SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Elementary students from Central School are getting ready to take a Hike Through History and will visit several key stops in the downtown as well as cross the state line to learn about the nearby mills this Friday.

While this is the 18th year students have taken part in the field trip, this is the first year it has involved Rollinsford, N.H., which is just across the Salmon Falls River from the downtown, according to Pam Mulcahey, the second grade teacher at Central School who’s organizing the event.

“It’s because the mills in Rollinsford and the role they played,” Mulcahey said.

Like many other mill towns, Mulcahey said Rollinsford harnessed the Salmon Falls River to produce cloth and manufacture other items during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. She added residents from throughout the area — on both sides of the state lines — came to work in the mills in the past.

“One of the greatest parts of the hike is it’s a community affair,” Mulcahey said, adding area residents and businesses open their doors to allow children to experience history, rather than merely learning about it.

Mulcahey said about 600 students in first through third grade must make eight stops along the two routes throughout the school day Friday.

“There’s a Main Street tour and one at the Rollinsford mills,” Mulcahey said, adding students will have to complete activities — like learning some French and have a race to fill a bobbin wheel — while learning about the past.

“The eighth graders and the third graders are the presenters for the event,” Mulcahey said, adding the 30 third graders and 190 eighth graders will be dressed in period clothing and have to explain an aspect of a particular location along the walk throughout the day.

This year’s hike will focus on how children lived in the 19th century. The theme will rotate to cover transportation in 2013 and be about trades in 2014, according to http://oldberwick.org/HikeHX.

Mulcahey said members of the Old Berwick Historic Society have been working with the presenters to ensure they’re well prepared for their performances.

Meanwhile pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students will take a short trip to the nearby Swasey House to feed chickens, play hopscotch or kick the can, sample pickles and pack a trunk, according to the website.

Mulcahey said both students and staff have a great time preparing for and participating in the hike, which is collaboration between Marshwood School District and Old Berwick Historical Society.

“It’s something they look forward to all year,” Mulcahey said.

For the first time, students will visit a boarding house, see a spinning room where textiles were manufactured and other take part in activities along the route through Front Street and Lower Mills Street in Rollinsford.

Mulcahey said police from South Berwick and Rollinsford will be on-hand to help students cross intersections.

For more information or to see the routes, visit http://oldberwick.org/HikeHX.