Located at the University of Findlay, the Mazza Museum is the first and largest teaching museum of…read moreOriginal Children's Book Art in the World. The museum contains more than 3,400 original illustrations of childrens books. It's amazing the detail of illustrations and they are beautifully portrayed here. I can only imagine the creativeness and imagination it takes to be a children's book illustrator. The museum is worth checking out if you love(d) childrens books. It's free of charge (accepts donations). The museum also provides many learning opportunities for children, has a childrens art studio, and has Funday Sundays (where kids hear stories and can get their faces painted). If you live in Findlay and are looking for an opportunity for your child to express hiimself through art this may be a great place to start.

An amazing collection of the original art from children's picture books. An excellent display with…read morea variety of style and work. A definite spot on your bucket list!

This small but dedicated railway history group has been around a little over 20 years. Originally…read morelocated just west of exit 161 off I - 75, it relocated in 2016 due to the sale of the former property they had. You can easily still make out the location of the former museum site on the Northeast side of the road. The trees that the group planted around the curve of the miniature railway (one of their signature attractions) are still on site, as are the pre-fab metal buildings they used to occupy. NWORRP's current location is rough a mile east of the former location, on the opposite side of the road. Sadly, there is currently no signage pointing to the new location, which given the closeness to I-75, is in my opinion, a major mistake. When you cross the full size railroad tracks you will see a reutilized former lighted gas station sign on the right, followed by a dirt road. Turn in and go through the fence in the back - you'll see some historic looking street lights in the parking lot and the train museum in front of you. NWORP's museum and rides are usually open 1-4 on weekends. The biggest attraction by far is the quarter-scale train rides that run on weekends May - September, as well as during their many special events. In addition to train rides, NWORRP also has a gift shop, museum, a Lionel layout, an HO layout and a N scale layout. NWORRP also has a full size rolling stock includes two cabooses, a rare wooden box car, and small diesel switch engine on display, plus a relocated railroad depot. The museum is run by volunteers, most of which are retired. As one can expect, they are always in need of help, particularly with the full size equipment; sadly, as of this writing (and as seen in the pictures) the wooden boxcar has deteriorated to the point it may sadly not survive much longer. This is a museum/ tourist operation clearly driven towards families, and not so much to rail historians. The model trains and the train ride are a great visit once - maybe twice, but like a of these hand-to-mouth operations, right now if you've been once you've pretty much seen what they have to offer. Hopefully as time goes on they will increase the exhibits and options available. All in all, a good few hours fun for a young family!

Very informative! I learned a lot about the life and times of Rutherford B Hayes. There was so much…read moreto see that it was a little confusing as to which direction one should walk through the museum. Perhaps arrows on the floor might help direct visitors along a chronological path through the museum. The museum and mansion are in a beautiful park-like setting. The grounds are open to the public where community events are also held. We saw local residents enjoying the grounds.

Such an interesting tour, lovely house, and beautiful grounds. Really enjoyed hearing about…read moreRutherford. Good businessman. Worth the trip to go see.

Such an awesome museum! The staff here are incredibly kind and welcoming. They're willing to give…read moreyou a tour throughout or you can go at your own pace. So much to see from science experience te to actual space artifacts to astronaut regalia and awards from around the world. The museum is very clean and kept nice for visitors and there is a really neat video to watch that shows every hour which I would highly encourage everyone to sit in for.

We have drove past this place 1000 times. Today was the day we stopped in. So happy that we did…read morethis. Our family lives right here local in the area and we were down for a visit. The staff inside is extremely friendly and everyone made us feel entirely welcome. No pictures from the inside, you guys gotta come and see this for yourself. They have everything displayed so wonderfully and you learn a lot here. The gift shop is also spectacular and there is something for everyone. Definitely a must go.

Nice museum. Appropriately priced. If you're not familiar with the area I can see it being better…read morethan say for a local. I wish they gave a little more information and explanations on some of the placards but over all its an alright way to spend an hour. I didn't do the boat tour as I am already very familiar with it from doing community service aboard it as a teen. Lol We all have a past. Im sure that it is very interesting to others though!

I didn't know too much about the Great Lakes so I thought I would visit this museum. The museum…read moreconsists of two parts: an indoor museum that is semi-interactive. There is a series of non-stop videos on the Great Lakes, maps, history, gift shop, etc. Everything is labeled and explained. The second part is the ship - Colonel James M. Schoonmaker. Both are self-guided tours. The indoor museum will take you about an hour if you read everything and see some of the videos. The ship, however, will take you at least an hour plus depending on how depth you want to know about the ship. The ship has two levels; bottom level is where the engines and storage are located. The top level is the deck that leads you to their living quarters. The living quarters is two stories with no elevators. The bottom level is accessible only by a steep, narrow iron ladder.

This is a cute little museum featuring exhibits, shows, and interactive stations related to…read morescience, history, technology, and more. There is a very nice little planetarium (the Scidome), and viewing a show is included in the price of admission. We saw "From Earth to the Universe," which provided a crash course on astronomy throughout history and a look at our galaxy and the universe. The first floor of the space features a lot of interactive and hands-on activities, such as building a circuit, learning about your body, building and racing cars from objects like Legos, plus a 6-and-under play area. The hot shop is also located in this area, and it was very interesting to watch them work with the hot glass (and a very pleasant space to be in on such a cold day!) Upstairs is a wealth of local and regional historical information for Newark and Licking County and its citizens and discoveries. A giant mastadon skull greets you as you come up the stairs, as the Burning Tree Mastadon was found in the county. The Jerrie Mock exhibit, complete with a flight simulator and a replica of her airplane, the Spirit of Columbus, was extremely popular with the kids. (Jerrie Mock, a Newark native, was the first woman to fly solo around the world). A little historic village, complete with cash registers, scales, and games is also available to walk through on this level. Given the weather, we didn't spend as much time out in the courtyard as we probably would have otherwise, but we definitely made it over to the building housing the interurban railway car, the back end of which you can walk in and look around the interior of. There's also a really well done mural on the topic out by the parking lot. Staff was friendly and welcoming, and the museum was clean and comfortable. There is plentiful parking outside. A small gift shop, including items made in the hot shop, is available near the entrance.

My niece loves to go to another children's museum in a nearby city. Unfortunately, it's a little…read morepricey for what it has to offer beyond your 1st visit & there is very little for adults to interact with & engage. We recently went to Cosi 1 weekend instead. The Works is hands down a better experience than the other children's museum. This is now her favorite of the 3 places we've been. Unfortunately, the glass blowing was closed for routine maintenance & we have plans to return when open again. The bottom floor houses the small planetarium & hands on exhibits & play areas for kids & upstairs is more informative displays of the local area, the Works history & a brief technology over view. I've heard there's a café associated with the museum across the outdoor area but we didn't look into that the day we were there. 10/10 recommend a visit if you're in the area & looking for something new, fun & educational for kids to do.

Had a great tour,don't miss this one right i your back yard. The Museum is done very well .read more

I have always loved ships. I've toured a handful of historic ships over the years. U.S.S…read more Constitution? Check. WWII submarine? Check. Mid-19th-century schooner? Check. Early 20th-century Great Lakes freighter? Hmm... So perhaps this ship does not have the romanticism or historical significance of the others. It is an impressive sight, quite long and stolid. In operation from 1911 to 1980, it was the largest freighter in the world when launched and set some cargo records during its first few years before being eclipsed by ever-advancing technology. It was also well known for luxury which supposedly rivalled the famous trans-Atlantic liners. Up to the modern day it is recognized as a relic of the so-called Golden Age of Great Lakes shipping, but although I respected its achievements, I couldn't quite conjure up the reverence and awe that it seemed to be asking for. Obviously the ship has seen better days, but it could be spiffier. Many spots need a buff with Rust-Away and a new paint job. In any case, this would be a fun place to take the kids, and frankly it's one of the few things worth doing or seeing in Toledo.

We visited Bowling Green to see family and were looking for a rainy day activity. We stopped by…read moreSnook's as recommended by a local and had a great time. The car collection itself is beautiful and well documented with signage. In addition to the cars are many other collections of related memorabilia. The owner, Jeff, greeted us and chatted a while about his collection. Jeff and the other staff were very friendly and welcoming.

Great museum! Worth the trip from Columbus. We would highly recommend this. Nice variety of cars…read more Beautifully restored.

Mind blown.. Allen County Museum & historical society…read more Of the many county and village museums I've seen in my day, Allen County was really a nice place to visit. They felt like a micro version of Ohio history connection, and daresay.... maybe even better in my opinion, if it were not just segmented to the area itself! You walk in, usually an old person is there to greet you at the front, the exhibits are free, except for one of the victorian houses next to the museum you can tour for a small fee. (We declined this trip) The museum has a lot of excellent exhibits... starting with the founders, their original covered wagon from the 1700s, and other locally celebrated families and events. EXCELLENT curation! The odd, but fascinating: *Someone's doll house replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon -- completed with furnishings, and figures (Takes up an entire room). *John Dillenger exhibit with death mask casting, and his original jail cell in Allen County... WITH a wax replicate of John. *A train -- INSIDE the museum *A fine collection of wagon/hearses *Restored animatronics with taxidermied animals from the late 1800's. Reminded me of the old nickelodeons that amazed and wow'd people from back in the day. The restoration was really amazing. I could go on, but I really hope you'd experience this gem of Northwest OH for yourself! It's really worth the time to stop and visit! Makes the historian in me all giddy just thinking about it!

Given Lima's modest size and relative lack of wealth, the Allen County Museum is impressively large…read moreand pretty amazing. It has enough oddities that it's worth a detour if you're heading up or down I-75 and have an hour or two to spare. I'll acknowledge that the sprawling space is largely filled with a lot of homespun local history that may not interest everyone: models of local grand homes that were demolished long ago, various old furnishings and carriages going back to Ohio's frontier days, many exhibits devoted to Lima's one-time prominence in locomotive manufacturing and as a major railroad hub, and a wall honoring LIma's famous and not-so-famour (Phyllis Diller, Hugh Downs, and a bunch of folks I'd never heard of). But there are at least a few exhibits that warrant the detour: First and foremost are the fascinating, bizarre, and rather macabre animated taxidermy spectacles created by local shoe salesman James Grosjean in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One is a ferris wheel with rotating animals but the craziest is the Noah's Ark exhibit with a recorded biblical narrative and music, the latter probably from the 1970s. The attendant on duty will likely be glad to start these machines up for you, if they're currently in working order. Second, there's a decent section devoted to John Dillinger's confinement in the local jail and his jailbreak, which was accomplished by the murder of the sheriff. Third, there's a Lima history exhibit with model trains, much like the excellent "Cincinnati in Motion" exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center, except that this Lima exhibit is about a tenth of the size. N.B. Apparently due to the sour economy, the museum's hours are limited. On the Tuesday we were there, it did not open until 1pm.

The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society is located just outside of Fort Wayne in New Haven. My…read morefamily came to the historical society on December 2, 2023 for their annual Christmas Caboose trains. It certainly was an interesting experience. It's in a real train yard, and you have time before boarding to tour of the engine of a train and speak to people who have been engineers on a train. Truly fascinating. It was a cold day, thankfully they also had a food truck the sold coffee and hot chocolate available, i grabbed a coffee on the way out. They also had a gift shop available, it sold shirts, coffee mugs, carved wooden trains and other items. Once the train was ready, we got coach area and off we went. It was a small train ride, just 20 minutes. This train ride, also was really meant more for children. There was a santa who would go from passenger car to passenger car to great children. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who has children! The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical society also runs longer rides from other areas and they have interesting events. I would suggest you look at their website: https://fortwaynerailroad.org Again, although this was meant more for children and families with children, it was a fun experience and helped me think of a time where trains were the primary mode of long distance transportation in landlocked areas. It made me want to go on ones more for adults and i may go on another from the historical society. I also want to go and travel long distance on a train to a destination in the future, perhaps one over mountains! That sounds cool! Again, I definetly recommend this!

We took an hour long train ride at the Ashley-Hudson Ice Cream Train Ride! It was so much fun…read more Great (and inexpensive) date with hubby and there were a lot of families too. Centlivre train car (it once was used by tingling brothers circus to haul the elephants. The Fort Wayne Train Museum puts this on.