USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Berkshire, two hundred years in pictures, 1761-1961 > Part 7
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The Pittsfield Sun ceases publication aftet 106 years.
1907
The Stanley Co. of Pittsfield formally becomes a unit of General Electric Co., which had gained control of it in 1903.
Berkshire School for boys is established in Sheffield by Seaver B. Buck.
1908
Hillcrest Hospital opens on North Street, Pittsfield.
The Mount Everett Reservation is estab- lished by the Legislature.
1910
The Berkshire Street Railway is acquired by the New Haven Railroad.
Mount Hope Farm is established in Williamstown, by Col. and Mrs. E. Parmalee Prentice.
A boiler explosion in the power house of an ice harvesting company at Morewood Lake in Pittsfield kills 17 men and injures 15. (Dec. 29).
1911
Pittsfield observes its 150th anniversary with a gala three-day celebration.
Edith Wharton's novel, "Ethan Frome", written at her Lenox estate, is published.
1912
The Academy of Music in Pittsfield, located on the present site of the Miller
Building, is destroyed in a spectaculat fire. (Jan. 27).
1913
The Mason Library in Great Barrington is dedicated.
The Girls' League Assn. (later the Girls' Club) is established in Pittsfield with headquarters in the Park Building on Bank Row.
1914
The Mohawk Trail state highway is completed.
Establishment of a high voltage labora- toty at the GE transformer works launches Pittsfield's career as the "high voltage capital of the world."
1915
The iron smelter at Richmond Furnace ceases operations.
An estimated 90,000 autoists, harbingers of the area's tourist industry, visit Pitts- field between April and November.
1916
New Ashford is the first town in the U.S. to report its presidential election results: Hughes 16, Wilson 7.
The first strike in the history of GE's Pittsfield plant is called by the Inter- national Association of Machinists, putting 5,000 employees out of work for one month. (Sept. 2).
1918
Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey of Pitts- field is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism as leader of the famed "Lost Battalion" on the Meuse- Argonne front in France.
St. Luke's Hospital is established in Pittsfield.
The first concert in the Temple of Music on South Mountain in Pittsfield is presented by the Berkshire String Quartet, organized by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
The surrender of Germany unleashes wild celebrating throughout the county; in Pittsfield a hastily organized patade draws 6,000 marchers and 25,000 spec- tators to North Street. (Nov. 11).
1919
Company F, Pittsfield's militia company, is honored with a gala parade and banquet upon its teturn from France, where more than one-third of its original 144 members were killed or wounded.
The Pittsfield Industrial Development Corporation is organized by local busi- nessmen to acquire land for future in- dustrial growth.
The Riggs Foundation is established in Stockbridge.
1920
The "Laboratory Method of Education" - later known as the Dalton Plan and widely copied by progressive educators in the U.S. and abroad - is instituted in the Dalton school system.
1921
GE's High Voltage Laboratory in Pitts- field makes electrical history by produc-
ing a 1,000,000-volt flash of man-made lightning.
1922
The Jesuit Order buys Shadowbrook Cottage in Lenox for use as a novitiate.
1923
The Community House in Dalton, a gift of the Crane family, is dedicated, and the Dalton Community Recreation Associa- tion is organized.
1924
The Stanley Club is established by Pitts- field GE employees with Edward V. Dillon as its first president.
The Pittsfield Community Fund Associa- tion, which became the Community Chest in 1947 and United Community Services in 1954, is organized with Charles W. Power as first president.
1926
The Berkshire Hills Conference is organ- ized.
Lenox School for Boys is established under Episcopal auspices.
New St. Luke's Hospital is erected on East Street in Pittsfield.
1927
Ballou Reservoir dam in Becket butsts destroying or sevetely damaging 54 buildings in the village and causing one death from drowning.
1928
The Berkshire Playhouse at Stockbridge opens in the former Casino building with Eva LeGallienne in "Ctadle Song" as its first production.
The present Fairview Hospital building in Great Barrington is erected with $300,- 000 raised by public subscription.
