Pittsfield Historical Society’s
History of Pittsfield

Past Pittsfield Community Organizations

This page is dedicated to the story of our past Organizations.
Click on thumbnail photos to enlarge.

HELP US! This page is a work in progress. If you know of any organization, or their email address or website that is not listed here,
or the history of any organization, contact the historical society with the new information and we’ll add it to this list.

The following groups although no longer meeting, are important to the history of Pittsfield:

Easy Street, Incorporated.
Easy Street is a non-profit organization which existed to provide and promote a safe place in the community for artistic expression. The group had a seven member board of directors which meets on the 2nd Monday of the month, and unlimited number of “Friends of Easy Street.” A coffee house, at which local musicians of all ages perform, was the group’s most visible activity. The coffee house had to move to different locations in the region, but as of late 1997, appears to have found a permanent home at the First Congregational Church. Funding for the group came from coffee house admission, an auction and sale of promotional products. Easy Street shut its doors a few years later.


Pittsfield Community Youth Center.
The Pittsfield Community Youth Center is an informal organization in business to promote baseball and softball for children ages 5-15 from Pittsfield, Detroit and Burnham. By amassing numerous volunteers as coaches, the Youth Center organizes teams, practices, and games in the following games/leagues: T-Ball (ages 5-6), Farm League (ages 7-8), Minor League (ages 9-12), Little League (ages 9-12), Girls’ Softball (ages 9-12) and Babe Ruth League (ages 13-15). Costs involve umpires, uniforms, equipment and field maintenance. Revenues are raised from registration fees, donations, business sponsorships, concession sales, and fundraising activities. The Town has assisted the effort by donating $500/year, providing field space at Manson and Hawthorn Parks, and making the part-time Recreation Director available to help with some activities.


Pittsfield Grange.
A powerful influence in the social and economic life of Pittsfield is the Grange. Pittsfield Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, No. 102, received its charter on Feb. 20, 1875. Early meetings were held in hired halls where the rent amounted to a dollar a month. Sometimes meetings were held in the home of a member. In 1904 they built a hall of their own on Easy Street. Grangers help on community projects which benefit the non-Grangers as well as the member and his family. The Pittsfield Grange had a membership of 246 in 1948. The original “P of H 1904” sign (P of H = Patrons of Husbandry) is on permanent display at the Depot House Museum.


Pittsfield Town Band.
William Griffin, director, pictured here with the band in a 1949 photo.


1919 photo.

1919 photo.

Rebekkahs.
The Daughters of Rebekah are a female auxiliary of the International Order of Odd Fellows. The Rebekah Degree was first established in 1851 and there are separate Rebekah lodges today. This example shows the Odd Fellows three chain links symbol intertwined with the letter “R,” and a dove, representing peace, inside the letter “D.” The circular part of the “D” will often be depicted as a crescent moon.


Pittsfield R.N. Club about 1955

Pittsfield R.N. Club about 1955

The RN Club.
L to R: Elizabeth Walker, Julia Lehr, Fannie Gilman, Jeannette Fitts, Marion Stein, Mabel Salinen, Jean Maden, Dr. Ernest Stein, ?, Elizabeth Field, Katherine Aker, Phoebe Krause, ?, Marie Bradford, Eunice Harper, Rowena Fields.


The Sebasticook Club.
A women’s club originated February 14, 1937. The Sebasticook Club offered people from the region a chance to get together, play beano and raise funds to donate to charitable causes such as the Pine Tree Camp, Community Christmas Project, people burned out of their homes and people who are shut-ins. Club members also donate their time to efforts such as the repainting of the Depot House Museum and Caboose. The group met on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month from September to June and rotates locations between Newport, Detroit, Burnham and Pittsfield. There were 15 members when the Club closed in 2007.


Sebasticook Valley Boys & Girls Club.
The Boys & Girls Club was a membership-based organization currently without a permanent home, and was open to youth aged 6-16. An adult board of directors met on the first Wednesday of the month at the First Congregational Church to organize program activities, which include gymnastics, arts and crafts, roller skating, bowling, open gym and Hometown Video Nite. A supervisor is paid for one evening per week. The Club’s activities were funded through membership, donations and fundraising activities. The Town of Pittsfield makes a generous annual donation to the Club, which eventually closed its doors in the 1990’s.


Veterans of Foreign Wars and Ladies Auxiliary.
In 1997, the VFW had a 40-person membership from the greater Pittsfield area, restricted to those who were veterans of any U.S. foreign war. The primary purpose of the organization was to help the widows and children of veterans. The group built a new hall in 1996, at which it held its monthly meetings as well as community suppers, teen parties, and dances. The VFW also sponsored a turkey shoot and managed a firing range. The group did relinquish its charter and members are new welcome at Newport Charter.


Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
The WCTU was active in Pittsfield in 1909-1910, when this program was published.

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