Nomination for Pilgrim Memorial Church and Parish House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) R United States Department of the Interior RECE OMB N0. 10240013 1323 National Park Service OCT PCT mar? National Register of Historic Places 0 4 Registration Form NOTIYNAL REGISTE This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instruatiopsJid/Aow to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking/(a inthg appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable. For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a).

Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH and PARISH HOUSE other names/site number_N/A 2. Location street & number_249 Wahconah Street city or town PITTSFIELD state MASSACHUSETTS Code MA county BERKSHIRE N/A _ not for publication N/Avicinity _code 003 zip code 01201 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of listoric Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the propert meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria.

I recommend that this property be considered significan -nationally - statewide Elocally. (- See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Brmna Signature of certifying official/Title Brona Simon Massachusetts Hilstonical Commission, Deputy State Historic Preservation Offcate 10/11/05 State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. ( See continuation sheet for additional Comments.) Signature of certifying official/Title Date State or Federal agency and bureau 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: Mentered in the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined eligible for the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined not eligible for the National Register - removed from the National Register - other (explain): Eabor V.

Beall Date of Action 11-25-05 PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH and PARISH HOUSE Name of Property 5. Classification wnership of Propert Check as many boxes as apply xprivate public-local _ public-State _ public-Federal (Check only one box) X building(s) _district _ site structure _ object BERKSHIRE, MA County and State Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A u molinctude presousy is tey esiurces n tre count) Contributing Noncontributing 2 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 _building _sites _ structures objects Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register N/A 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RELIGION: religious facility Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RELIGION: religious facility 7.

Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) LATE VICTORIAN: Gothic/ Romanesque Early 20* Century Commercial Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundation_STONE; fieldstone, poured concrete walls_STONE; fieldstone, granite BRICK roofSTONE: slate, composition; built-up other Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) (Please refer to continuation sheets) United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page_1 - OM8 Appromitite 1026-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA DESCRIPTION The Pilgrim Memorial Church (MHC# 205) is located in Pittsfield's North End on Wahconah Street in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood.

The church faces east on Wahconah Street. The property, a little over half an acre, is bordered on the south by a row of mature pine trees. The property consists of a two contributing buildings: a stone church, built in 1897, with an attached Parish House, built in 1927; one contributing object, a stone date block on the front lawn with a "1927" date; and a non- contributing object, a new wooden sign near the sidewalk announcing "Pilgrim Memorial Church." The style of this small church building lies in the simplicity of line and function. Designed by architect H. Neill Wilson of Pittsfield, the church is constructed of local fieldstone and exhibits elements of the Gothic and Romanesque, in styles popular at the turn-of-the-century. The style of this small church is reflective of the original plans to erect a chapel first and a larger church later, which was never built.

The exterior stone walls are laid in an irregular pattern with one square stone belt course around the top of the foundation wall. The building form is simple with thick walls and few windows. The parapetted gabled roof runs lengthwise over the sanctuary parallel to Wahconah Street and intersects with a lower projecting parapetted gabled ell at the front entry wall. The church has reinforcing buttresses perpendicular to the gable ends and walls, which add substance to the building and, on the front façade, divide the four bays south of the projecting entry ell. In total, there are five bays on the front façade: four equal ones and one bay consisting of the projecting front gabled entrance with Gothic-arched doors of wooden vertical planking.

To the right of the front doors, set in the wall, is a date block, which reads "MDCCCLXIII" and "MDCCCXCVII" to commemorate the founding of the Sunday School and the construction date of the present building. The bays are articulated by the stone buttresses on the exterior and reinforcing buttresses perpendicular to each gable wall. Roofing on the church is slate, which exhibits visible repairs of mis-colored states. There are two chimneys, one at the rear southwest corner of the building and the other of lower profile at the northeast corner of the building next to the Parish Hall addition. Both chimneys penetrate the eave line of the rear and front walls. Stone for the 1897 church building came from the Martin Gaylord quarry on New Lenox Road.

