Spring Street, Williamstown, Mass., 1906

About this postcard

A view down Spring Street, Williamstown's commercial row, with a brick block of storefronts and awnings on the right, frame buildings and a large shade tree on the left, and a domed tower rising above the trees at the far end of the street. A lone pedestrian in a light suit walks the sidewalk, while a horse-drawn rig and a figure with a parasol stand in the road. Williamstown sits in the Berkshire Hills of northwestern Massachusetts, and Williams College, whose campus lies just off this street, has shaped the village since the 1790s. In 1906 the town still moved at horse-and-wagon pace, and the shopfronts along Spring Street served both students and year-round residents.