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Formed in 2014 as a way to share resources and better promote their respective collections, programs and events, the NH Heritage Museum Trail recently re-branded itself and its mission.

“We took a hard look at our objectives and capacity,” noted Mike Culver of the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, who expressed excitement at “a new future for The Trail.”

This new future, according to Jeff Barraclough of the Millyard Museum in Manchester, entails splitting The Trail into 3 branches: Seacoast, Merrimack Valley and Lake Region.

“It breaks The Trail into regions that correspond with how the state promotes New Hampshire, too, so we felt it was important to use that concept to drive how we market ourselves,” he said. “People cannot realistically visit all our museums in one trip, but they could visit one of our regions.”

In addition to breaking The Trail into three distinct, but connected, branches, a new mission and vision was formed to better reflect how individual museum members view one another as part of the group.

The new mission statement is “NH Heritage Museum Trail: Connecting the public with culturally rich heritage institutions in New Hampshire.”

The new vision statement is “Our member museums will be recognized as significant leading cultural institutions which preserve and promote an understanding and appreciation of our
national and state heritage.”

Both Culver and Barraclough expressed excitement at the evolution of the NH Heritage Museum Trail.

“Our museums capture the spirit and history of the state from across more than 3 centuries,” said Culver.

“Barraclough agreed and added, “We look forward to reintroducing ourselves to the public in 2018. New Hampshire has such a rich and underappreciated history, and our member museums are perfectly positioned to shed light on different aspects of it for people of all ages.”

In total, 17 museums make up the NH Heritage Museum Trail. Stops on The Trail include Canterbury, Concord, Dover, Exeter, Laconia, Manchester, Moultonborough, Plymouth, Plymouth, Tamworth and Wolfeboro.