Gaylord is listed in the 1897 Pittsfield city directory as a farmer at this address, but according to the 1927 church directory, he was not a founding member of the church. (continued) R65 Form 10-900 1 United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page OMB Approvalela 1021-0016 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA The Gothic windows and front door have no adornment except for granite frames. The front door in the projecting ell is composed of vertical planking. First-story windows on either side of the sanctuary consist of paired, rounded-arched windows with wooden frames set into the stone walls with vertically laid stonework forming shallow arched lintels and simple flush stone sills.

Windows in the front of the sanctuary, which is ocated on the south wall behind the altar, consist of three separate openings with ver all pointed-arched Gothic windows. The center window rises above the two Gothic arched flanking windows. This triad of windows on the south side is set apart by the stone walls of the south side of the building. Below each window on the south side are three raised rectangular basement windows centered below the Gothic-arched triad of windows above. Windows on the main floor are doubled and are leaded and diamond patterned. The Parish House, also designed by Wilson, is a one-story building with a low gabled parapet and flat tar roof, set back from the main church façade and attached to the church at the northeast corner. It is faced in tan brick with a chimney to the north.

Under the gabled parapet is one bay recessed with brick corbelling and banding consisting of a brick soldier course. In front of this facing the street is a lower projecting space covered by a shed-roofed porch on the front façade with white aluminum flashing at the eaves. This area had a gabled front entrance supported by wrought iron posts, is four bays wide, and the two bays north of the entrance consist of a three-window bay divided by a brick pilaster from a single-window bay and another brick end pilaster. The shed roofed porch on the Parish House terminates in a raised parapetted wall on the north side. The style of the Parish House is Early 20"h Century Commercial. Front façade original windows are 1/1s in wooden frames with concrete sills. This building has a partial form-concrete basement.

The interior of the church is largely devoted to the sanctuary, which is oriented lengthwise, and parallel to the street to the left of the front entrance, and measures 33'x 40'. The roof of the sanctuary has four exposed Gothic-arched chestnut trusses with purlins, and is stained a dark brown. The lower portion of the walls is chestnut beaded wainscot and the upper portion to the eaves is plaster. The raised altar area has a free- standing oak pulpit, and deacon chairs situated behind a communion table. To the left of the altar is a choir stall, and to the right, an organ. Opposite the front of the sanctuary, to the north above the front entrance is a gallery with additional seating facing the sanctuary. The pews are paneled chestnut. The floor is carpeted.

Front and rear shallow (continued) eersFom 10-900 -e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 Section number Page 4 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA arched windows have a stained glass green surround at the wooden frames with gold and brown stained glass in a diamond pattern. Behind and parallel to the sanctuary is a hallway leading to offices and toilet facilities, and into the Parish Hall. The current organ, installed in 1920, was manufactured by the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont. The organ is a late production of this company and is numbered #1938. Between 1915-1920, Estey produced 25,000 organs and another 24,000 between 1920-1925. These were the two peak five-year periods of production in the 20t century.

The Estey company began manufacturing organs in 1848 and closed the business in 1955. The oak organ case at the Pilgrim Memorial Church measures nine feet wide and nine- and-a-half feet deep, including the bench. The visible pipes have a gold finish and are for show. The working organ pipes are metal and not visible. There are 17 stops, two-and-a- half octave pedals, two keyboards, and a five octave swell. It has not been electrified. This current organ replaced a previous 1899 organ donated to the church by the well- known Pittsfield music store, Wood Brothers, on Upper North Street. Installation of the 1920 organ required moving the choir from the right side of the sanctuary to the left side, the only major physical change to the interior of the sanctuary. The church has a random ashlar stone foundation. Raised basement windows are 2/2 double hung in wooden frames.

