Old Deerfield, Massachusetts

Museums of Deerfield

Memorial Hall Museum / Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association / Deerfield Children's Museum

EXPLORE nineteen exhibition rooms on three floors at your own pace with self-guided tours.  HEAR OR DOWNLOAD Yankee Magazine's audio tour of the museum.  VISIT the Museum Gift Shop, featuring New England crafts and museum publications or go to our on line Museum Store .

About Us      

Become a Member Today!  Make a Donation!         

1799Asher Benjamin, Architect                                                                                             
1880 Renovated as a museum.

Dinosaur Tracks Project/ MCC Adams Planning Grant

Description and Articles

Veterans Education Project (VEP)

Seldom Heard Voices of World War Two Oral History Project

Project information:  Press Release and articles

2009 Exhibits

May 1 - November 1

Don’t Smile for the Camera: Another Angle on Early Photography
Prompted smiles have been part of our cultural consciousness for the past hundred
years. These facades of happiness contrast starkly with the solemn
expressions in early photographs. This exhibition of seventy five 19th -
to early 20th - century photographs will challenge your perception of
how people should pose for the camera.

Read a review of the exhibit by Michael Miller in The Berkshire Review.

2009 Sixth Biennial Old Deerfield Quilt Challenge

Memorial Hall Museum’s “Laurel Leaves” quilt serves as the inspiration for the 2009 Sixth Biennial Old Deerfield Quilt Challenge sponsored by the Hands Across the Valley Quilters Guild. The red and green appliqué quilt was made by Betsy Rice Nims (1751-1852) of Charlemont and/or her daughters around 1840. “Laurel Leaves” will be exhibited alongside quilts created recently by New England quilters participating in the challenge—all based on some aspect of the Nims quilt. The ever-popular and inspiring Old Deerfield Quilt Challenge provides a venue for today’s creative and skilled quilters, while celebrating favorites from Memorial Hall Museum’s extensive quilt collection.

Covered Bridges

Robert Strong Woodward, Charlemont, Ma, c. 1935

In the late-nineteenth century, photographers such as Clifton Johnson began documenting Franklin County’s covered bridges. Painters were also drawn to these local landmarks. Between about 1925 and 1935, four artists were inspired to paint these wooden structures. Although Marie Day Alexander, Clara Alquist, Kenneth Stinson, and Robert Strong Woodward looked to the same subject matter, each of these artists made distinct use of light, color, and texture to create their paintings. Little did the artists know that some of the bridges they painted would not survive more than a few years.

See our Special Events page for a list of events.    See our collections on-line, click here.

BRING your family and friends. Children are welcome!

RESEARCH your family genealogy in the Museum Library.

LIBRARY Memorial Libraries open Monday through Friday,
9 AM to 5 PM.

Click for more information on the Memorial Libraries.
(a new window will open)

The new Children's Museum at Indian House Memorial in Old Deerfield, Massachusetts daily (during August and weekends Sept-Oct. 9) offers children a number of hands-on experiences of history. Ashley Storrow was one of the students in the museum's special summer school.

For summer activities at the Children's Museum, see August listings on special events page.

Many of the exhibitions are displayed in the same spirit as they were 100 years ago. When you step into Memorial Hall, you step back in time.

Museum is open daily May 1st through October 31st. Hours are 11:00 AM- 5:00 PM. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for youth/students 6 to 21.

The Old Deerfield Children's Museum
at Indian House Memorial
Admission is included on the ALL OF DEERFIELD ticket and is a choice on the MEMORIAL HALL SINGLE BUILDING ticket.  All others: Adults $6.00, Student: $3.00 (age 13-18), Child: Free (through age 12)  Hours: 11:00A.M. - 5:00 P.M. daily the month of August, 2007.  Weekends Sept. into Oct.

The first floor is open for viewing and hands-on activities. The door is kept locked.  Please ring the bell for admission.  Ongoing hands-on activities: Dress in 18th century clothing, try out a straw mattress, play with old-time toys, card and spin wool, read from a hornbook and write with a quill pen, make a tavern game, carry buckets with a yoke on you shoulders, find out what's for dinner in a 1700 kitchen, and mind your 18th century manners.

ADMISSION: for Memorial Hall Museum is only $6.00 for adults; $3.00 for youth/students ages 6-21; free for members and children under 6. Children must be accompanied by an adult. A joint All of Deerfield Ticket is available to visit Memorial Hall and Historic Deerfield, Inc.'s 14 historic houses. Adults are $14.00 and youth/students ages 6-21 are $5.00. The ticket is valid for two consecutive days.

GROUP TOURS and rates are available upon request. Programs, lectures, school groups and luncheons can be arranged for groups with a minimum of 15 people.

HOURS: Daily, May 1 to November 2, 11:00 - 5:00.

Prisoner Halter, Kanien'kehaka Mohawk, Quebec, Canada, 1746

See our map and guide to African American sites. Historic Sites Guide

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DIRECTIONS: Memorial Hall is located on the corner of Memorial Street and Rt. 5 & 10 in Deerfield, Massachusetts. From the south, take I-91 North to Exit 24, then drive 6 miles north on Rt. 5. From the north, take I-91 South to Exit 25, and follow signs for Rt. 5 North 5 miles to Deerfield.