Ashland County Historical Society

Halloween House
2025-10-16 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Get into the spooky spirit with our family-friendly Halloween house tour! Explore the museum after hours and discover delightfully eerie decorations that are perfect for all ages. Join us for a fun and festive experience that will make this Halloween one to remember!
The house is open October 16-19, 25-26, & 31st. Admission is $3 for adults (18+) and $1 for children (3+) and students. Children 3 and under are free. The Halloween House will take place at the Freer Home on 6 different nights from 6-8 pm. The last ticket will be sold to anyone standing in line by 8 pm.

Trivia at Ohio Fire
2025-10-07 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-09-02 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-08-05 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-07-01 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-06-03 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-05-06 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-04-08 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-03-04 18:30 - 20:00 and 1 more date | Ohio Fire, 88 E. Main Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Join us at Ohio Fire for Trivia on the first Tuesday of every month except for December. Questions start promptly at 6:00 so be sure to arrive early for your team to get a slot before we start. Trivia is formatted with three rounds of 10 questions each.
Every team receives a packet with three sheets of answer slips worth 1-10 points for each round making a maximum score per round of 55. Final trivia is wager based meaning you can win or lose it all on the last question so bid wisely! The top three teams receive a generous gift card from Ohio Fire so if you win dinner may just be on us! We’ll go over a refresher of how it all works when you arrive.
Plan to arrive early to grab some amazing food, a drink, and pick your team name. We are excited to see you there so ready your brains for trivia and your stomachs for pizza!

Cemetery Tour
2025-09-21 14:00 - 16:00 | OH
Join us as history comes to life at the Ashland Cemetery during the 2025 walking tour on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Tours begin at 2:00 & p.m. EST.
Tour guides will escort guests through the tour routes, where many of Ashland’s historical figures will come to life through our talented living historians.
Participants will hear what life was like for Ashland residents thanks to the first-person living historians dressed in period dress.
For questions call 419-289-3111.

Historic Main Street Walking Tour
2025-08-17 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-08-17 14:00 - 15:00 | Corner Park, Ashland, 219 W. Main St, Ashland, 44805, United States
Step back in time and explore the charm of Ashland’s historic Main Street with a walking tour! Immerse yourself in the rich history and unique architecture of our town while learning something new along the way. Discover the stories and secrets that make our Main Street a hidden gem waiting to be explored!
Tickets are required. Early bird tickets are available for $5 per person until August 15. Regular price tickets are $8 per person at the door on a first come first served basis, until all slots are filled. Children ages 3 and under are free! Space is limited for each tour. So, advance ticketing is recommended to reserve your space.
Tickets can be purchased HERE
All guests will receive a complimentary Main Street Walking Tour booklet with a more in-depth history of the buildings on Main Street. Please note that we will not be going inside any of the buildings.
Tours depart from Corner Park (219 W Main St. across from the County Office Building) promptly at 2pm and 3:30pm.
Please arrive 10-15 minutes early to check-in.
For questions, email achs@ashlandhistory.org or call 419-289-3111.

Holiday Planning Volunteer Meeting
2025-08-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Freer Home, 1260 Center Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
The Holiday season is almost here, and we have a large slate ahead of us! At this volunteer meeting, we will decide which rooms to decorate for Halloween and Christmas and which decorations folks would like to use. If you are interested in helping with Halloween or Christmas by decorating or working the event, this is for you! We will also be going over the cemetery walk, which we will need plenty of help with, too. Use the links below to sign up for a room and decorations for Halloween and Christmas.
Halloween Decorating Form
Christmas Decorating Form
Please let us know if you have any questions and if you plan to attend by emailing achs@ashlandhistory.org or calling 419-289-3111 to RSVP. Can’t wait to see you there!

Polk: The First 100 Years
2025-06-26 18:30 - 20:00 | OH
A retired public school teacher and lifelong resident of Polk, Craig Wiley has a keen interest in local history which began at an early age. From his earliest memories, he recalls hearing his grandparents and other community elders share stories of Polk and Rowsburg. Over the years he has continued to collect stories, facts, photographs, and other ephemera from these two villages and as a result has become somewhat of a local historian–albeit unofficial and unintentional. Wiley even served on the board of the Ashland County Historical Society in the late 1980s.