The basement contains a Sunday school room under the sanctuary, a basement closet, a paint and tool closet, a supply closet, and a nursery room for young children. Floors are maple and walls are plaster with a ceiling in the Sunday school room supported by iron poss. The interior of the Parish House contains a parlor to the right of the front door off a foyer with a fireplace on the north wall of tan brick with an oak mantle. The parlor floor is carpeted. Behind the parlor is a large high-ceilinged fellowship hall at right angles to the sanctuary with a stage at the rear. Offices and a kitchen complete the rooms in the Parish House addition. Walls are rough plaster and pine grooved panelling. Floors are maple, and doors contain five panels. The kitchen has its original wooden cupboards, acoustic ceiling tiles, and vinyl squares on the floor.

Condition: The church has been plagued with a wet basement since its original construction in 1897. It was sited on low ground not far from Onota Brook emanating from Peck's Pond to the northwest of the church property. Use of the church facilities for meetings was suspended in October, 1938, when the floodwaters made it impossible to use the (continued) OM8 Appromilla 10240018 165 Fom 10-900 g United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page - 5 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA - facilities. The front shed roof of the Parish House leaks and has done so for many years, and the basement stairway of the church also leaks, staining the walls. The maple floor of the fellowship hall recently buckled from water damage.

The boiler in the Parish House basement currently needs repairs. Alterations: The interior of the sanctuary has had one major alteration since construction in 1897: when the new organ was installed in 1920, the choir was moved from the right side of the sanctuary to the left side. For a time, the church property included a Parish House on land donated by the Russell family in 1908. In 1971, the Pittsfield General Hospital (now Berkshire Medical Center) bought the parsonage and tore it down in order to expand hospital facilities. Also, in 1905, the Russell Manufacturing Company gave a revokable license to the church to erect and use a horse shed on company land behind the church property and gave another license to use a way for access from Wahconah Street to the shed over company land.

These licenses were apparently revoked after automobiles replaced horses as the primary mode of transport and the horse shed was no longer needed by the church. Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American sites are known on the church property, sites may be present. Six sites are recorded in the general area (within one mile). Environmental characteristics of the nominated property represent locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, proximity to wetlands) that support the presence of ancient sites. The church and parish house are built on a well-drained, level to moderately sloping outwash plain/stream terrace within 1,000 feet of Onota Brook and the west branch of the Housatonic River. The area lies within the Housatonic River drainage. In general, however, the potential for locating significant ancient Native American resources on the property is low.

The small size of the parcel (0.594 acres combined) with construction of the church and parish house indicates any Native American resources that were present were destroyed during construction. A low to moderate potential also exists for locating significant historic archaeological resources on the nominated property. Archaeological evidence of occupational related features (trash pits, privies, wells) may exist; however, none have been identified. Structural evidence of outbuildings may also exist. A horse shed was built by the church on the adjacent Russell Manufacturing Company property. Other than the church and parish house, no additional structures were known to exist on the church property. (end) aMo Aopromilta 8021-0016 PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH and PARISH HOUSE Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.) x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. _ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. _D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Property is: x A owned by religious institution or used for religious purposes. _ B removed from its original location.

_ C a birthplace or grave. _ D a cemetery. _ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. _F a commemorative property. _ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years. BERKSHIRE, MA County and State Areas of Significanc (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE SOCIAL HISTORY RELIGION Period of Significance 1897-1955 Significant Dates 1897, 1927 Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder WILSON, H. NEILL (a) 1897, 1927; DODGE and DEVANNEY (b) 1897; PIKE, D. HERBERT (b) 1927 Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested _ previously listed in the National Register _ previously determined eligible by the National Register _ designated a National Historic Landmark _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # x State Historic Preservation Office - University Name of repository: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISISON PeS Form 10-900-e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page _1 - OMB Asprovellia.

1021-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA SIGNIFICANCE The Pilgrim Memorial Church is significant under Criterion A for its associations with the development of Pittsfield, specifically for its association with the Jabez L. Peck and religious endeavor in Pittsfield's North End to accommodate the families of mill workers living at that end of town. It is also eligible under Criterion C as a small-sized, modest, and inexpensive local example of late 19* century ecclesiastical architecture, incorporating both the Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture from a design by local architect H. Neill Wilson. The Parish House, also designed at the end of Wilson's career, is an example of Early 20* Century Commercial architecture, popular in the 1920s. As a religious property the church is also eligible under Criteria Consideration A.

