Memorial Hall Museum

Memorial Hall Museum is the oldest public museum in Massachusetts still in its original building — a brick structure from 1798 that was built for Deerfield Academy and later repurposed as a museum in 1880. The collection focuses on the town's history, with particular attention to the 1704 Raid on Deerfield when French and Native American forces attacked the colonial settlement, killing 56 people and taking 112 captive.

The most affecting object in the collection is the door of the John Sheldon House, which survived the raid. The hatchet marks cut into the wood on the night of February 29, 1704 are still clearly visible. The museum is operated by Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.

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A story
The 1704 raid was part of Queen Anne's War, the North American theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the colonial settlers, it was pure catastrophe: half the town killed or marched through the winter to Canada. Many captives never returned, either dying on the march or choosing to remain with their adopted communities after years of captivity.

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