page_title: Pittsfield, Massachusetts
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Pittsfield, Massachusetts / Points of interest / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Pittsfield, Mass Colonial Theatre Published By: Chas. W. Hughes, Mechanicville, N.Y. Postmarked: Saint Johnsville, N.Y., Mar 23, 1918.
context_page_description: Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. The population was 44,737 at the 2010 census. Although the population has declined in recent decades, Pittsfield remains the third largest municipality in western Massachusetts, behind only Springfield and Chicopee.
  In 2006, Forbes ranked Pittsfield as number 61 in its list of Best Small Places for Business. In 2008, Country Home magazine ranked Pittsfield as #24 in a listing of "green cities" east of the Mississippi. In 2009, the City of Pittsfield was chosen to receive a 2009 Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts' highest award in the arts, humanities, and sciences. In 2010, the Financial Times proclaimed Pittsfield the "Brooklyn of the Berkshires" in an article covering its renaissance at that time.
  In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places for single people to retire in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report, due to the high number of single older residents and higher likelihood of finding companionship or a partner.
context_section_description: Pittsfield is the geographic and commercial hub of the Berkshires—a historic area that includes Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and author Edith Wharton's estate The Mount. Many buildings in Pittsfield are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  Downtown Pittsfield is home to the gilded-age Colonial Theatre, the Berkshire Museum, the Beacon Cinema (multi-plex), the Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Athenaeum, Wahconah Park and Hebert Arboretum. In recent years, the city has undergone a transformation with significant investment in the historic downtown, including a variety of new restaurants (French, Asian, Latin American, etc.), condominium and other residential developments and cultural attractions.
  The Colonial Theatre, dating from 1903, was named by Hillary Clinton as a National Historic Treasure in 1998. The community invested more than $22 million to refurbish the 100-year-old Colonial Theatre, one of the only theaters of its kind from the Vaudeville age. The venue has been described as the "one of the finest acoustical theaters in the world."
  Barrington Stage Company, the Tony Award-winning producer of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee invested millions into its newly renovated stage in downtown Pittsfield, along with the development of other stages within the downtown for smaller performances. Barrington Stage's head of its Musical Theatre Lab, William Finn, told the Boston Globe that he was determined to make Pittsfield the "epicenter of the musical theater universe."
  The Berkshire Museum, the oldest and most diverse museum in the Berkshires, has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation that incorporated a state-of-the-art air control system that will allow it to attract world-class exhibits.
  Many of the Berkshires' oldest homes, dating to the mid-18th century, can be found in Pittsfield, as well as many historic neighborhoods dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
  Several small multi-generational farms can still be found in Pittsfield, though suburban sprawl and land development have recently claimed some of this land.
  Numerous old churches dot the landscape, and are architectural marvels to behold. Some are closed down or resold as homes or for other usages, and yet some newer churches remain. Many of these older churches are Catholic, like St. Joseph's, or Sacred Heart church that is actually bright pink! New Life Church is one of our newer churches in the region, being established in the late 90's. 
  Additional cultural attractions include:
  Arrowhead, home of author Herman Melville (1850–1863). It was here that Melville wrote Moby Dick.
  Silvio O. Conte National Archives and Records Administration.
caption: Colonial Theatre circa 1918
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