GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Historical Society will open for the season this year in a fashion that will, at long last, mirror pre-pandemic times. 

The 2023 season opens on Saturday with the new exhibit, “Rivers, Roads & Railroads,” a celebration of Greenfield as a transportation and travel center, according to the Historical Society. 

“It feels we’ve finally gotten to the point where we’re able to be what we’ve dreamed of being,” Carol Aleman of the Historical Society said of the ability to open on a more regular schedule. The museum remained closed between 2020 and 2021, and in 2022 opened with limited dates for in-person walk-in hours. 

The museum and exhibit, located at 43 Church St., will be open every Saturday from May 20 to Sept. 30 between the hours of noon and 3 p.m., she said. Admission is free. 

“Our exhibit is just about ready for the opening,” she said. “We have two beautiful portraits of Theodore Judah and his wife Anna, who were so deeply involved with trying to develop a transcontinental railroad.”

Anna Feron Pierce Judah, who died in 1895, was the daughter of John J. Pierce, of the prominent Pierce family of Greenfield. Theodore Dehone Judah was a civil engineer instrumental in the design and establishment of the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s. He met Anna while headquartered in Greenfield, laying out the Connecticut River Railway.

Greenfield has long since been a “travel and transportation center,” according to Meg Baker, who curated the exhibit.

“Rivers served as early routes for travel, then roads crossed the rivers, bringing bridges, and, very importantly, trains,” she said.

The exhibit will feature photos, paintings, maps and other items, highlighting, in particular, recent donations from the estate of Peter Spencer Miller, including items of his grandfather Archie Spencer’s long career as an engineer on the Boston and Maine Railroad. These items supplemented many of the photographs and other documents that came from the museum’s collection. 

“We have an enormous riverboat oar that is on display,” Aleman said. “It’s the largest item in the collection.” 

An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported where certain documents and photographs came from. Items from Peter Miller’s estate were supplemented by the museum’s collection.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be re ached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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