The Ohio History Center is the headquarters of the Ohio History Connection. Our mission is to spark discovery of Ohio's stories. Embrace the present, share the past and transform the future.

Did you know that members get free admission to the Ohio History Center, as well as over 50+ sites in the Ohio History Connection's site network? Learn more here.

Location

The Ohio History Center is located at 800 E 17th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43211, at the intersection of I-71 & 17th Avenue (Exit 111).

Operating Hours

Wednesday–Sunday • 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Special Operating Hours Announcements:
The Ohio History Center will close at 4 p.m. Saturday, December 14 to prepare for events.
The Ohio History Center will be closed Thursday, November 28; and Monday–Wednesday, December 23-25 for holidays.
The Ohio History Center will be OPEN 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday, December 26–Tuesday, December 31, including Monday and Tuesday December 30 & 31.
The Ohio History Center will be closed for annual cleaning and maintenance Wednesday, January 1–Friday, January 17, 2025. We will welcome visitors back starting Saturday, January 18, 2025.

Ohio Village is closed and undergoing significant infrastructure upgrades. Read more about Campus 2.OH here!

Admission

$16/Adult
$14/age 60+ or college student with ID
$10/ages 4–12
Free/age 3 & under
Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission

Included in this total ticket price is a 5% arts and culture fee on the base ticket as required by the City of Columbus. This fee supports exemplary artists, arts and cultural organizations and programs that educate and engage audiences of all ages throughout greater Columbus.

Ticket Information

Advance tickets are available online but not required. Walk-up admission is available anytime during open hours at the Ohio History Center front desk. Members who wish to reserve tickets in advance can do so by calling 614-297-2300 during business hours.

Qualified families can now use their Ohio ACE funds to purchase general admission tickets to the Ohio History Center, Ohio History Connection Household level memberships and homeschool subscriptions for the Ohio as America curriculum. For more information, please visit aceohio.org. Note that the program will be ending in September 2025- all ACE-qualifying visits or purchases must occur by August 30, 2025 and all reimbursement submissions must be made by September 1, 2025.

The Nature of Ohio:

Explore Ohio’s rich natural history through the themes of plants, animals, geology, geography and climate. In this exhibit you will find artefacts ranging from rocks and minerals to taxidermy mounts of locally extinct animals. Look for the massive Conway, a reconstructed Ice age mastodon skeleton, at the entrance of the exhibit!

Follow the Flag:

View conserved battle flags carried by Ohioans during the Civil War and learn more about the conflict that split the country apart from 1861-1865. Artefacts you will also see in this exhibit include photographs, weapons and other items carried by soldiers during the war.

1950s – Building the American Dream:

Fully immerse yourself in mid-century American life! 1950s – Building the American Dream features a fully furnished, reconstructed Lustron home that you can explore and investigate. When you are done exploring the Lustron house you can learn more about the 1950s through videos and panels featuring the recollections of Ohioans who grew up in the era.

Buildings, Places and Spaces:

Historic preservation is about protecting, promoting and using historic places. It's also about the power of place—places that matter because they help tell the story of our state and our nation, of who we are and where we come from. Learn the history of the preservation movement in the United States and Ohio, and how the State Historic Preservation Office works with people throughout our state to identify and protect Ohio’s historic places.

Gallery 1 – Ohio Through Time:

Learn more about some of Ohio’s extensive history in this varied gallery. Collections in Ohio Through Time include an open storage display of kitchenware items, early transportation and farming in the state, a World War I era collections display and Creative Ohio, an exhibit dedicated to four different Ohio artists.

Gallery 2

Gallery 2 presents a stunning visual display of beautifully crafted furniture and unique pottery and glassware pieces. These artefacts are arranged in an open storage setting, which allows visitors to see more of the collection compared to a typical museum exhibit!

Gallery 3 – The Great Collections Experiment

It's not an exhibit—it's an experiment! Traditional museum exhibits only display a small portion of a museum’s collection. In our Great Collections Experiment we're trying out new ways of displaying and sharing more of the amazing and sometimes quirky objects in our vast collection. While conventional exhibits usually tell a story about an event or a time period, this gallery focuses on displaying beautiful and intriguing objects and leave the storytelling up to you.

Indigenous Wonders of Our World — The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks

Discover some of the vast earthworks that American Indian people built 2,000 years ago. Our new exhibit, Indigenous Wonders of Our World—The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, explores eight ancient earthworks in Ohio that are Ohio's first World Heritage Sites on the United Nations’ World Heritage List, a list of the world’s greatest wonders.

In this interactive exhibit, learn how ancient American Indians employed astronomy and geometry to align the earthworks with cycles of the sun and moon, see 2,000-year old artifacts that suggest what people did at these sacred sites and leave with a new appreciation for eight extraordinary landmarks in our midst.

Download the Ohio History Center Map or click the dots on the graphic to explore what you can find at the Ohio History Center.

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Current Exhibits & Events

Photo Policy

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The Ohio History Connection and the media frequently take photos/videos of visitors which may be used by the Ohio History Connection and/or its designees in future promotional materials in any media (such as websites, brochures, flyers, blogs, and social media sites). If you are photographed, the photo may be used without your prior consent and without compensation. If you do not want your image used, please avoid the photographer or inform them that you do not wish to be photographed.

Notice of Non-Discrimination

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The Ohio History Connection is committed to providing our visitors, volunteers and staff an environment free from intimidation, harassment, and discrimination with respect to admission and access to our sites, programs and activities. The Ohio History Connection does not permit harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or partnership status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, pregnancy, citizenship status or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state or local law. The Ohio History Connection is committed to maintaining a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based on these grounds.

Accessibility

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The Ohio History Connection welcomes all to discover Ohio’s stories. We strive to create a safe, accessible and friendly environment to explore our sites and collections. Our core value of inclusivity challenges us to constantly seek out and remove barriers to participation, empower underserved audiences and improve how we deliver our services. Learn more about our Accessibility efforts.