For residents interested in a bit of local history, Watkins Community Museum of History will be hosting a guest lecturer on Thursday.

Martha Parker, director of the Wakarusa Valley Heritage Area Museum near Clinton, will deliver a presentation on the history of the valley.

The Wakarusa Valley Heritage Museum features two permanent exhibits, “The Underground Railroad in Douglas County” and “The First 20 Years,” highlighting the early history of Clinton Lake.

Other temporary exhibits focus on local transportation, agriculture and veterinary medicine.

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War sponsor the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

The lecture will begin at

7 p.m. at Watkins Museum, 1047 Mass. For more information, visit watkinsmuseum.org or call 841-4109.