Upper North Street Commercial District

Upper North Street in Pittsfield is a five-block commercial corridor of mostly two- to four-story red brick buildings, with granite, marble and cast stone trim and metal cornices. It includes 26 contributing buildings, a mini-park, and several statues, boulders and a cast iron fence. Until the 1880s the street was largely residential. City incorporation in 1890, a trolley line in 1891 and the growth of electrical manufacturing encouraged owners to replace houses with commercial blocks. Most of the buildings date from the early 1890s to the late 1920s and show Classical Revival and Early 20th Century Commercial styling. Examples include the Blaisdell Block, the Coburn, and the cast stone Neo-Gothic Wood Brothers Building. The Blaisdell, Wood Brothers and Coburn were designed by George Haynes. The Gothic granite St. Joseph's Church, with its rectory and convent, sits behind a lawn and contrasts with the storefronts. Storefronts have often been altered, but upper floors remain largely intact.