This sun-dappled view shows what is now Old Main Street-then a dirt road- at the very outset of the 20th century in the Historic Deerfield village section of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Flanked by massive elm trees, now lost , the roadway back then was called “The Street”- then and now- with fine examples of American homes in the Federal and Colonial style on both sides. Today, many of these same homes are open for public tours: the view an homage and pictorial document to the Deerfield the Allen sisters loved and called home.

Built in 1730, the Childs House, named after the family of Captain Timothy Childs, (1720-1781) can be seen at far right in this photograph. The Allen Sisters view shows the home before summer artist James Wells Champney added a covered front entranceway. Today, it is known as the Creelman House: “Purchased by Historic Deerfield in the fall of 2018, the Creelman house was home to James Wells Champney and his wife Elizabeth Williams Champney during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.  In 1886, the house was moved away from the street, creating a much larger front yard than is commonly seen for buildings of its age in Deerfield.” (source: Historic Deerfield: Then and Now)

Original copy for this entry posted to Facebook on September 24, 2012:

Old New England towns like Deerfield, Mass. are one of America’s treasures preserving historical architecture and worthy of a visit. Native sisters Mary and Frances Allen, who had lost their hearing before the end of the 19th century, were undeterred by their own handicaps and pursued the art of photography there, documenting neighbors and street scenes like this one that were in effect a love letter to the town itself.