History lovers take note: the fourth annual Hilltown History Trail will take place on Aug. 2.

Ten historical society museums will be opening their doors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a rarity in the hilltowns where the small museums are run by volunteers with limited hours, History Trail organizer Stacy Kontrabecki said.

“It’s pretty unique to have so many small places open at the same time,” Kontrabecki said. “Most of these museums, it’s just local people opening the doors when they have time.”

The Hilltown History Trail was loosely inspired by other trails throughout the region, such as pottery trails, asparagus trails, etc., and a tour Kontrabecki took of the Plainfield Historical Museum. She said the museum is typically only open by appointment, and after visiting it, she asked them if they would consider opening up during one of the Buckland Historical Society’s open house days.

With support of a few cultural council grants, the Hilltown History Trail has grown to welcome more historical society museums. Kontrabecki said the participating museums differ from year to year depending on the availability and energy of each museusm’s volunteers.

This year’s trail includes several museums from previous years' trails, as well as, for the first time, the Historical Society museums of Hawley, Heath, and Rowe.

“I wanted to fill my roster with a few new towns. It’s exciting. I have 10 locations that will be able to be explored,” Kontrabecki said. “I anticipate it’ll be a different lineup each year.”

Participating museums are: ​Buckland Historical Society Museum (20 Upper St., Buckland), ​Wilder Homestead (129 Ashfield Rd., Buckland), The Kemp-McCarthy Museum (282 Zoar Rd., Rowe), Browning Bench Tool Factory (Pond Road, Rowe), Kingman Tavern (41 Main St., Cummington), Shelburne Historical Society Museum (33 Severance St., Shelburne Falls), The Old Town House (6 East Main St., Heath), The Center Schoolhouse (11 East Main St., Heath), Hawley's Old Town Common (across from 235 East Hawley Rd., Hawley), and East Hawley Meetinghouse (332 East Hawley Rd., Hawley).

She said museums are usually quite enthusiastic about joining the trail, because “everybody wants to tell their story.”

The museums tell the story of the hilltowns, when and by whom they were settled, the tribal nations that lived there before, and what the townspeople have done in the years since.

She said the Shelburne Historical Society museum has an exhibit on “the rich history” of the Indigenous people that have lived in town, the Kingman Tavern Museum in Cummington “feels like walking into a movie set” with all the artifacts and a model general store, and the Buckland Historical Society has an display on the caged man of Buckland, Josiah Spaulding, who was said to be a “raving maniac” and was locked in a wooden cage for 57 years in the 18th century.

“You could easily spend all day exploring,” Kontrabecki said. “It’s not just plows and old newspaper clippings. Each museum has something unique to share.”

Kontrabecki added that while it would be difficult to visit all of the museums in a single day, as they all have so much to showcase, the trail also gives participants a chance to drive through the hilltowns, take in the natural beauty of the landscape, and reflect on how it has changed over the years.

“The beauty you enjoy on this trail is very different then what you would see if you were riding your horse on this trail back then,” Kontrabecki said. “The way you see things today is not what you would have seen in the past, but today is a result of the past.”

All museums participating in the trail will be open for free, and donations will be accepted to support each museum.

For more information about the trail and a map of locations, visit bucklandmasshistory.org.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com