And That's the Way it Was

ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT THE WAY IT WAS?
How many times has someone asked you how to get to Wisdom, Old World, Stillwater, Great River, Pine Nook, Wapping, Turnip Yard, Dublin, Hoosic, Cheapside? What was the road network in Deerfield like before the construction of Route 116, Route 116 Bypass, Routes 5&10 bypass, and Interstate 91? When were Conway, Shelburne, Greenfield, and Gill broken off from Deerfield? Where were the ferries? What was the path of the stagecoach road from Conway through Deerfield to Sunderland and Montague? When did South Deerfield have seven grocery stores? When did Deerfield High and Frontier students spend their summers weeding onions, tending tobacco, picking cucumbers, or milking cows? Did the town ever higher a sheep herder?
Why did pitch pine virtually disappear from our landscape by 1713? Where was the first gristmill in town located? When did massive fires destroy much of the village center of South Deerfield or when did a gas works explosion turn buildings on Elm Street into rubble? When was the fire company founded? What is a portmonnaies? Why are nearly all residential lots south of the Bars located on the same compass bearing? When did 48 men have proprietary rights to all the land within Deerfield? What followed? When did the selectmen warn over 200 men and their families out of town? Why? When did German, Irish and Eastern European immigrants begin to arrive in numbers?
CURIOUS? THEN COME! This program is intended to be interactive. A panel of three past presenters in the historical series – Barbara Mathews, Gary Sanderson, and Peter Thomas - will engage with the audience to try to answer any questions or address specific topics members of the audience wish to explore. A photo essay covering numerous facets of Deerfield’s history will be shown initially to stimulate questions, but we would be delighted if folks would come ready to present questions of their own, as well as contribute insights into questions that may be asked. We hope this will be a joint learning experience for all who are so fond of Deerfield. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!