In 1900, about 40% of Americans lived in rural areas. By 2010, less than 18% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. Massive economic and social changes led to massive growth of America’s cities. Through a partnership with the world’s largest museum complex, the Friends of the Great Falls Discovery Center proudly hosts “Crossroads: Changes in Rural America,” a traveling exhibit produced by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program in partnership with Mass Humanities. The exhibition offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes over the past century. Includes local exhibits on Franklin County, the most rural mainland county in Massachusetts – with Crossroads related programming venues throughout the county. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.

Crossroads will be on display in the Great Hall of the Great Falls Discovery Center during open hours Feb. 5 – March 18, in collaboration with the Friends of the Great Falls Discovery Center, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the town of Montague’s RiverCulture, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Montague Public Libraries, and New England Public Media. Open hours in February and March are: Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.