Every other September, Ohio History Connection talks a few hundred historic buildings into unlocking the rooms the public normally never sees. That’s Ohio Open Doors, and this year’s run goes September 10 through 20. Host sites have to keep their events free, so all of these tours are free.
A handful of central Ohio events already happened on the 10th and 11th. Everything still ahead is below, sorted by date: 18 stops in Columbus and Franklin County first, then 24 more within about an hour’s drive.
Sunday, September 13
Eddie Rickenbacker Boyhood Home
The childhood home of America’s World War I “Ace of Aces” sits on East Livingston Avenue, and most days you can only look at it from the sidewalk. Sunday brings guided tours inside, a walk through the Rickenbacker Woods campus and Livingston Reads Storybook Park, and a look at the restoration plans and museum concepts the nonprofit is working toward. The afternoon also previews the upcoming Eddie Rickenbacker Week and kicks off a youth essay and art challenge, and the tours run from 2 to 5.
Location: 1330 E. Livingston Ave., Columbus
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 2–5pm
More info: Event listing
Hilliard’s train station
This is the stop for anyone with a kid who’s into trains. Hilliard’s original depot at the Historical Village in Weaver Park still has its telegraph key and crank telephone, and a station master in character gives the tours from 1 to 5, with a turn at the Morse code key and the whistle for anyone who wants one.
Location: 4162 Columbia St., Hilliard
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 1–5pm
More info: Event listing
Bexley Historical Society Cottage Museum
The society’s Cottage Museum on Clifton Avenue opens for two hours of photographs and artifacts from Bexley’s past.
Location: 2080 Clifton Ave., Bexley
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 1–3pm
More info: Event listing
Ealy House, New Albany
The Ealy House is a Civil War era farmhouse on Dublin-Granville Road kept as a museum of 1860s life. The centerpiece is a quilt showing the buildings that stood in New Albany and Plain Township between 1800 and 1899. New this time is an exhibit on the Taylor House, the brick home at the new Taylor Farm Park that Lorenzo and Martha Taylor built in 1863 and 1864. The same family of brick masons, the Schotts, built both houses and signed their work in the Ealy attic.
Location: 6359 Dublin-Granville Rd., New Albany
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 1–4pm
More info: Event listing
Clintonville Woman’s Club
Plenty of people have driven past the low mid-century building on North High in Clintonville without knowing what it is. It’s the Clintonville Woman’s Club house, designed by George M. Clark, built by Corwin L. Knowles and dedicated in 1965 for a club that dates to 1939. Members will run tours and show a short video between 2 and 4, with light refreshments out.
Location: 3951 N. High St., Clintonville
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 2–4pm
More info: Event listing
Six historic buildings in Worthington, all open the same afternoon
Worthington packed its Open Doors into one Sunday afternoon so you can walk between stops. Five of the six run 1 to 4pm; St. John’s closes at 3.
- Orange Johnson House, 956 High St. Built in 1811 by mason Arora Buttles, with the Federal-style wing that hornsmith Orange Johnson added after buying the place in 1816. It’s still on its original site, furnished for the period, with guides telling the family’s story.
- Worthington Historical Society archives, 50 W. New England Ave. The second floor of the c. 1845 Old Rectory, where the photographs, maps, clothing and newspapers live, with rarely shown items out for the day. It’s up one flight of stairs.
- Old Worthington Library, 820 High St. A behind-the-shelves look at how materials get processed, plus the building’s history and quirks.
- St. John’s Episcopal Church, 700 High St. Founded in 1804 by many of the same people who founded Worthington. Services have been held in the nave since 1831, and Abner Pinney, the first burial in the community cemetery, is in the churchyard. Open 1 to 3pm with light refreshments.
- High Road Gallery, 12 E. Stafford Ave. The 1818 Buttles-Pinney-Brown House, another Arora Buttles build, now holds the gallery and the studios of 12 resident artists. The tour covers the architecture and the studios both.
- Sharon Memorial Hall, 137 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. The 1861 Wright residence, handed to the Sharon Township Memorial trustees in 1945 after a war memorial levy passed. The VFW keeps historical displays on the first floor, open the same 1 to 4 window.
Location: Old Worthington, addresses above
When: Sunday, Sept. 13, 1–4pm (St. John’s until 3pm)
More info: Worthington Historical Society
Weekdays, September 14 through 18
Main Library’s lower level, Monday night
Columbus Metropolitan Library is opening the archival storage rooms on the lower level of Main Library, which the public doesn’t normally get past. Tours start on the half hour and last 30 minutes, so there’s a new one leaving every 30 minutes between 6 and 8.
