Because they picture a location as seen from above, aerial views such as this were commonly known as birds-eye views. This lithograph of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, shows the impact of the industrial revolution on a small, agricultural community. Numerous factories and mills cluster along the Deerfield River within close proximity to the railroad. The Lamson Goodnow cutlery works, the town’s largest manufacturer, dominates the landscape in the foreground. What appears to be a natural waterfall is actually a dam built in 1859, at the head of rapids in the river. Note the proximity of open farm land to that assigned for industrial use – a mixed landscape. At the bottom of the lithograph a key lists the town’s most important man-made assets: schools, churches, hotels, civic buildings and factories.
D. Bremner and Company. Shelburne Falls, Mass Birds-Eye View. Map/Plan. 1877. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1888-38-04/. Accessed on December 9, 2024.
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