A septic sore throat epidemic attributed to impure milk causes 43 deaths in Lee during summer and fall and serves as a great spur to pasteurization laws.
1930
Sprague Electric Co. moves to North Adams from Quincy.
The Crane Museum of paper making opens in Dalton.
1931
Pittsfield High School building is com- pleted at a cost of $1,300,000.
The Pittsfield Airport, privately owned and operated, opens with passenger flights, air circus and autogiro exhibition.
The Hotel Aspinwall in Lenox is destroy- ed by fire at an estimated loss of nearly $1 million.
1932
Last street car line in the Berkshires, running from Pittsfield to Dalton, is re- placed with bus service.
The entire plant of Eaton Dikeman Paper Co. in Lee is leveled by a $350,000 fire which leaves 110 workers unemployed.
The memorial beacon towet is built on the summit of Mt. Greylock.
Ted Shawn establishes his School of the Dance at Jacob's Pillow in Becket.
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1933
Pittsfield adopts a non-partisan city charter abolishing party designations and replacing the Common Council and the Board of Aldermen with an 11-member City Council.
The Federal Civilian Conservation Corps establishes eight camps in Berkshire County for improvement of trails and other facilities in the state parks and forests.
North-Union block in Pittsfield burns with loss of $350,000 and one life (Dec. 13).
1934
The Depression pushes Pittsfield's public welfare expenditures to a record high of $1,500,000 - an increase of 2,000 per cent over the expenditures for 1929.
The first Berkshire Symphonic Festival concert is staged on the Dan Hanna estate in Stockbridge, with Henry Had .. ley conducting the New York Phil- harmonic Orchestra (Aug. 23).
1935
Bosquet's ski area in Pittsfield is launch- ed as an important commercial winter sports development when the New Haven Railroad brings the first "snow train" to the area.
1937
Dr. James Phinney Baxter, III, succeeds Tyler Dennet as president of Williams College.
Pittsfield's average industrial wage of $30.28 a week is proclaimed the highest of any city in Massachusetts.
1938
The first radio station in Pittsfield, WBRK, goes on the air.
The $100,000 Music Shed at Tanglewood is dedicated (Aug. 4).
Hoosic River flooding in the wake of the Sept. 27 hurricane causes $2,500,000 in damage to Adams and North Adams.
1939
Cranwell School is opened by the Jesuits on the former Berkshire Hunt and Country Club property in Lenox.
1940
15,069 Berkshire men register for military service under the newly passed Selective Service Act.
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers Union (CIO) is recognized as the bargaining agent for production workers at GE in Pittsfield.
1941
GE Naval Ordnance plant starts opera- tion in Pittsfield.
1942
Victory Hill, Berkshire County's first public federal housing project, is built in Pittsfield.
1943
Pittsfield GE employment hits all-time peak of 13,645.
1944
Congressman Allen T. Treadway of Stockbridge retires after 16 terms.
1945
In a test arranged by the DuMont Laboratories of Passaic, N. J., a film of the German surrender at Paris is trans- mitted from the Empire State Building in New York City and received at Bascom Lodge atop Mt. Greylock - the first television reception in Berkshire County. GE establishes the chemical division, with Pittsfield as headquarters.
The surrender of Japan on Aug. 14 pro- duces joyous celebrations and im- promptu parades throughout the county, with most plants, offices and stores closing for two days.
1946
GE goes on strike following company rejection of UE demand for a pay raise of $2 a day. After a 58-day shutdown, a contract providing a 10% pay increase is signed.
New England Central Airways brings first scheduled air service to Pittsfield.
1947
George J. Bisacca opens the former Fahnestock estate in Lenox as Eastover vacation resort.
The youngest mayor in Pittsfield's his- tory, Robert T. Capeless, 29, is elected to succeed the oldest, James A. Fallon, 81.
1948
Pittsfield installs the first parking meters in Berkshire County.
Pittsfield builds a $1,200,000 public housing project at Wilson Park.
Floods cause an estimated $3 million damage in Berkshire County; 500 made homeless in North Adams (Dec. 30-31).
1949
GE builds a $2 million high voltage laboratory.
