The Maplewood

The Maplewood, shown here circa 1900-1920 in an image from the Library of Congress and published online by lostnewengland.com, was located on the north side of Maplewood Avenue between North and First Streets in Pittsfield Massachusetts.

The property saw a variety of uses over two centuries, as farmland in the late 1700s, then a military base and prisoner of war camp during the War of 1812. By the 1820s, a school was established on the site, which became the Pittsfield Young Ladies Institute in 1841, and later the Maplewood Institute.

On July 1, 1859, the school hosted the country’s first intercollegiate baseball game. The campus ultimately consisted of an assortment of interconnected buildings built over the course of the 19th century but went into decline and closed in 1884. Three years later, the buildings were converted into a hotel, reopening as The Maplewood.

It was one of many resort hotels that sprang up in the Berkshires during the late 19th century and, like so many grand hotels of the Gilded Age, suffered in the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was sold at a bankruptcy auction in 1936. Nearly all of the buildings were demolished and the fountains were melted down as scrap metal during World War II.

The columns survive, donated to Tufts University, and now support a porch in front of Ballou Hall.