After a successful first run last year, the Hilltown History Trail is back, with six museums opening their doors to transport visitors back in time. 

The tour, which is taking place Saturday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include museums in Shelburne, Buckland, Ashfield, Plainfield and Cummington. 

Last year about 500 visitors came to the six open museums, sparking excitement in the regional historical society community for a potential model to increase the visibility of these small museums. 

“This started a movement,” said Bill Hosley, an independent museum scholar.

Based on the success of last summer’s Hilltown History Trail, the Pioneer Valley History Network applied for a grant to kickstart history trails across the region. This summer there will be five history trails, all sponsored by the Pioneer Valley History Network. 

Hosley explained the vast majority of the museums in America are small; small museums outnumber large institutions 20 to one. 

These museums rarely see days with large volumes of visitors despite being filled with local treasures in every room, he said.

The excitement caused by the history trail last year, Hosley said, could be a “game changer” for sustainability and support for small museums. 

The history trails this year include Hilltown History Trail, Aug. 5, Changing Boundaries Trail, Aug. 19, Following The Trolley Trail, Oct. 14, Tri-town History Trail, Oct. 14 and West Side History Trail, Nov. 4.

Hilltown History Trail Director Stacy Kontrabecki recommends visitors should “sink their teeth” into a select couple of the six museums on the tour but says that visiting all six is possible and many accomplished it last year. 

Cummington will open its tavern from the 1800s for the day. Plainfield will have a doctor’s office from 1824 on display. The Buckland Historical Society will display the possessions of James Avery, the man who raised the world’s largest oxen in the late 1800s.

Susan Samoriski, chair of the Buckland Historical Society, noted the Buckland Historical Society Museum has a special exhibit on display about the "Caged Man of Buckland,” an 18th-century Buckland man who spent 57 years locked in a wooden cage by his family. The exhibit is curated by Kathy Lytle.

The Wilder Homestead in Buckland is currently reconstructing its historic barn by taking it apart piece by piece. Visitors can watch the progress of the project. 

There will be a raffle at each of the museums. Prizes include a framed Robert Strong Woodward print, an Arms Academy folding chair, two tickets to Plainfield’s labor day barbecue and history books from various participating towns. 

Museums include: Ashfield Historical Society Museum, 457 Main St., Ashfield, MA; Wilder Homestead, 129 Ashfield Rd. (112 S), Buckland, MA; Buckland Historical Society Museum, 20 Upper St., Buckland, MA; Shaw-Hudson House, 286 Main St., Plainfield, MA; Kingman Tavern, 41 Main St., Cummington, MA; and Shelburne Historical Society Museum, 33 Severance St., Shelburne Falls, MA.

“I am positive it will be better than ever. There is a lot of interest in local history,” Samoriski said. “It’s not often people have the opportunity to visit these places.”

Reach Bella Carmela Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com

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