As seen in this poetic picture by noted photographer Clifton Johnson, River Street in Conway, Massachusetts, contained a mix of homes and industry. Many of the original homelots, granted to Deerfield residents, were located along this road. In 1767, Caleb Sharp (also known as Sharp Caleb), formerly enslaved and of mixed Indigenous and African American heritage, built  the first mill in Conway- a gristmill, on this street. River Street runs alongside part of the South River, a tributary of the Deerfield River that bisected Conway and supplied power for many industries. The Methodist church in the background was built in 1871.