(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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For several years before the trolley started operating in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in December 1901, residents argued about what route it should take - down the town's history-laden main street or alongside the existing railroad tracks to the west. This petition to the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives voiced opposition to a proposed legislative amendment that would have prohibited the trolley from going down the main street. Curiously, the handwriting is all that of one person, who is not identified. Judging from two notations that say "illigible" [sic], the original petitioners signed a paper and then someone copied the names on a fresh sheet to send to Boston. The track was eventually laid down the main street.

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