About the View

This was the view to the north from the offices of Blackboard Technology Group, located at 401 Main Street in Amherst, Massachusetts. The camera used a wide-angle lens, so objects are actually much closer than they appear.

The images were taken across Main Street, towards the Henry Hills House (built in 1862) at 390 Main Street. (The house is at the upper left, when not hidden by the foliage.) Henry was the son of Leonard M. Hills, a prominent palm-leaf hat manufacturer. Leonard Hills started his first hat factory on Main Street in 1829. In addition to continuing his father's hat manufacturing business, Henry Hills was president of the American Button Company and the Roper Repeating Rifle Company. The Italianate villa was designed by William Fenno Pratt, of Northampton.

If you were walking up Main Street (to the left) you would next pass the Leonard Hills House (also designed by Pratt and built in 1862) and the Emily Dickinson Homestead. The center of Amherst is about 5 blocks further on your left. (The main street of Amherst is not Main Street, but North Pleasant Street. Go figure!)