The original Berkshire Athenaeum, now known as the Bowes Building, is a nineteenth century building that still stands on Park Square in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Like many New England libraries, the Berkshire Athenaeum started as a private organization. The private Public Library Association was founded in 1850. The group's name was later changed to the Berkshire Athenæum. Later still, Thomas F. Plunkett, Calvin Martin and Thomas Allen, were "instrumental in forming it into a free library".
Berkshire Athenaeum, 1876 building
Berkshire Athenaeum, entry to 1876 building
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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. Pittsfield’s population was 43,927 at the 2020 census. Although its population has declined in recent decades, Pittsfield remains the third-largest municipality in Western Massachusetts, behind only Springfield and Chicopee.
Park Square in downtown Pittsfield in 2014
Pittsfield Union Station, circa 1880
Wahconah Park (built in 1919)
Ulysses Frank Grant