Criterion A The Pilgrim Memorial Church is eligible under Criterion A in the areas of significance "Social History" and "Religion." Pilgrim Memorial was both an informal outgrowth of the First Congregational Church of Pittsfield and a direct outgrowth of the Peck and Russell Sunday School which began on the North End neighborhood of Pittsfield in 1863. From the Sunday school came the movement toward the establishment of a Congregational church in the northwestern section of Pittsfield, known as the North End. The Sunday school and the 1897 church were responses to the population growth of Ward 1, comprising the "North End" neighborhood, and the felt need for a church in that area of the city. Until the church was established, all Pittsfield churches were in the downtown commercial area of the city.

The spirit of the Social Gospel and a concern for Christian fellowship pervaded the school from the beginning and set the tone for the social activism of the church after its founding in 1897. The church, as the Sunday school had done before, was socially active in Pittsfield's North End and has a strong tradition of servicing residents in that area of the iy ahere mary of the Cesudenes veresin ood inteoeil emiltty oaed ee. Al was described in the Report of the Exercises at the Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary...

" as bringing the Pilgrim Memorial Church "into closer contact with this community." This report stressed the congregation's social and religious mission: "Ours is the responsibility for the spiritual welfare of practically the whole population of this end of Pittsfield." (continued) KrS Form 10-900-8 08-86 United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page OMB Approvliia. 1024-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA In the winter of 1862-63, representatives of the Protestant churches in the city met to divide the town into districts with interested churchmen assigned to visit families not attending church. The district in the North End around the neighborhood of the Peck and Russell woolen mills fell to a committee of three canvassers: Jabez L.

Peck, owner of two textile factories on Onota Brook which produced flannel and cotton warp, and two other men representing the First Congregational and the Methodist churches. As a result of their visits, Jabez Peck and Samuel Howe of the Methodist Church started a Sunday School to serve families of the area, known as Peck's Factory Sabbath School, using largely instructors from the First Church in downtown Pittsfield. According to the "Pilgrim Memorial Church, 1897-1972" pamphlet: "Although many families in the North End were members of down-town churches, they found a neighborhood Sunday School convenient ... when in the latter part of the nineteenth century public transportation was almost non-existent." (p.

3) It was not until 1897 that the Pilgrim Memorial Church was actually founded and built on Wahconah Street from contributions from friends of the Peck and Russell Sunday School on a lot purchased for a church as early as 1876 by S.N. and C. Russell manufacturing company, in the hope that a church would someday be built. Around 1883, after moving twice, thriving, and growing, the Sabbath School moved into a new building provided by textile mill owners Jabez L. Peck and Son and Solomon N. and Charles Russell, two brothers who had owned the S. N. and C. Russell Manufacturing Company. Charles died in 1870, but members of the Russell family continued to operate the textile mills until 1928, when the main mill was leased by the Elmvale Worsted Company. The Russell family, continuing with Zeno Russell, Henry R.

Russell, and Miss Jane Austin Russell became dedicated servants of both the Sunday School and then of the church when it was founded in 1897. It was Russells who donated the land on which the church and parish house sit today. Jabez Peck died in 1895, but his son, Thomas D. Peck remained a generous contributor to the Pilgrim Memorial Church. Both the Peck and Russell families were members of the First Church of Christ, Pong, Zeni Rusel, anii.r. Chs oethe She 2a anhiver saty en bration oo hesedaez L. anniversary celebration of the Sunday school included a speech which described the success of the school in terms of the Pecks and Russell contributions: (continued) pens Fom 10-900 e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 3 OMB Approvel Na.

8024-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA Because Christian men owned the mills, they felt a deep responsibility for those who were to them something other than hands. Mr. Russell's quiet strength and sweet reasonableness conserved what Mr. Peck's fiery zeal had begun...Together these mills bore the financial burden, together their owners labored and prayed and fostered friendship [One man commented about the success of the Sunday school: "We never could have had it if the owners of the mills had not kept it up" True to the original mission, the church and Sunday school have continuously been pro- active in the immediate neighborhood, the city, and in wider circles.

Throughout each year, church records indicate various fund-raising endeavors through penny socials, church suppers, auctions, card parties, rummage sales, catering of weddings, and food tables. Money and support was given to a long list of causes over the years: for example, the Home Mission, the Seamen's Friend Society (for over 43 years), the "New Morning Star" (a mission ship to Micronesia), various missions in the United States from New York to Minnesota; support to Labrador, books for the Turks, the Fresh Air Fund, Boys Club, Colored Sunday School, Red Cross, Poor Whites, Tennessee, American Board of Foreign Missions, Cuba, Puerto Rico, India Relief, Assistant Pastor in China, Japanese Relief, Bowery Mission, school for colored girls in the South, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

In 1921, the church congregation befriended the Russian Society by offering the downstairs of the church when the Russians had a large congregation. After the Parish House was built in 1927, with its large auditorium and stage, which could be converted to a gymnasium, records of the Standing Committee indicate that the facility was used as an active community center, so numerous were the groups and activities each week. In the late 1920s and early 1920s the Parish House was rented to Pittsfield's Health Board for $100 per year to be used as a health clinic for babies living in the North End. So many groups used the Parish House that the Standing Committee voted "that the Parish House be not for rent to any persons or societies not affiliated in some manner with the church" in 1932.

Nonetheless, for decades after 1927, it was rented out for a nominal fee to several troops of Boy Scouts, and used for girls' neighborhood basketball teams and practices. In 1940, the church allowed the Civilian Conservation Corps to use the Parish House for $8.00 a night, just enough money to pay for the light, heat, and a janitor. On April 2, 1941, before Pearl Harbor and the U.SA. entry into World War II, the Standing Committee voted to form a Social Action Committee to prepare an appeal for funds for the "suffering people abroad." (continued) K°S Form 10-900-4 5-86 United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 8 Section number 4 Page Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA Each year, the church records show the benevolences of the congregation.

The Parish House was rented to the city in 1942. In 1943, the church voted to make the minister's study available to six air raid wardens during blackouts and allowed the use of the auditorium once a month for the Air Raid Wardens' meetings. In 1945, the church decided to hold neighborhood prayer meetings and allowed a local chapter of the DeMolay Society use of the Parish House for basketball. The same year, people in the church were asked to double their gifts to the War Victims and Services committee. In 1947, the church voted to let the old boiler room be used for a Train Club supervised by Y.M.C.A. personnel, and voted in 1950 to turn over use of this room to the Explorer Scouts. Church records show that the legacy of social activism at Pilgrim Memorial Church has continued throughout the history of the church right up to the present.

The church is currently active in several community-outreach programs: the Christian Center, a local program which provides lunches, clothing, and money to the under-privileged in Pittsfield; the Elizabeth Freeman Center; Habitat for Humanity; the Salvation Army, and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Criterion C The church architecture is modest and the building small for an H. Neill Wilson commission, but the Pilgrim Memorial Church is a small architectural gem of the Gothic/ Romanesque style. The size of the edifice fit the pocketbooks of the donors and fundraisers. The 1897 church building plans were originally conceived by Wilson to be two buildings: a church with a seating capacity of 450 to cost $20,000-$25,000, and a smaller chapel, seating 300 at the cost of $7,000. Either could be built first with the other added when the time came.

It was the chapel which was begun when local contractor Dodge and Devanny broke ground on July 8, 1897. Even $7,000 was an enormous sum to raise in those days, although Wilson donated his time and waived his architectural fees. The larger church was never built. When additional space was needed for the many social and religious functions of the church, the congregation went back to Wilson with a request to design a Parish House. The Jane Austin Russell Parish House attached to the Pilgrim Memorial Church was commissioned by the church in 1924, toward the end of Wilson's life. It was completed a year after Wilson's death in 1927. Contemporary newspaper articles described the architecture of the church as Gothic. Henry Neill Wilson (1855-1926), a Pittsfield architect, was trained by his father, a midwest architect named James K. Wilson who favored the Richardsonian Romanesque style.