The Park Club of Pittsfield, founded in 1896 and boasting 600 members at its high point in the 1920's, officially dis- bands.
Pittsfield launches a $6 million school building program based on recommenda- tions of Engelhardt, Engelhardt & Legget, New York consultants.
Hans K. Maeder establishes Stockbridge School on the former Dan Hanna estate.
Sprague Electric Co. of North Adams passes the $1 million mark in profits for the first time due mainly to sales of capa- citors for television sets.
1950
IUE displaces UE as bargaining agent for GE production workers after bitter controversy.
Peter J. Schweitzer Inc. buys Smith Paper Co. in Lee for a price reported to be in excess of $10 million.
Pittsfield solves a long-standing water supply problem by completing construc- tion of the $3 million Cleveland Brook Reservoir in Hinsdale with a capacity of 1.5 billion gallons.
1951
North Adams adopts the first city man- ager charter in Western Massachusetts.
The extension of pipelines from upstate New York into Berkshire County makes this area the first in New England to use natural gas.
New England's first regional school dis- trict is formed by Alford, Egremont, Monterey, New Marlboro and Sheffield after seven years of work.
1953
Mt. Greylock Tramway Authority is established under state legislation auth- orizing it to borrow money to build a tramway and develop the mountain recreationally as a tourist attraction.
1954
GE completes the world's largest in- dustrial sound laboratory in Pittsfield.
Ultra-high frequency Station WMGT, Berkshire County's first TV station, starts transmitting from the summit of Mt. Greylock.
Construction begins at the $1,500,000 Allendale Shopping Center in Pittsfield.
1955
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute opens in Williamstown.
Hurricane-triggered flash floods cause $500,000 damage mostly in Southern Berkshire (Aug. 19).
The Williamstown Summer Theatre opens for its first season in the Adams Memorial Theatre at Williams College. GE and IUE sign their first five-year contract.
New $1,750,000 North Adams Hospital opens.
1956
The worst fire in Berkshire history des- troys the Shadowbrook Jesuit novitiate (formerly the Stokes estate) in Lenox. Four persons die, six are injured, 117 escape unhurt. (March 10).
Monument Mills in Housatonic closes after 106 years of operation, leaving 250 unemployed.
Crane & Co. buys all outstanding stock of Byron Weston Co., which becomes a subsidiary of Crane.
The biggest fund drive in Pittsfield history raises $1,790,000 for Pittsfield General Hospital expansion, more than $500,000 over the goal.
North Adams builds a $350,000 fire and police station.
Heavy winds knock down station WMGT's $75,000 TV transmitting antenna atop Mt. Greylock (Feb. 25). Berkshire Hathaway closes its 550-em- ployee Greylock Mill in North Adams.
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1957
The Massachusetts Turnpike from Great- er Boston to State Line and points west, opens for traffic (May 16).
Williamstown votes to establish first town manager government in Berkshire County.
The Berkshire County Industrial De- velopment Commission, authorized to spend up to $85,000 a year in tax money to promote the area's economy, is estab- lished by vote of county citizens.
By a vote of 3,051 to 3,045 North Adams abolishes its city manager government and returns to a mayor-council system.
1958
Adams' long history as a textile center ends as Berkshire Hathaway announces the closing of its mills employing 1,000 workers in that town (May 7).
E. D. Jones & Sons, Pittsfield manu- facturer of paper-making machinery, is sold to Beloit (Wis.) Iron Works.
Harold B. Gordon of Attleboro buys the Berkshire Street Railway Co. from the New Haven Railroad for $250,000.
North Adams launches a $2,700,000 ur- ban renewal program, the first such pro- ject in Berkshire County.
State Senator Silvio O. Conte, Pittsfield Republican, defeats Professor James M. Burns of Williams College to succeed retiring First District Congressman John A. Heselton of Deerfield.
Mead Paper Corp. of Dayton, O., buys Hurlbut Paper Co. of South Lee and launches an expansion program.
Becket, Windsor and Hinsdale join Dalton in forming Berkshire County's second regional school district.
