Somerset Ave. to Central St. along the western edge of Hathorne Park. Incorporated as part of Central St. in 2007 when street names were reorganized for E911.
Hunnewell Field. Current location of Cianbro equipment storage area. From Pittsfield on the Sebasticook, page 74, regarding activity in the 1890s:
“Mr. Hunnewell also laid out a ball park just east of the river and north of Hunnewell Avenue. For years this field was used by the athletic teams of M.C.I. and the town of Pittsfield. It might be noted incidentally that these M.C.I. teams, particularly the baseball clubs, were most successful. They were playing all four of the Maine colleges and winning most of their games. In 1890 they won handily from Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, and the state college. Will Pushor and Fod Graves were the stars of these games. Governor Barrows father, George Barrows, played at first base on some of these early teams.”
Park St. Formerly ran from Main St. to Hartland Ave. along the north side of Hathorne Park. Incorporated as part of Somerset Ave. in 2007 when street names were reorganized for E911.
Waverly Mill. Woolen mill at the dam on Waverly St. The old three story brick building was demolished in October 2020. Had been used 1950s to 1990s by San Antonio Shoe company (SAS). See Synonyms and the Woolen Mills page.
Weeks Road. From Phillips Corner Road to Hussey Road. Incorporated as part of the Higgins Road in 2007 when street names were reorganized for E911. Leaving town, Somerset Ave turns into the Higgins Road at the four corners made by these two and the Phillips Corner and Crawford Roads.
Synonyms
There are several locations in Pittsfield that are often referred to by different names, depending upon when the speaker/writer had lived here. Below are some of these and there may be others.
- Building complex on North Main St. on the south side of the river.
- Pioneer Mill,
- American Woolen Mill,
- Edwards Manufacturing,
- General Electric,
- Puritan.
- Building complex abutted by Madawaska Ave. and Waverly Ave. The older part of this complex was built as the Waverly Woolen Mill c. 1900 and was demolished in June of 2020 leaving only the single-story building.
- Waverly Mill,
- MedWed Shoe,
- SAS,
- “the shoe factory”,
- Puritan (second location).
- Woolen Mill on Detroit Ave. (burned c.1998)
- Smith Woolen Mill
- Maple Grove Woolen Mill
- Shoddy Mill
