Deerfield Valley Agricultural Society Fairgrounds

Set on a plateau above the hill town of Charlemont, these 24 acres once hosted the annual fair of the Deerfield Valley Agricultural Society. The grounds keep three defining features from the fair era: a half-mile dirt racetrack, a two-story exhibition building from about 1889, and a slate-roofed grandstand from 1892. Open space inside and outside the oval was used for temporary tents, corrals, concessions and parking at fair time. The society formed in 1870 because farmers in remote upland towns found it too costly and difficult to move livestock to the county fair in Greenfield. The fair ran from 1871 until 1934, after which the land sat unused, passed to a private owner, and was later conveyed to the town. Today it is a public park. Newer additions, including a demolition derby area, a draw pit, an information booth and a picnic pavilion, are considered noncontributing. The exhibition building and grandstand are described as exceptionally rare survivors in Massachusetts.