In 1996 Wiley purchased the derelict Polk Feed & Supply building and began restoring it with the goal/dream of eventually milling flour by steam power there again, as in the early 1880s when it was built. Patient research revealed a surprising amount of fascinating information about the mill’s early days, and Wiley’s industrial arts background enabled him to complete much of the extensive structural work himself. A busy schedule these past 30 years has slowed progress, but the dream of opening an authentic steam flouring mill is still within sight.

Wiley is an active member of the Polk Lions Club and the Polk United Methodist Church, where he has played the organ for 51 years. His greatest passion is teaching, and on many days, you will find him substituting in the Northwestern Local School District.

2025 Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom
2025-06-19 16:00 - 19:00 | Ashland County Historical Society, 420 Center St., Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Join us and learn about Juneteenth – a celebration of freedom marking the official end of slavery in the United States! This event is free and open to the public.
Happening on the grounds of the Ashland County Historical Society, and in collaboration with Ashland Main Street, the Ashland Public Library, and the community’s Juneteenth Committee, participants will engage in an immersive and community-centered event.
What to expect
Participants will hear from historic Ashland County residents, thanks to our living historians who will bring their experiences to life. Hear about the courageous families who helped Freedom Seekers on the Underground Railroad, the life of a newly freedman who settled in Ashland County, and that of Ashland Superintendent Seth Barber who enlisted in the Union Army to lead his ‘boys’ – his former students during the war. Their stories an more will be shared through these guided tour opportunities.
Tours begin at 4:15, 5:15, and 6:15.
Enjoy a complimentary/free community picnic featuring BBQ (with the fixings!), ice cream, cupcakes, and more. The Ashland Public Library’s Bookmobile will be on the grounds offering books to checkout, children’s activities and ways for even our youngest community members to enjoy.
Questions?
Free parking is available onsite. The event will be at 420 Center Street, Ashland, OH 44805. To learn more, visit our website at www.ashlandhistory.org or call 419-289-3111. We can’t wait to see you!

Seth Barber: The Hero Ashland Forgot - With Dr. Peter Slade
2025-05-29 19:00 - 21:00 | OH
Seth Barber served as Ashland’s school superintendent from 1852-1862 and 1866-1870. A pious man with a great love of learning, he laid the groundwork for public school education in the town at a time when the fight over slavery was ripping apart the country and the community. When Col. James Garfield came to town in 1862 raising a regiment, Barber joined up to lead his “boys” — the young men of Ashland who had been his students– to war. After the war he returned to his position as school superintendent with only one leg – having lost one during the Siege of Vicksburg. Perhaps one of Ashland’s most notable citizens — a civic leader, military hero, and mentor to a generation — the town has no statue, street name, or marker for this remarkable man.
Barber’s personal papers are part of the archives at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, OH, and offer a fascinating insight into the educational, religious, and political world of Ashland in the 1850s. In this illustrated presentation, Dr. Peter Slade will share his findings and offer suggestions as to why Seth Barber is the hero that Ashland forgot.

Dr. Peter Slade is a Professor of the History of Christianity and Christian Thought at Ashland University. The author and editor of several books and articles on 20th-century American church history, he has recently become fascinated with the history of Ashland Ohio in the mid-19th century.

Vietnam: My Story - Book Signing with Greg Gorrell
2025-05-22 18:30 - 19:30 | Freer Home, 1260 Center Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Ashland Native, Greg Gorrell, community leader and Vietnam War infantry combat veteran, chronicles his personal journey during the war – and “the War” in his country when he came home.
His book, Vietnam-Survival: There & Home, depicts the good, the bad, and the ugly on a military and personal level.
It is about life, death, heartache, injury, mistakes, divorce, tragedy, and a lifetime journey of survival, hope, faith, redemption, forgiveness, reflections, and healing.
Greg joins the Ashland County Historical Society on Thursday, May 22nd at 6:30 PM at the Freer Children’s Home (1260 Center St, Ashland) for a book signing, presentation, and discussion. We hope to see you there!
Greg’s book will be $20. All proceeds from the book go directly to the printing of the book and to supporting the veterans of Ashland County. To preorder the book, click the link below!
https://square.link/u/iJUWiHdB