Henry Neill Wilson was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, working with the firm of Water and Wilson in Cincinnati and, then, briefly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wilson (continued) OM8 Aaprond Na. 1026-0010 ps5 F0m 10-900-e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page - 5 - OMB Approval NNo. 1024-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA came to Berkshire County in 1885. In 1899, he took a partner, Henry E. Weeks, and the firm then became Wilson & Weeks. His various commissions included churches, hotels, private residences, and commercial buildings. Notable Wilson designs in Pittsfield include the Wollison-Shipton Building at 142-156 North Street (1888); the Berkshire County Home for Aged Women in (1888), St.

Stephen's Parish House; the Wendell Hotel at Park Square (1898, razed); the Pilgrim Memorial Church (1897) and Parish House (built in 1927); and a number of fine Pittsfield residences during the 1880s and 1890s. He also designed three commercial buildings in Pittsfield on Upper North Street: the North Union Block (in 1890, burned and rebuilt in 1891), the Mills Block (1897, burned in 1940), and the New Mills Block, designed by Wilson and Weeks in 1901, and converted to the Capitol Theater in 1921-1922. Wilson also designed the Irving House in Dalton (razed); the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, the Town Hall and Library in Dalton (1892); the Ten Eyck Hotel in Albany, N.Y.; and collaborated with Charles T. Rathbun on the Housatonic Congregational Church (1893-94) in Great Barrington.

Archaeological Significance Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to contribute additional information relating to the landuse history of the church property and the social, cultural, and economic lives of the church parishioners. Identification and mapping of outbuilding remains may help locate all structures and facilities related to the church. Detailed analysis of artifact distributions and the contents of occupational related features may contribute important details about the church parishioners and ultimately the residents of Pittsfield. (end) ReTS Fom 10-900 -e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page _ OMMB Approvellla.

1024-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA BIBLIOGRAPHY Assessor's Records, City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Local History Files, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. "Architects" (2 folders). "Pittsfield-Buildings-Commercial." "Pittsfield-Businesses." "Pittsfield-Churches - Pilgrim Memorial (Congregational)." Books and pamphlets: Boltwood, Edward. History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 1876-1916. Vol. 3. Pittsfield, 1916, p. 154. "Pilgrim Memorial Church, 1897-1972." Authorized by the Standing Committee. [Pittsfield, MA]. Pamphlet on file: Church Archives. "Pilgrim Memorial Church, 100" Anniversary, 1897-1972." Pamphlet on file: Church Archives. Pittsfield City Directory, Eagle Publishing Company, 1897, p. 89. Smith, J. E. A. History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts 1800-1876. C. W. Bryan and Co., Springfield, 1876. Waring, Dennis G.

Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs and Consumer Culture in Victorian America. Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, 2002. Newspaper articles: "Busy Week End for Members of Pilgrim Memorial Church," The Berkshire Evening Eagle, July 29, 1927, p. 4. "Ceremonies at the Laying of the Corner Stone." The Sun, August 12, 1897, pp. 1,2. "Cornerstone of New Parish House of Pilgrim Memorial is Formally Put in Place," The Berkshire Evening Eagle, August 1, 1927, p. 3, 4. (continued) P65 Form 10-900a United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page - 2 - aMo Approvalla 102-0016 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA "Impressive Memorial Service for Miss Jane A. Russell," The Berkshire Evening Eagle, March 7, 1927, p. 3.

"Letters from the Past." The Berkshire Eagle, January 23, 2000. "New Parish House Project to be Undertaken by Church." The Berkshire Evening Eagle, April 16, 1927, p. 11 "A New Pittsfield Church." Undated 1897 clipping in Church Scrapbook, 1897-1928. "Pilgrim Church Marks Completion of Renovation." The Berkshire Eagle, November 22, 1958 "Pilgrim Memorial Church." The Sun, March 18, 1897, p. 7. "Pilgrim Memorial Church Grew Out of Peck and Russell Sunday School." The Berkshire Eagle, June 16, 1934. "Spirit of the Past" [Peck and Russell Sunday School]. The Berkshire Evening Eagle, September, 1913. "Two Berkshire Men Remain in N.C. Jail." The Berkshire Eagle, April 2, 1964. Church Records "How the Church Got Started." By Raymond Calkins, Minister of the Church, 1897- 1903.

