If you have ever taken a walk through the forests of Massachusetts chances are that you've seen stone walls and possibly stumbled across crumbling stone foundations. You may have wondered who built the walls and why. What were those foundations - a house, barn, mill?

The Plainfield Historical Society recently received a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities to put toward a project to help families discover the history of the town by matching historical records to cultural remains in a series of self-guided outings. These excursions will include remnants of mills, houses and dams as well as the ecology and geology of the area. They will be designed for a combination of biking, driving, walking or snowshoeing and will encourage active participation through asking questions or encouraging exploration.

The Plainfield Historical Society has a wealth of records including land transactions from the 1770's to the early 1900's as well as more than 50 hand drawn maps. They have gathered this information into a database and digitized the maps to create a "usable guide to the landscape as it exists today". The database also includes the text of the deeds) such as who witnessed the deeds, who was indebted to whom, as well as their occupation) which allows us to peek into the private life of early residents.

Join them to learn more: The first public introduction of the project is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of Oct 13/14 at the Plainfield Town Hall. At this meeting Plainfield Historical Society member's, Brian Hawthorne and Clara Bouricius, will introduce the project and share concepts for some of the tours. They plan on designing the tours over the winter and next spring.

For more information contact: the Plainfield Historical Society: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Hidden Walls, Hidden Mills grew out of the ongoing Plainfield History.Mdb project. The task force is lead by Clara Bouricus (PhD, History of American Civilization, Harvard 1997), independent consulting historian and old house carpenter. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

"This program is funded in part by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities."