These Mysterious Hills 'Macabre Pittsfield' October Walking Tours

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Journalist Joe Durwin offer four walking tours looking into the city's darker past.

Reserve your tickets by emailing info@berkshirehomehistory.com. Visit TheseMysteriousHills.com for more info

City of the Dead: Pittsfield Cemetery

Oct 10, 17 & 30  at 6pm - $10

"City of the Dead" will explore fascinating and tragic stories from some of the more obscure lives of those buried here. It will also lay bare the darker history of the place itself: the vandalism, assaults, exhumations, reinterments, and tragic deaths that have taken place within the cemetery itself.

Ghosts of the Gilded Age: Downtown Pittsfield

Oct 16 & 24 at 6pm

Explore ghoulish legends of the historic Park Square district and a glimpse into Pittsfield in the Gilded Age. An easy stroll around several iconic houses, venues, and other important buildings of downtown.

Dark Origins- 1800s: Downtown Pittsfield

Oct 24 at 8pm - $10
A walk back in time through the dirt and cobble-stones of early Pittsfield, past its burial grounds and nefarious saloons, its brothels, opium dens, and grisly crime scenes. 

Roaring 20s: Downtown Pittsfield

Oct 25 at 6pm - $10

From forgotten LGBT history to bootlegging, jewel heists, serial murder,  and the rise of the KKK, this walk chronicles the decade that set the tone for a whole century.

These Mysterious Hills began in 2004 as a regular column in the Advocate Weekly newspaper, and has become an archive of obscure Berkshire county history, with walking tours and other special events offered regularly since 2015.

Colombian Artist Celebrates Immigrant Stories in New Pittsfield Mural

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
06:49AM / Saturday, October 24, 2026

Artist Laura Barrios explains the  inspiration of the mural, of immigrants building new lives in the Berkshires.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The walls along the Intermodal Center's train platform are a little more colorful following the unveiling of Let It Shine's third mural at that location, transforming a space once surrounded by bare concrete into a vibrant display of public art.

 

The unveiling on Thursday, marks the close of Let It Shine's 2026 outdoor public art season and the third year of its emerging artist program, said Mill Town Foundation Program Director Andy Wrba. 

 

Let It Shine's Emerging Artists Mentorship program was established in 2024 to support aspiring artists in the community by providing guidance, hands-on experiences, and opportunities to create large-scale public art.

 

"This mural, along with all the murals, as part of this emerging artist program, and even more broadly, all the murals that you see downtown throughout Pittsfield shows that we care about the cultural scene and we care about the creative people that live and work in our city," Wrba said.

 

The new mural, painted by Colombian artist Laura Barrios, celebrates immigrants who have built lives and found a sense of home in Berkshire County.

 

Barrios has been working on the piece for the last two months alongside mentor artist, Jesse Tobin McCauley. 

 

"It's a homage to the immigrants who work and make a home in the Berkshires … this is a very personal experience too because I am an immigrant," Barrios said in her speech.