Location: 96 S. Grant Ave., Downtown
When: Monday, Sept. 14, 6–8pm
More info: Event listing
Tour du Jour at the Ohio Statehouse, all week
The Statehouse runs a different specialty tour each weekday at noon, and each one starts in the Map Room. Every one goes into spaces the regular public tour skips, with topics that include the Capitol Square grounds and the women who shaped state government. Figure on about 75 minutes of mostly walking and standing, plus time in the Museum Gallery afterward. The Statehouse recommends it for ages 10 and up.
Location: 1 Capitol Square, Downtown
When: Monday through Friday, Sept. 14–18, noon
More info: Event listing
The Supreme Court of Ohio, Tuesday evening
The Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center on Front Street was completed in 1933 as the Ohio Departments of State Building and became the home of the state’s judiciary after a 2004 renovation. The Art Deco interior, with its original 1930s artwork and fixtures, is one of the best rooms in the city that most people have never stood in. The building already did an Open Doors night on the 10th. The second and last one is Tuesday, with tours at 5:15 and 6:30.
Location: 65 S. Front St., Downtown
When: Tuesday, Sept. 15, tours at 5:15pm and 6:30pm
More info: Event listing
National Veterans Memorial and Museum, Friday
The newest building on the list opened in 2018 on the site of the old Franklin County Veterans Memorial. A member of the education team leads a guided tour through the permanent and rotating exhibition spaces, and afterward visitors can take part in service activities and learn how to record a veteran’s story for the museum’s Story Collection.
Location: 300 W. Broad St., Scioto Peninsula
When: Friday, Sept. 18, 11am–1pm
More info: Event listing
Saturday, September 19
Wyandotte Winery
Central Ohio’s first winery poured its first glass in 1977, back when the building on Wyandotte Drive was the winery and the family’s house at the same time. Saturday’s cellar tour comes with history displays and the original watercolors, painted for the Columbus Quincentenary and AmeriFlora ’92, that still appear on many of the labels. Current and former owners will be around to talk, and everyone leaves with a vintage Wyandotte postcard.
Location: 4640 Wyandotte Dr., Columbus
When: Saturday, Sept. 19, 10am–2pm
More info: Event listing
Blendon Masonic Temple, Westerville
Blendon Lodge No. 339 has met in Westerville since 1862 and in this three-story colonial building on South State Street since 1932, which means members built it in the middle of the Great Depression. The tour covers the architecture, how it was built and kept up, and the lodge’s fish fry, which raises money for Westerville Special Olympics.
Location: 130 S. State St., Westerville
When: Saturday, Sept. 19, noon–3pm
More info: Event listing
The Abbey Mausoleum and Gardens
The Abbey on Greenlawn Avenue rarely opens to the public, and the people entombed inside are a cross-section of old Columbus: the Sells circus family, magician Howard Thurston, the Swisher cigar family and George J. Karb, the mayor who led the city through the 1913 flood. Docents will be on hand for questions.
Location: 700 Greenlawn Ave., Columbus
When: Saturday, Sept. 19, 11am–2pm
More info: Event listing
Worth the drive: 24 more events across central Ohio
Everything below is within roughly an hour of Columbus and free like the rest. Four worth planning around: Rock Mill, the 1824 grist mill on the Hocking River outside Lancaster, opens five separate days. Bryn Du Mansion in Granville unlocks rooms that stay closed the rest of the year on Tuesday afternoon. Flatwoods One-Room School in Logan County exists because a sixth-grade class raised the money to save it. And Granville stacks three sites on Saturday the 19th, among them the 1842 Avery-Downer House and St. Luke’s, one of the finest Greek Revival churches in the country.
