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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This coal wagon was photographed in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, at the main receiving station for the town of Deerfield. South Deerfield's station became the stopping point for a number of freight trains, and this man probably was waiting for a delivery of coal. The first coal was discovered in America in 1701, and the first American mining of coal began in 1748. Coal was used for home heating in New England until the mid-1960s.

This photograph comes from the Howes Brothers collection of photographs. The Howes Brothers, based in Ashfield, Massachusetts, made more than 20,000 images of New England rural life from 1890 to around 1910, offering a glimpse into the lives of people rarely visible in history.

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