An Historical address delivered on the occasion of he Fiftieth Anniversary of the Pilgrim Memorial Church, on Monday evening, March 17, 1947. " In 1947 50th Anniversary Notebook. On file: Church archives. "Philathea Society Secretary Reports for Pilgrim Memorial Church. On file: Church archives. (continued) psFom 10-900-s United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page. 3 OMB Approveltte 1024-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA Pilgrim Memorial Church Records, April 1897-January 1, 1907. On file: Church archives. "Pilgrim Memorial Church Records, 1914 to 1937 inclusive." On file: Church Archives. "Pilgrim Memorial Church Records, January 1938-_ _[October, 1951]." On file: Church Archives. "Records Evening Side Parish, Pilgrim Memorial Church," 1896, 1897.

On file: Church archives. Records of the Parish House Fund in separate file folders for the years 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928. On file: Church archives. "Report of the Exercises at the Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Organization of the Pilgrim Memorial Church, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, March 10 and March 14, 1907." On file: Church Archives. "Report of the Exercises at the Celebration of the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Organization of the Pilgrim Memorial Church, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, May 2, 1912." On file: Church Archives. "Scrapbook of Pilgrim Memorial Church, compiled by Miss Caroline Tucker, 1897- 1928." On file: Church Archives. Stone, Orra L. History of Massachusetts Industries. Vol. 1. Boston: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1930. Maps Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Berkshire, Massachusetts. New York, 1876, pp. 45-46. "Pittsfield, Mass. (Birdseye)." A. M.

Van de Carr: South Schodak, New York, 1899. Barnes and Farnham. Atlas of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Pittsfield: Barnes and Farnham, 1904, Plate 7. Interviews Alan Gold, church organist, October 7, 2003. (end) PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH and PARISH HOUSE Name of Property BERKSHIRE, MA County and State 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property - less than one acre UTM References See continuation sheet. (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 'Zone 18 Easting 643560 Northing 4702740 "Zone Easting Northing Zone "Zone Easting Northing Easting Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11.

Form Prepared By name/title _Norene Roberts, historical consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC organization_ Massachusetts Historical Commission street & number_220 Morrissey Boulevard city or town Boston _ stateMassachusetts _ date_September, 2005 _telephone 617-727-8470 zip code_02125-3314 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH (c/o Mrs.

Evelyn Harmon, Church historian, POB 118, Richmond MA 01254 street & number_249 Wahconah Street _ telephone (413) 447-7443 city or townPittsfield state MA _ zip code_01201 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate beneritin forlistance with the Natonaliitysforic preserv aiton 4ct, ais amende 1S U.S.C, 470 st sgs. Response to this request is required to obtain a Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect o this form to the Chief. Administrative Services Division. National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127.

Washinaton, DC 20013-7127: and the Office of Management and Budaet. Paperwork Reductions Proiect (1024-0018). Washinaton. DC 20503. pers Fomm 10-900e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page - 1 - OM8 Approviltlar 1026-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA GEOGRAPHICAL DATA: Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary of the nominated property is shown as Block 2 Lot 5 on the accompanying City of Pittsfield Assessors' map, Sheet H12. The parcel number is: H120002005. The total lot area is 0.594 acres. Boundary Justification: The boundary includes the entire single parcel of land in the legal description, containing a church building, attached Parish House, street sign, and stone marker.

