Editing Pittsfield, Illinois (section)

==History==

Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from [[New England]].  These settlers were of old [[Yankee]] stock, descended from the English Puritans who had founded and settled [[New England]] in the 1600s.  A group of settlers from [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]] headed west and settled this region of [[Illinois]] in 1820.  When they arrived the area was a virgin wilderness, they constructed farms, roads and government buildings.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhwVAAAAYAAJ&q=history+of+pike+county |title = History of Pike County, Illinois: Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws|year = 1880}}</ref><ref>The expansion of New England: the spread of New England settlement and institutions to the Mississippi River, 1620-1865 by Lois Kimball Matthews page 211</ref>

As county seat, the town was one of the various places in central Illinois where [[Abraham Lincoln]] practiced law as part of the circuit court, working on 34 cases between 1839 and 1852. One local newspaper, now known as the ''Pike Press'', was then owned by another of Lincoln's future secretaries, [[John Nicolay]], and featured an editorial containing one of the first known suggestions of Lincoln as the Republican nominee for the presidency. Pittsfield was also home to [[John Hay]], [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's]] personal secretary, ambassador to England under President [[William McKinley]], later Secretary of State for [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and creator of the [[Open Door Policy]].

Pittsfield is the self-proclaimed "Pork Capital" of the Midwest, owing to the long history of pork production in the region, which fed into the large meat-packing industry of Chicago. Though agriculture in the region is no longer so dependent on pork, the town still hosts a yearly "Pig Days" festival.

The local high school football team, the Saukees, still holds the record for longest winning streak in the state, and the 21st longest in the country.  Starting with their season opening 6–0 win over North Greene in 1966, the Pittsfield Saukees reeled off 64 consecutive wins, which included 15 straight shutouts between 1969 and 1971. In 1970, the team outscored their opponents 341-0 and allowed negative rushing yards for the season. The streak extended all the way through to the second game of the 1973 season, when Pittsfield dropped a 12-0 decision to Winchester, Illinois.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/10/17/pittsfields-mark-a-powerful-draw/ |title=Pittsfield's Mark A Powerful Draw - Chicago Tribune |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008021113/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-10-17/sports/9710170087_1_pittsfield-high-school-illinois-big-deal |archive-date=2014-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.maxpreps.com/list/all_time_streaks.aspx?gendersport=boys,football|title=Longest High School Football Winning Streaks - MaxPreps|website=www.maxpreps.com|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/high-school/ct-greatest-illinois-high-school-football-teams-spt-1119-20171118-story.html|title=The 32 greatest Illinois high school football teams of all time|last=Bannon|first=Will Larkin, Tim|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref>

Pittsfield's Saukees basketball team won the Illinois State basketball title in 1991 under Coach David T. Bennett, who was later installed into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/03/10/its-underwhelming-but-pittsfield-champ/ |title=It's Underwhelming, But Pittsfield Champ - Chicago Tribune |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317092805/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-03-10/sports/9101220530_1_rain-or-shine-seneca-class-2a-state-football |archive-date=2014-03-17}}</ref> Exactly 20 years later in 2011, the Saukees would return to the Illinois State basketball court and take home the 4th place title under Coach Brad Tomhave.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sj-r.com/article/20110313/News/303139964|title=Pittsfield boys settle for 4th place at state (video)|last=Kane|first=Dave|website=The State Journal-Register|language=en|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref>

Pittsfield is the setting for [[Jamie Gilson]]'s book ''Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs''. Singer/songwriter [[Sufjan Stevens]] wrote a song about Pittsfield on his album ''[[The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album|The Avalanche]]''.