Deerfield dates to 1673, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Old Deerfield Village Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 30 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Deerfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deerfield is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Deerfield’s overall grade.
Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Deerfield’s 167 sits above most of its state (73% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 86 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1673.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Deerfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
For several decades during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Deerfield was the northwesternmost outpost of New England settlement. It occupies a fertile portion of the upper Connecticut River Valley now known as the Pioneer Valley. It was vulnerable to attack because of its position near the Berkshires highlands. For these reasons it was the site of intertribal warfare and several Anglo-French and Indian skirmishes during its early history.
At the time of the English colonists' arrival, the Deerfield area was inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking Pocumtuck nation, who settled a major village by the same name.
Passages that mention Deerfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Deerfield, Massachusetts1895 · page 741Read the page →
Read the text
Whereas, the Instructions given to the Representative of the Town of Deerfield are expressed in such manner as renders it doubtful what the Intention of the Inhabitants of said Town of Deerfield is, relative to the Subject Matter of said Instructions, therefore Resolved, that Seth Catlin, Gent., John Williams, Gent., and Jonathan Ashley, Esq., all of Deerfield, in the County of Hampshire, be, and they are hereby ordered, forthwith to attend the General Court to make answer to such Questions as shall be put to them relative to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts1895 · page 871Read the page →
Read the text
bridge to purchace Cannon for a privateer belonging to your Petitioner, among those purchaced by the said Major Gray was one purchaced of Coll William Williams of Pittsfield, and that the said Major Gray came to Deerfield where the Cannon lay; in removing of it out of 'Fown was interrupted by the Committee of said Town of Deerfield and the Cannon Conveyed Back, to the loss and damage of your petitioner Therefore your petitioner humbly prays your Hon" would send
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Deerfield, Massachusetts1895 · page 871Read the page →
Read the text
bridge to purchace Cannon for a privateer belonging to your Petitioner, among those purchaced by the said Major Gray was one purchaced of Coll William Williams of Pittsfield, and that the said Major Gray came to Deerfield where the Cannon lay; in removing of it out of Town was interrupted by the Committee of said Town of Deerfield and the Cannon Conveyed Back, to the loss and damage of your petitioner Therefore your petitioner humbly prays your Hon™ would send
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts1895 · page 797Read the page →
Read the text
the Remonstrance. ^ 1809. The petitioners do not give np so, and May 8th they make another petition to the town for its consent that they be "set off from the town of Deerfield in order that we may obtain an act of the Legislattire of this Commonwealth to be annexed to the Town of Whately." They send the .same petition to the General Court again, except that the line of division is defined as beginning " at Conway line at the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Deerfield, 1673 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1673, according to Wikidata. Deerfield’s post office opened in 1800, and the first U.S. census counted 1,330 people here in 1790.
How does Deerfield rank for history?
Deerfield is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Deerfield?
One place: the Old Deerfield Village Historic District (listed 1966).
How old are the homes in Deerfield?
29% of Deerfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1972.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1865
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1907–1915
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★ Landmark