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CITY BULLETIN BOARDS
-- Old
School --
Long before Internet Bulletin Boards... and even long before people received local newspapers at
home, there were newspaper bulleting boards, usally near the presses, to which people would flock to read and discuss
the posted news.
Sottile Park is literally a park-built-on-a-bridge. Before Sottile Park was constructed,
there was a concrete bridge barrier on which The Berkshire Evening Eagle, (later The Berkshire Eagle in 1957 when
it became a morning paper) had its newspaper bulletin board anchored over time. The Miller Families of Pittsfield, with a history of publishing dating back to the 1890s, owned the papers and the
bulletin boards.
There were at least two such bulletin boards. The one shown below is the last to be
constructed. By then standards of modern, it was leading edge: Headlines and text could be printed from
inside the flat-iron Eagle Building where the newspaper had its offices. However, as can be seen, photos had to
be carried from the newsroom and posted by hand in the showcases below the news. Also visible are basic weather
instruments which were a new addition from the older bulletin board. The last-standing bulletin board was removed
in 1957, years before Sottile Park construction began in 1984.
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One cannot write about Sottile Park without the inclusion
of the Miller Family's generosity
in 1985 to the city for Park maintenance
and their publication The
Berkshire Evening Eagle, later Berkshire Eagle,
the latter of which was sold in
1995.
Our inclusion of the Eagle brand
/ logo* is not meant to be coopting,
merely attributing photos and articles appearing in The Eagle.
Today, we foster a cordial relationship with the Berkshire Eagle.
Nonetheless, we are independent from them as they are us.
Our goal is to offer content which is different from theirs.
Opinions stated in this site,
if any, are solely ours.
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| The above bulletin board is the first which the Eagle had owned and used. |
Sottile Park is constructed from two parcels of land. The bridge over North Street and The Bridge Lunch,
a main street "fixture" if ever there was one. Running aside the bridge was a structual element which had
to be accommodated in the Park's design. To do so required a 14" elevation which actually improved the Park's appearance
and provided the raised section of the park.
In the above photo, is "The Eagle's" first
Community Bulletin Board. Further below, is the second which was short lived by comparison.
From the Bridge Lunch Diner, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
in February and March in 1985, workers and customers witnessed a phantom train pass on railroad tracks in front of the establishment.
The ghostly steam locomotive had a coal tender and pulled five coaches and a baggage car. Railroad officials confirmed that
no train of any kind were on the tracks at the time of the sighting.
In the Then & Now photos (c.The Berkshire Eagle) below, one can see the side of the Bridge Lunch and the concrete
bridge barrier. The viewer will notice the absence of the bulletin board which was shown above. A new bulletin
board, shown at the bottom, replaced the one in the above photo. It was taken down in 1954.
PHYSICAL CITY NEWSPAPER BULLETINS
Below is the second bulletin board
which the Berkshire Eagle built and maintained.
(c) Berkshire Eagle Archives
| BACK WHEN NORTH ST WAS PITTSFIELD'S REAL BROADWAY |
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| Note the back of The Berkshire Evening Eagle Bulletin Board at lower left. Eagle St. lights beyond. |
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