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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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From the early 1800s, residents and those visiting the Connecticut River Valley lauded its pastoral beauty. Views of the river and mountains enthralled landscape artists and travelers alike. Equally captivating for many tourists were the rolling fields and farms that dotted this bucolic and 'tamed' landscape. The Connecticut River Valley thus had been a tourist destination for over a century when the Boston and Maine Railroad commissioned this postcard view of the Deerfield Valley in about 1900. The idyllic rural scene was one of a series of "New England Views" designed to appeal to travelers seeking out natural and pastoral views. Interest in farm and village life in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and other villages was part of a growing nostalgia for and fascination with New England's pre-industrial past.

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