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“Who needs a time machine when you can travel from the Ice Age to the Space Age in just a few hours?”
--Insiders’ Guide, Fun with the Family: Ohio
2004
Inside this unique structure, the Ohio Historical Society offers visitors a rewarding museum experience of Ohio’s past and an Archives/Library that provides rich resources for genealogists and other researchers. The Center serves as the headquarters for the Ohio Historical Society and is the flagship museum of the Society’s network of over 50 historic sites and museums.
Spotlight on Milton Caniff
The museum's newest exhibit, Spotlight on Milton Caniff, tells the life story of Ohio cartoonist Milton Caniff, best known for his popular comic strips Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, now through March 1, 2009.
Quilting Stories
From June 1 through October 12, see how 19th-and 20th-century Ohio quilters used quilting to tell stories about family, heroes, celebrations and even political causes. The quilts on display are from the Ohio Historical Society's extensive collection of some 200 years of quilting in Ohio.
Rockwell’s America
From November 1, 2008 to March 1, 2009, the largest Norman Rockwell exhibit in the world will come to life at the Ohio Historical Center. Guests literally step inside the art of Norman Rockwell and experience it in three dimensions. Enjoy traveling through time and looking back at true Americana. The exhibit will feature Rockwell's 322 Saturday Evening Post covers and life-size interactive sculptures of his most famous paintings, including a recreation of the artist’s studio. Rockwell’s America is licensed by The Saturday Evening Post and Curtis Publishing Company and produced by The Becker Group.
Windows to Our Collections: Ohio’s Ancient Past
This exhibit invites the visitor to explore over 15,000 years of Ohio’s ancient Native American heritage. At the entry, a widescreen monitor introduces the exhibit with two informational programs. Some of the Society’s most significant archaeological artifacts, such as the Adena Pipe, the mica hand, and the Wray figurine, as well as many animal effigy pipes from Tremper Mound are centrally featured in tower cases. Fiber optic lighting enhances visitors’ almost 360- degree view of these, and other, unique and beautiful artifacts. Visitors can open multiple artifact drawers to see what the ancient people used on a daily basis, as well as for special purposes. Those interested in a more thorough examination of the objects can move to nearby computer stations, where they can locate information on specific items in the online catalog. Here they can also find additional information on Ohio’s ancient cultures by visiting the OHS Archaeology blog and touring the First Ohioans on-line exhibit.
Ohio: Two Centuries of Change
Ohio’s story is the nation’s story. This 15,000-square-foot exhibit gallery chronicles Ohio history from frontier days to the 1970s, focusing on agricultural and industrial progress, leadership and the effect of major changes on the lives of ordinary people. Within the gallery is the popular section, Ohio And The Civil War, which describes Ohio’s key role in the conflict. Artifacts include weapons, uniforms, medical and camp equipment and battle flags from the Society’s collections. More than 310,000 Ohioans served in the American Civil War. Other highlights of this history gallery are 1920s newsreels, an operating carriage shop, vintage automobiles and children’s activities, including a log cabin and pioneer kitchen, where young people can try on pioneer clothes, operate a spinning wheel and “cook” pioneer food.
The Nature of Ohio
In this exhibit gallery, visitors can explore five themes of Ohio’s natural history: plants, animals, geology, geography and climate. The space opens with the giant Conway mastodon greeting guests as they begin a tour of Ohio’s unique natural history from the ice age to the present. This exhibit is highly interactive and designed for young people to touch specimens, test themselves with computer displays and play safely in the Battelle Discovery Park and Theatre. Don’t miss a display of extinct animals, including two century-old specimens of the ivory-billed woodpecker. Also, look here for “Buttons,” the last documented wild passenger pigeon anywhere in the world.
Ohio’s Garden Path: the Flowering of Our Landscape
This temporary exhibition explores America’s most popular leisure-time activity from a perspective of 200 years of change. Like other Americans, Ohioans came to see the owning of a plot of land as part of the American dream. The personal versions of Eden they created were a reflection of their origins and the values and fashions of the day. The 4,000-square-foot exhibit shows how gardening styles have changed over time in the context of world events, fashion trends and architectural styles.
Architecture
The Ohio Historical Center, headquarters of the Ohio Historical Society, is a great example of the architectural style known as “Brutalism,” a rational, structuralist, monumental style exported by French and British architects in the mid-20th century. Upon its opening in 1970, the American Institute of Architects applauded the Ohio Historical Center as a “bold, imaginative, almost startling structure.” Architectural Record called it the “the most architecturally significant public structure built in Ohio since the State Capitol Building.” Click here to learn more about the history of this building.
The Ohio Historical Center also hosts a number of exciting temporary exhibits throughout the year. Inside, you will find friendly staff eager to help you make the most of your visit.
You are welcome to bring your camera to the Ohio Historical Center. Photography and videography are allowed so long as the images taken use existing light (no flash) and are for personal use. Galleries or collections where photography and videography are restricted are clearly marked.
Visit Us On Flickr
Once you get home, take a look at the photo sharing site Flickr. There's a whole group for the Ohio Historical Society. If you’ve got some pictures you’d like to add, just follow the instructions to join the group and start uploading.
Contact Us
See Reproduction Services for information on downloading digital files of the Society’s collections.
For information on materials for publishing and/or commercial use, contact images@ohiohistory.org.
For press and media requests, call the Communications Department (614-297-2314).
Ohio Village
The adjacent Ohio Village is open to the public for special public events, school groups and private events.
Archives Library
Located on the third floor of the Ohio Historical Center, the Archives/Library collects, preserves and makes available to the public written and graphic information about Ohio’s history. It also is the State Archives of Ohio, the designated repository for state government records of enduring historic value. Family history research is one of the most popular activities in the Archives/Library. Academic historians, students and others also use its resources often. Visitors are asked to register in a lobby area before entering the reading room or microfilm room to conduct research. The lobby contains a rotating exhibit on Victory Gardens called Every Garden a Munitions Plant: War Gardens in Ohio, 1917-1945. Even if you don’t intend to conduct research, it’s well worth an elevator ride to the third floor to see this exhibit.
Please note that the Archives/Library keeps shorter hours than the Museum at the Center. See Museum hours below.
Education Programs
The Center offers education programs for school groups. The Ohio History Teacher's Resources Page lists the wide range of subject-focused field trips offered at this site and other Ohio Historical Society sites. Each field trip includes a brief description and location as well as general dates of availability.
Group Tours
The Center welcomes adults, families, college students and youth groups who want to experience the museum as a group tour. Please call us at 614.297.2915 to make arrangements.
Private Events
The Ohio Historical Center and the adjacent Ohio Village are available for meetings, weddings, banquets and other special events. Find out more online or call us at 614.297.2915.
The Ohio History Store
Located inside the front entrance, the store offers a wide variety of books and magazines, posters, ceramics, historical reproductions and fun products related to our exhibits. If you can’t visit the physical store, please visit our eStore.
Museum Hours: Year Round
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Monday |
CLOSED |
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Tuesday |
CLOSED |
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Wednesday |
CLOSED |
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Thursday |
9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. |
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Friday |
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
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Saturday |
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
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Sunday |
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
Open Special Days
(December 22, 2008; December 23, 2008; December 29, 2008; December 30, 2008) |
12:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
Open Holidays
(Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter, July 4) |
12:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
Closed Holidays
(New Year's Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas, New Year’s Eve Day) |
CLOSED |
Archives Library Hours: Year Round
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Monday |
CLOSED |
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Tuesday |
CLOSED |
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Wednesday |
CLOSED |
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Thursday |
1 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. |
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Friday |
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
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Saturday |
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
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Sunday |
CLOSED |
Open Holidays
(Veterans Day - when this holiday falls on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday)
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12:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
Closed Holidays
(All Holidays) |
CLOSED |
Museum Store: Year Round - Gift giving just got easier. Visit our eStore now.
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Thursday |
9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. |
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Friday-Saturday |
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
|
Sunday |
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
Open Holidays
(Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Veterans Day) |
12:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
Closed Holidays
(New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) |
CLOSED |
Parking
| OHS Members |
FREE |
| Vehicles |
$4.00 |
| Buses |
$10.00 |
| Buses and Private Cars that are transporting a group of school children |
FREE |
Museum Admission:
| OHS Members |
FREE |
| Adults |
$8.00 |
| Children 6 - 12 |
$4.00 |
| Children 5 & under |
FREE |
| School Groups |
$3.00 per student |
AAA and senior discounts given. Military discounts are available to all active military and their dependents.
Archives Library Admission
Location
Please Note: There will be work on the bridge at the intersection of I-71 and 17th avenue from June 9, 2008 - June 29, 2008. Please view our Special Notice page with information on how to reach our facility during this time.
The Ohio Historical Center is located just off of I-71 on 17th Avenue (exit 111) about 4 miles north of downtown Columbus in Franklin County.
General Information
Ohio Historical Center
1982 Velma Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211
Phone:
614-297-2300/800-686-6124 Museum
614-297-2266 Group Tours
614-297-2510 Archives-Library
FAX:
614-297-2358
Handicapped Accessibility
Site is wheelchair accessible. Limited wheelchair access to restrooms.
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