(end) PHOTGRAPHS: Photographer: Norene Roberts Date of photographs: September 24, 2003 Location of Negatives: Pilgrim Memorial Church 1. View facing NW, church to left, Parish House (attached) to the right. 2. View facing N 3. Interior view facing W toward front of sanctuary 4. Interior view facing E toward back of sanctuary and balcony (end) Me-s Fomm 10-900-e United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page- - OMa Approvaitla 1026-0018 Pilgrim Memorial Church & Parish House Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA DATA SHEET, PILGRIM MEMORIAL CHURCH Pilgrim Church Parish House Date block Sign board 1897 fieldstone Gothic & Romanesque B 1927. brick, concrete 20" century commercial B 1927 stone ca.1985 wood C C NC KussEte 1904 ALCOVE S. N. & C Russell Mfg Co. LANE SN.&C Russett Mfg. Co. PECK 1.

Reegart ROAD Fu RUSSE S. N. &. C. Poussell Mfg THE FOREST LAWN R CHAPEL HILL RECEIVING VAULT 245 ]245 237 CHURCH 9 GE E Fortmantitagera arsuegopnell MORTUARY CHAPEL LODGE CAMPBELL Barnesx Farnham Atlas of Berkshire County ST 4 Wi Grady IGriffins w.Nalloy John H Murphy N V.Ma Hrs E. Weidmun RiS J. Kecgan ~ A. in. (RNesbit e.Whitten T RT Jotnquirk MroDueey [Whitten/ Boyd Mectuul eidel ilson. (r)8 M.Foley - 82 PONTOOSU C P. TCHARL CCHUR Vogel Dan'l amy.Buckiley CThos. Hines Peter aBBurns durtin JE White JH Skcintcle Rectorj X Be J. Tobin Bu Ecw. P.G P. Wetch Hou W.Powers Glei Vrai Tho Carey John MEnary ilbert West Rob! Kelly Rob: Kelly A D.Brooks y5* Martir yiee Lomer Joodrich Ditmar WEscale GeaB Doran Est.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET NOMINATION Pilgrim Memorial Church and Parish House REQUESTED ACTION: PROPERTY NAME: MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Berkshire DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 10/14/05 11/24/05 REFERENCE NUMBER: 05001323 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 11/09/05 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 11/27/05 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: OTHER N REQUEST: N SAMPLE: COMMENT WAIVER: N JACCEPT RETURN ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: REJECT 11-25-05DATE Entered in the Mational Befistes RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER - DISCIPLINE TELEPHONE - DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.

Pilarim Memorial Church 249 Wahconah Street, Pittsfietd Berkshire County, Massachusetts Photographer: Morene Roberts Date of photograph: Sept, 24,2003 Location of Negative: Pilarim Memorial Church View facing: Northwest, Church to the left, Parish He (attached) to the right. -Pilarim Memorial Church 241 Waheonah Street, Pittsfieldl Berkshive County, Massachusetto Photographer: Norene Roberts Date of photograph: Sept.

24,2003 Location of negative : Pilarim Memorial Church Vieu facing: Morth Pilarim Memorial church 249 Wahconah Street, Pittsfield Berkshive County, Massachusetts Photographer: Morene Roberts Date of Photograph: April, 2005 Location of negative:Pilgrim Memorial Church vièw facing : west toward front of sanctuary Pilarim Memorial Church 249 Wahconah Street, Pilts Freld Berkshire County, Massachusette Photoarapher: Novene Roberts Date of photograph: April, 2005 Location of negative: Pilarim Memorial Chuvch View facing; East toward back of sametuary y ba Cnte CHACDN The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission October 11, 2005 Mr.

John Roberts, Acting Chief National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW 8t* floor Washington, DC 20005 OCT 1 4 2005 1 42005 Dear Mr. Roberts: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Pilgrim Memorial Church, 249 Wahconah Street, Pittsfield (Berkshire), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30 to 45 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, setry thedll etsy Friedber National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosure CC: Hon. James M. Ruberto, Mayor, City of Pittsfield Rebecca Smith, Pittsfield Historical Commission Norene Roberts, consultant State Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr.

Evelyn Harmon, Pilgrim Memorial Church Deanna Ruffor, Community Development Director 220 Morrissey Boulevard. Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc