There’s a small white building off the side of a welcome center in Logan, Ohio that holds what might be the most oddly specific museum in the state. Inside? Over 5,000 pencil sharpeners, all meticulously displayed behind glass, carefully categorized, and wildly delightful.
The Rev. Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum is not new, and it’s not trying to be cool. It doesn’t have touch screens or a gift shop. It does have a pencil sharpener shaped like a toilet, several versions of Big Ben, and one that looks suspiciously like a tiny fax machine.
In a region known for hiking trails and treehouse rentals, it’s an unexpectedly charming stop—and one that leaves an impression.
The museum started as a personal passion project.
Rev. Paul Johnson collected sharpeners as a hobby, eventually lining the walls of his backyard shed with them. After his passing, the collection was moved to the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center in 2011, where it’s been delighting confused and curious travelers ever since.
Then in 2023, after a major renovation funded by the local tourism association, the collection got a proper home—complete with labeled cases, wheelchair accessibility, and enough lighting to fully appreciate just how many variations of “tiny pencil sharpener shaped like a sewing machine” exist in the world.
Audrey Martin, who helped spearhead the museum’s refresh, says that people come from all over just to see it. Families, road-trippers, even international visitors have made the stop.
And they usually leave saying the same thing: I didn’t expect to love that as much as I did.
The museum grew even larger after a 2022 donation from the family of Frank Parades, a Florida-based collector who specialized in rare European sharpeners, including a few from the early 1800s. His wife found the Pencil Sharpener Museum online and knew it was the right place for his collection. So now there are more sharpeners. A lot more.
If you’re the type who loves a good roadside oddity—or if your idea of a good time is quietly pointing out the differences between five slightly different camera-shaped sharpeners—this place is for you.
It’s weird. It’s free. And it’s exactly the kind of thing you remember long after the hike is over.
The museum is located at 13178 OH-664, Logan, OH 43138. Have fun and embrace the weird!
