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This fortified door is one of only two surviving exterior doors dating from the 17th century. Salvaged from the house John Sheldon built in 1699, the door has come to symbolize the Deerfield Raid, a conflict between Deerfield's early settlers and the French and Native Americans. When the house was taken down in 1848, residents began to question the fate of other relics of their past. This concern eventually resulted in the formation of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and the opening of Memorial Hall, where the "Old Indian House door" and other material evidence of the past could be safely housed and displayed. Through its presence, the memory of the 1704 attack by French and Native Americans from Canada remained alive, helping to foster an unusual degree of historical consciousness among residents and visitors to the town.

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