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Historic Deerfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Historic Deerfield is name of an organization which maintains an "open air museum" in Old Deerfield, which is part of Deerfield, Massachusetts.
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Deerfield lies along the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Today Deerfield is mostly rural farming community with a growing number of suburban-style developments.
At the time of European contact, the area now known as Deerfield was inhabited by the indigeneous Pocumtuck nation. After the settlers forcibly expelled the Pocumtuck from their land the nation went north to seek out the protection of the French.
For much of the colonial period, Deerfield was the "Frontier" for southern and eastern New England. Because of its strategic placement, it was one of the towns that the French chose to attack during the French and Indian Wars. During the Winter of 1704, the palisade was breached, the population abducted, and the town razed to the ground. Some of the few remaining Pocumtuck took part in this raid for obvious reasons, as well as several other nations, most notably the Mohawk and Abenaki.
Almost all of those who survived the attack and the March were eventually allowed to return, although the "Unredeemed captive" (Eunice Williams) in John Demos' book of the same name chose not to. Deerfield was resettled, and the frontier pushed north.
Historic Deerfield's properties include 13 historically maintained houses, the Deerfield Inn, a gift shop, a visitor's center and the Flynt Center of Early New England Life, which holds the organization's workshops, as well as more than 25,000 objects that were made and used in America between 1650 and 1850.
Historic Deerfield's collections can be searched on the database maintained by the Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield.[1].
Historic Deerfield runs periodic workshops and seminars on historical subjects.
The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Memorial Hall Museum, and Deerfield Children's Museum also operate in Old Deerfield, maintain a web site, and organize events.[2]