Great Indeed Must Have Been Our Sin: The Civil War Story of Sumner Levi Palmer - With Jacob Thomas
2025-04-23 18:30 - 20:30 | OH
During the American Civil War, Sumner L. Palmer served in the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Cavalry mustering out of Camp Wade in Cleveland. During his service, he was imprisoned at the infamous Confederate prison in Andersonville and later died of unknown causes. While his final resting place is unknown, join Jacob Thomas and the Ashland County Historical Society as we explore his service, and what may have happened to him after his death. Thomas, a descendant of Palmer, earned his Bachelors of Arts in History from Marshall University and Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University. He currently works at the Cabell County Public Library in Huntington, WV.

April 2025 Volunteer Meeting
2025-04-09 17:45 - 18:45 | OH
April is volunteer appreciation month! Thank you to all of our volunteers who make what we do possible. With 2025 well underway, we invite seasoned and new volunteers to join us for our first Volunteer Meeting of the year on April 9, 2025, at the Freer Children’s Home! Come learn what we have in store for the summer, and how you can support ACHS. We will have pizza, beverages, and dessert to celebrate you.
The event is free and open to the public, so bring a friend! Please RSVP by filling out the form, sending an email to achs@ashlandhistory.org, or calling 419-289-3111 by April 4 to ensure we order enough food. We’re looking forward to you joining us as we bring history to life in 2025!
https://forms.office.com/r/suT8Vi4at1

Myers & Millers & Clark, Oh My! - with Ron Marenchin
2025-03-27 18:30 - 20:30 | Freer Home, 1260 Center Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
“A History of Musical Philanthropy in Ashland Witnessed by the Trinity Lutheran Pianos”
Ron Marenchin is the Coordinator of Music Ministries at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ashland, where he directs several choirs, plans worship services and special events, and oversees the care and maintenance of a dozen or more keyboard instruments. In his presentation, “Myers and Millers and Clarks – Oh My!” Ron will use the history of the keyboard instruments at Trinity to highlight a century of music philanthropy by the leading citizens of Ashland.
Marenchin kicks off the 2025 Spring Speaker Series with this free opportunity. Join us at 6:30 p.m. on March 27 at the historic Freer Children’s Home. Parking is available onsite. For questions, contact us at 419-289-3111 or by emailing achs@ashlandhistory.org.

Meet & Greet the Director
2025-03-19 16:45 - 18:45 | Freer Home, 1260 Center Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Come to Freer and meet our new Director Sara Fisher! Sara has come to us from the International Women’s Air & Space Museum where she also served as director. She has worked in museums for 10 years and has brought her expertise to Ashland. Come out and visit, enjoy some snacks and refreshments, and get to know Sara as well as some of the other new faces around ACHS. Ask questions and learn what ACHS has planned for the future!

Christmas at the Freer Home
2024-12-22 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-21 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-20 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-15 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-14 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Freer Home, 1260 Center Street, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Step into a winter wonderland this holiday season at the museum! Immerse yourself in the magic of Christmas with festive exhibits, hot chocolate, and holiday cheer all around. Create unforgettable memories with your loved ones at the museum this Christmas – a perfect way to make the season merry and bright!
Come inside and warm up after your trip through Candy Cane Lane and enjoy more than a dozen beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Admission is free. Hot chocolate will be available for $1/cup. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Christmas tree this year! Christmas at the Freer Home will be open for 8 nights.

Victorian Christmas Lantern Tour
2024-12-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Manor House, 414 Center St, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
Step back in time this holiday season with a magical Victorian Christmas flashlight tour! Immerse yourself in the enchanting sights and sounds of a bygone era as you explore beautifully decorated Manor House after hours. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience the wonder and nostalgia of a Victorian Christmas – book your tour today!
Tickets are $5 per person (ages 2 and under are free). Spaces are limited, so advance ticketing is recommended to reserve your space. Tickets go on sale November 19th.
The tour departs from the Manor House 414 Center Street promptly at 6:30pm. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early to check-in.

https://square.link/u/d7MnhkbZ (6PM, 10 tickets)
https://square.link/u/IA7shRxS (7PM, 10 tickets)
