pittsfield was settled in 1770, when john cram erected a sawmill on the suncook river and built his house, now part of the washington house at the central washington square. the first meeting house was built in 1789, roughly midway between his house and mill, the route between these points defining what is now main street. taverns were built near the meeting house soon afterward, creating the nucleus of a town center. in the 19th century, the river's water power was harnessed for use by textile mills, resulting in the construction of both mills and mill worker housing. one boarding house, built in 1827 for single women who worked in an early textile mill, is among the oldest buildings of its type in the state. the arrival of the railroad in 1869 spurred another development boom, in which the shoe industry took hold.