Until 1834, the Congregational Church was the state church of Massachusetts. Its tax-supported status reflected a traditionally close connection between civil and religious authority.  The meetinghouse hosted both religious worship and town meetings. As Massachusetts began the process of slowly disestablishing the Congregational Church, towns moved meetings out of the meetinghouse and into “town houses,” or “town halls.”  After 1824, Deerfield held town meetings in the center district schoolhouse located on the common, and built a town hall after the school burned in 1841. In 1878, this building was rotated and expanded to accommodate three schoolrooms as well as town hall space. Extensive remodeling in 1925, altered the appearance of the building considerably. The building remained in use as a town hall until 1955. This photograph was taken sometime between 1880 and 1906.