Detail 2
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Detail 1

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Because they picture a spot as seen from above, views such as this were known as birds-eye views. This print is of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Shelburne Falls used to be a farming area but in this picture many factories and mills can been seen along the Deerfield River near the railroad. The Lamson Goodnow cutlery works, the town's largest factory, is the big building in the front of the picture. What seems to be a natural waterfall is really a dam built in 1859 at the head of rapids in the river. Note how close open farmland is to the land set aside for factories - a mixed landscape. At the bottom of the print a key lists the town's most important buildings: schools, churches, hotels, town government buildings and factories.

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