Saturday Snapshot - Fall Doorways in Deerfield, Massachusetts

Last weekend, my husband and I joined friends on the campus of UMass- Amherst to participate in a fundraising walk/bike ride/run for the campus Hillel organization. The day was cloudy and drizzly, but the company was great fun. After everyone completed the route, SB and I dawdled our way back up the Connecticut River Valley and east toward our little corner of New Hampshire ...

Historic Deerfield Village is one of the stops we made along the way - I have promised myself that I would drive the little village street in autumn to get photos of the various architectural features of buildings that interest me. The doorways of homes that have been restored are especially ornate and reflect the different periods of the homes. The whole village holds a special place in colonial history (and my imagination), as it is the site of a particularly vicious attack by French military and their Native allies during Queen Anne's War. 

The massacre took place in the winter of 1704 and became famous for the numbers killed in the village and the numbers of captives that were taken back north to Canada. Over one hundred captives were driven out of the village and around eighty survived the trek north to the French and Indian settlements along the St. Lawrence River. Over the years following the massacre, great efforts were made to negotiate the return of the captives and many did, indeed, return to their families, but some chose to remain with the Native families and tribes into which they'd been adopted. I've often thought a novel about the whole event and era would be a terrific read ... 

If your imagination is piqued, check out the link below ... it tells the story of the attack and aftermath really well.

http://www.americanheritage.com/content/deerfield-massacre

The grey skies made for great lighting ... no washed out colors. You see the vibrancy of the paints, the details of the weathering on the old houses, and the contrasts with the leaves, flowers, and pumpkins. 

I have a hard time choosing my favorite ... how 'bout you?

shared with others at Saturday Snapshot

Special thanks to Melinda Ott for hosting this weekly photo share