(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved. Contact us for information about using this image.
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More and more Americans took to the road on bicycles and automobiles at the turn of the 20th century. Demands for smoother, improved roads increased as the number of riders and drivers increased. The Mohawk Trail was an ancient route dating from North America's post-glacial period some ten thousand years ago. By the late 1800s, it had become a popular destination for drivers seeking out scenic roads and vistas. This postcard, from around 1915, shows the Mohawk Trail as it looked when the Massachusetts State Legislature designated it a scenic route in 1914. The road was not paved until six years later.