(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved. Contact us for information about using this image.
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This post card view of Mount Sugarloaf shows the newly-built electric railway car (trolley) heading south near the junction of the roads to South Deerfield and Sunderland, Massachusetts. The trolley offered fast, regular, cheap, and silent transportation to the nation's rural population. Farm regions, like Deerfield, Massachusetts, took advantage of these small cars operating beside public roads far beyond city limits in the days before automobiles were common. The regular service and cheap fares encouraged men to work away from their farms and gave families an opportunity to explore the landscape. Most of the cars had open sides in the summer and windows for winter use.