Historic Deerfield

Deerfield Academy is an independent coeducational boarding preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States.

Deerfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Deerfield in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 643 at the 2010 census. It corresponds roughly to the area of Historic Deerfield, a historic district comprising the original town center of Deerfield. It is the home of Deerfield Academy, a college-preparatory school.

Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in western Massachusetts, lying 30 miles (48 km) north of the city of Springfield. Deerfield includes the villages of South Deerfield and Old Deerfield, which is home to two museums: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and Historic Deerfield, Inc. Historic Deerfield is designated as a National Historic Landmark district, and the organization operates a museum with a focus on decorative arts, early American material culture, and history. Its eleven house museums offer interpretation of society, history, and culture from the colonial era through the late nineteenth century. The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association operates Memorial Hall Museum, which opened in 1880, as well as the Indian House Memorial Children's Museum and Bloody Brook Tavern. The site of early 18th century colonial battles including the Raid on Deerfield, the town is a center of heritage tourism in the Pioneer Valley. Deerfield has numerous schools, including Deerfield Academy, a private secondary preparatory school; Frontier Regional High School; Deerfield Elementary; and two separate private junior boarding schools, Bement School, which is co-ed, and Eaglebrook School, which is a school for boys.

The Raid on Deerfield, also known as the Deerfield Massacre, occurred during Queen Anne's War on February 29, 1704, when French and Native American raiders under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville attacked the English colonial settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, just before dawn. They burned parts of the town and killed 47 colonists. The raiders left with 112 colonists as captives, whom they took overland the nearly 300 miles to Montreal; some died or were killed along the way because they were unable keep up. Roughly 60 colonists were later ransomed by their associates, while others were adopted by Mohawk families at Kahnawake and became assimilated into the tribe. In this period, English colonists and their Indian allies were involved in similar raids against French villages along the northern area between the spheres of influence. Typical of the small-scale frontier conflict in Queen Anne's War, the French-Indian forces consisted of French soldiers and about 240 Indian warriors, mostly Abenaki (from what is now Maine), but including Huron (Wyandot) from Lorette, Mohawk from Kahnawake (both mission villages), and a number of Pocomtuc who had once lived in the Deerfield area. Given the diversity of personnel, motivations, and material objectives, the raiders did not achieve full surprise when they entered the palisaded village. The defenders of some fortified houses in the village successfully held off the raiders until arriving reinforcements prompted their retreat. However, the raid was a clear victory for the French coalition that aimed to take captives and unsettle English colonial frontier society. More than 100 captives were taken, and about 40 percent of the village houses were destroyed. Although predicted because of existing tensions during the war, the raid shocked colonists throughout New England. Conflict increased with the French and French-allied Indians. Frontier settlements took actions to fortify their towns and prepare for war. The raid has been immortalized as a part of the early American frontier story, principally due to the published account by a prominent captive, the Rev. John Williams, who was the principal leader of the village. He and much of his family were taken on the long overland journey to Canada. His seven-year-old daughter Eunice was adopted by a Mohawk family; she became assimilated, married a Mohawk man, and had a family with him. Williams's account, The Redeemed Captive, was published in 1707 soon after his release, and was widely popular in the colonies. It became part of the genre known as captivity narratives.

Eaglebrook School is an independent junior boarding and day school for boys in grades six through nine. It is located in Deerfield, Massachusetts, on the Pocumtuck Range near Deerfield Academy and sited on an 724-acre (2.93 km2) campus which is also preserved by the Deerfield Wildlife Trust. Eaglebrook School is accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE).

Fort Devens was a census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It encompassed the former Fort Devens. The population was 1,017 at the 2000 census. Prior to the 2010 census, the area was redefined as the Devens census-designated place.

WGAJ (91.7 FM) was a radio station broadcasting an album oriented rock format, as well as live broadcasts of sporting and cultural events of Deerfield Academy. Licensed to Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States, the station was formerly owned by Trustees of Deerfield Academy, offering students an opportunity to learn broadcast technology and operations with a working radio station. WGAJ FM went silent on May 19, 2009. In July 2010 the Trustees of Deerfield Academy filed with the Federal Communications Commission to assign WGAJ's license to WFCR Foundation, Inc., owner of WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts. The sale price was $10,000. The commission approved the sale on August 19, 2010. The station call letters were changed to WNNZ-FM and it now carries NPR news/talk programming full-time.

The Pocumtuck Range, also referred to as the Pocumtuck Ridge, is the northernmost subrange of the Metacomet Ridge mountain range of southern New England. Located in Franklin County, Massachusetts, between the Connecticut River and the Deerfield River valleys, the Pocumtuck Range is a popular hiking destination known for its continuous high cliffs, scenic vistas, and microclimate ecosystems.

The Green River is a tributary of the Deerfield River in southern Vermont and northwestern Massachusetts in the United States. The Green River had an influential role in the settlement and economic growth of the towns in its watershed. Greenfield, Massachusetts, where the river ends, got its name from the Green River. The largest water user of the Green River is the Greenfield Water Department which draws 2.12 million gallons of water per day through a combination of surface and groundwater sources.

The Pocumtuck Ridge Trail is a 20-mile (32 km) footpath that traverses the Pocumtuck Range of Deerfield and Greenfield, Massachusetts. The trail is known for its dramatic views of the Deerfield River and Connecticut River valleys from extensive cliff faces. It traverses the ridgeline from Sugarloaf Mountain, at the southern end of the range, in the Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation, north over the main ridgeline of Pocumtuck Ridge, to Poet's Seat in Greenfield. Seventy percent of the footway is located on conservation land. As of May 2010, an exception exists approximately one mile north of the east–west crossing high tension power line that is itself north of Stage Road and Ridge Road in Deerfield. Here, a private landowner has barricaded the trail with orange snow fencing, and has posted a plethora of no-trespassing signs including "you do not have permission to be here" and "you are being watched."

The Franklin County Fairgrounds are located at 85 Wisdom Way in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Established in 1865 (for a fair begun in 1848), they are among the oldest and best-preserved fairgrounds in the state, featuring an oval racetrack and a variety of exhibition and midway buildings. The grounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 2011.

Franklin County is a nongovernmental county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,029, which makes it the least-populous county on the Massachusetts mainland, and the third-least populous county in the state. Its traditional county seat and most populous city is Greenfield. Its largest town by area is New Salem. Franklin County comprises the Greenfield Town, MA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Springfield-Greenfield Town, MA Combined Statistical Area.