Village Overview

Historic Deerfield Inc., founded in 1952, is an outdoor history museum that focuses on the history and culture of the Connecticut River Valley and early New England.  It has a dual mission of educating the public about the lifestyles of the diverse people who lived here long ago and of preserving antique buildings and collections of regional furniture, silver, textiles, and other decorative arts. First settled in 1669, Deerfield is one of the few towns settled by English colonists along the eastern seaboard that retains its original scale and town plan. Visitors are offered guided and self-guided tours of 12 antique houses ranging in age from 1730 to 1850. Eleven of these houses are on their original sites.

The village has been on the National Register of Historic Landmarks since 1962. We interpret more than 300 years of stories that reflect the rich and diverse social, cultural and economic history of Deerfield and the region. The Pocumtucks, English, French, enslaved and free Africans, as well as later immigrant groups such as the Polish frame the stories Historic Deerfield tells. These stories, along with more than 27,000 objects in the collection, make Historic Deerfield a center for education for thousands of annual visitors and scholarship supported by our research library with the most comprehensive collection of materials relating to the history and material culture of Deerfield and the Connecticut River Valley, including the 21,000 volumes of the Henry N. Flynt Library of Historic Deerfield (reference works, microfilm and newspapers), and the Flynt Center for Early New England Life, a state-of-the-art museum facility featuring exhibitions and a visible storage area modeled on those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Museums

The museums of Historic Deerfield comprise 12 period museum houses dating from c1730 to 1872, the Flynt Center of Early New England Life, and the Memorial Libraries. Exhibiting one of the top half-dozen collections of American decorative arts in the U.S., including more than 27,000 objects made or used in America from 1650 to 1900, with special interest in the history, art, and culture of Deerfield and the Connecticut River Valley with significant collections of 18th and 19th-century American furniture; English and Chinese export ceramics,; American silver; and American and English textiles and clothing. The Flynt Center of Early New England Life features changing exhibitions as well as “The Museum’s Attic,” the study/storage of 2,500 choice antiques, and a seminar room for workshops and lectures.

The Memorial Libraries include the 23,000 volumes of the Henry N. Flynt Library of Historic Deerfield (reference works, microfilm and newspapers), as well as the printed books, manuscripts, diaries, ledgers, and related materials of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library.  The Memorial Libraries are the most comprehensive collection of materials relating to the history and material culture of Deerfield and the Connecticut River Valley. Students, scholars and the public are welcome.