Girls Club of Pittsfield opens a new building financed with $576,000 raised by popular subscription.
1959
Berkshire Life Insurance Co. moves into its new $2,500,000 home office on South Street, Pittsfield (Sept. 14).
Elmvale Worsted Co. of Pittsfield shuts down, leaving 343 unemployed.
Gorham Manufacturing Co. of Provi- dence, R. I., buys Eaton Paper Co. of Pittsfield (May 16).
New Shadowbrook novitiate in Lenox, rebuilt at cost of $4,500,000, is dedicated with Richard Cardinal Cushing cele- brating mass.
1960
E. D. Jones moves from Pittsfield to its new plant in Dalton. The old plant on Depot Street is subsequently purchased by the city and demolished to make a municipal parking lot.
The 900-acre Hancock Shaker colony is sold by the Shakers to a non-profit group, Shaker Community, Inc., for de- velopment as a museum and center for Shaker studies.
Berkshire Woolen Co. directors vote to close down their Pittsfield plant and
liquidate its assets, throwing 300 out of work (Aug. 18).
Berkshire Community College, first in a projected series of state junior colleges, opens in Pittsfield (Sept. 15).
Hancock Raceway Inc. opens its half- mile Berkshire Downs horse racing plant off Route 20 in Hancock after long controversy in the Legislature and the courts (Sept. 19).
North Adams and six nearby towns join forces to construct a 450-pupil regional vocational school for Northern Berkshire.
A bitter and unsuccessful three-week strike at GE ends when the IUE agrees to accept the company's terms for a new three-year contract (Oct. 22).
GE sets a world's record by transmitting 710,000 volts on its prototype extra-high- voltage line in Lenox (Dec. 8).
1961
Mayor Haughey signs a $2,377,747 con- tract, the largest ever let in Pittsfield, for a new sewage treatment plant as part of a $5 million dollar Pittsfield-Dalton sewage program designed to end Housatonic River pollution north of Lenox (Jan. 25).
Williams College announces that James Phinney Baxter III, retiring after 25 years as president, will be succeeded July 1 by Professor John E. Sawyer of Yale.
Berkshire County's bicentennial observ- ance is officially launched in Pittsfield with religious services, a Founders' Day luncheon and the planting of an elm tree in historic Park Square (April 21).
Correction On page 70, caption under picture of two men fishing: The president is Grover Cleveland, not William Howard Taft.
Acknowledgments
MANY PEOPLE HELPED in the preparation of this book. At the top of the list is Mrs. Edna M. Thomas, our hard-working and always cheerful editorial assistant. Others who made major con- tributions are Roger B. Linscott, Eagle editorial writer, who wrote the chronology; Bernard Carman, former Eagle reporter whose knowledge of Berkshire history was tapped in planning the book outline; and Joel Librizzi, Eagle photographer, who did much darkroom work. Among Berkshire librarians who gave generously of their time, four deserve special mention: Mrs. Graham D. Wilcox of Stockbridge, Miss Julia E. Conklin of Lenox, Mrs. Harold D. Edwards of Pittsfield, and Miss Ruth B. Browne of North Adams. Valuable assistance was also given by Miss Flavia R. McKernan of Adams, Miss Betty L. Dennis of Lee, Mrs. Edward C. McCormick of Great Barrington and Willard French of Sheffield. Help in a variety of ways was given by Dr. John G. Sproat of the Williams College history department, William J. Cartwright of the Williams library, Bartlett G. Hendricks of the Berkshire Museum and Mrs. Marsh B. Giddings of the Southern Berkshire Historical Association; in addition Miss Anna Alexandre, Edward Rogers, Roger John- son, Mrs. John D. Hatch, the Misses Helen and Mary MacDonald, Oscar R. Hutchinson, William A. Stirton, Miss Patricia A. Lynch, Kelton B. Miller, and, by all means, the wives of the editors.
William H. Tague and Robert B. Kimball
Offset printing by Excelsior Printing Co., North Adams, Mass. Text paper by Byron Weston Company, Dalton, Mass.
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