| Event | Where | When | The draw |
| Myers Inn Harvest Day | 45 S. Columbus St., Sunbury | Sat, Sept. 12, 1–3pm | Tours of the 1816 home of Sunbury founder Lawrence Myers and the stagecoach inn, plus pioneer games and a replica wagon |
| Harvest History at Smeck Park | Smeck Park, Baltimore | Sat–Sun, Sept. 12–13, 11am–4pm | The Cruit House and Fetter-Hood Barn, antique tractors, and a chance to help gather crops the old way; about five acres of gravel and grass |
| Rock Mill Open House | 1429 Rockmill Pl. NW, Lancaster | Sept. 12, 16 and 19, 11am–2pm; Sept. 13 and 20, 1–4pm | 1824 water-powered grist mill, covered bridge and gorge on the Hocking River |
| Outville Depot and Harrison Township House | 245 Hillview Dr. SW, Etna | Sat, Sept. 12, 2–4pm | Railroad exhibits in the old depot and school history in the township house next door |
| Louis H. Sullivan biodrama | Sullivan Welcome Center, 1 N. Third St., Newark | Sat, Sept. 12, 1–2:30pm | Reenactor Mark Myers plays the architect behind Newark’s “jewel box” bank |
| First United Methodist Church, London | 52 N. Main St., London | Sat, Sept. 12, 1–3pm | 1894 High Victorian Gothic church with a short recital on the original Johnson & Son pipe organ |
| St. Philip’s Episcopal Church | 129 W. Mound St., Circleville | Sat, Sept. 12, noon–2pm; Sun, Sept. 13, 3–5pm | Parish founded in 1817, sanctuary built in 1866, refreshments in the parish hall |
| Delaware County Bicentennial Barn | 6840 Bale Kenyon Rd., Lewis Center | Sun, Sept. 13, 9am–3pm | Newly renovated turn-of-the-century barn at McCammon Creek Park, with old-fashioned games |
| GrandBuddies at the Meeker Homestead | 2690 Stratford Rd., Delaware | Sun, Sept. 13, noon–2pm | 1823 house and 1848 barn; rotary phones and typewriters for kids to try alongside grandparents |
| Discover Historic Fredericktown | 33 E. College St., Fredericktown | Sun, Sept. 13, 2–4pm | Slideshow tour of the village’s historic homes and storefronts |
| Meet the Past, Morrow County History Center | 17 W. High St., Mt. Gilead | Sept. 13 or 14, 2–4pm (the two Open Doors listings disagree on the day; check with the society before driving) | Costumed interpreters inside an 1862 bank building, vault included |
| Bryn Du Mansion, Behind the Velvet Rope | 537 Jones Rd., Granville | Tue, Sept. 15, 3–7pm | Self-guided access to rooms normally closed; donations go to the Bryn Du Commission |
| Ohio Habitat Heroes at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek | 10051 Township Rd. 47, West Liberty | Tue–Wed, Sept. 15–16, 10am–2:45pm | Castle tour at 10, then a work session pulling honeysuckle and planting natives |
| Flatwoods One-Room School | 150 W. Lake Ave., West Mansfield | Tue, Sept. 15, 1–4pm | 1868 schoolhouse from the Black settlement of Flatwoods, saved by a sixth-grade class that raised more than $30,000 to move it |
| Aircraft & Artifacts scavenger hunt | Champaign Aviation Museum, 1652 N. Main St., Urbana | Wed, Sept. 16, 11am–2pm | Find 10 World War II aircraft and artifacts, including the B-17 “Champaign Lady” restoration |
| Union County Records Center & Archives | 128 S. Main St., Marysville | Wed, Sept. 16, 10:30am–noon | Closed-stacks tour of county records back to 1820; capped at 20 people, no photos inside |
| Granville Historical Society Museum | 115 E. Broadway, Granville | Sat, Sept. 19, 10am–4pm | Tours plus a Revolutionary War drum on loan and a reenactor for America’s 250th |
| Robbins Hunter Museum | 221 E. Broadway, Granville | Sat, Sept. 19, 1–4pm | The 1842 Avery-Downer House, with an exterior architecture tour of its Ionic columns |
| St. Luke’s Church, Granville | 107 E. Broadway, Granville | Sat, Sept. 19, noon–2pm | Consecrated in 1837; original box pews and one of only two Sinumbra chandeliers of its kind |
| St. John’s Lutheran Church, German Settlement | 12809 State Route 736, Marysville | Sat, Sept. 19, 1–4pm | 1900 Gothic church with German-made stained glass; bricks made nearby, foundation stone quarried in Dublin |
| Doellinger-Geer Log Cabin | 12809 State Route 736, Marysville | Sat, Sept. 19, 1–4pm | Family log home nearly 200 years old, moved 2.5 miles to the church campus and being rebuilt; steps and uneven ground |
| Radnor Township Hall | Radnor | Sun, Sept. 20, 1:30–4pm | 1891 hall added to the National Register in 2023; self-guided Clio tour |
| Mead-Needham House | 300 S. Main St., Pataskala | Sun, Sept. 20, 1–3pm | Open house for Pataskala’s 175th anniversary |
| Union County Historical Society Museum | 246 W. Sixth St., Marysville | Sun, Sept. 20, 1–4pm | Rarely shown pieces: an Erb surrey, county-made rifles and mementos of Noah Orr, the 8-foot-3 “Marysville giant” |
Ohio Open Doors comes back in 2028. Ohio History Connection says the dates get set by spring 2027, and the full statewide map lives on its Ohio Open Doors page.
