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Ohio Open Doors 2026 – Show & Tell for Your Historical Places

Ohio Open Doors 2026 – Show & Tell for Your Historical Places

By Andy Verhoff, Program Manager, Ohio History Fund & Outreach, State Historic Preservation Office, Ohio History Connection

 My name is Andy Verhoff and I run Ohio Open Doors. It’s a program that the Ohio Historical Society started in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. We’ve cosponsored “OOD” every other year since to encourage community organizations host open house-type events in their historic buildings and places.

This year’s event will be held September 10-20, 2026. We invite you to host Ohio Open Door events in your community.  

Because 2026 is our nation’s Semiquincentennial, we want to make Ohio Open Doors bigger than ever. Our goal is to sponsor a minimum of 250 events and at least one event in each of Ohio’s 88 counties. That’s why America 250-Ohio is hosting this blog. (Thanks!) 

Why Host an Ohio Open Doors Event?

Ohio Open Doors is a great opportunity to share your community’s history with local folks and visitors alike. How many times have you heard “I’ve never been ‘there,’ but want to go one of these days.” Well, Ohio Open Doors is “one of these days.”   

Ohio Open Doors is also a chance to share historic buildings and spaces not normally open to the public. Many small towns in Ohio, like my hometown of Ottawa, have downtowns with historic buildings. The first floors may be used as office or retail space, but what’s on the second or third floor? Ohio Open Doors can be an invitation to see what’s up there. (See below for more event ideas.)  

Ohio Open Doors is a “draw.” In 2024 (OOD is every other year), more than half of participating organizations reported that their attendance during their Ohio Open Doors events was “greater than on a typical day.” Most added that they were “very willing” or “willing” to host an event in the future. The future is here – host an event in September!

 

Ohio Open Doors provide opportunities to see part of historic structures not normally open to the public, like the upper stories of these century-old downtown buildings in Ottawa.

Event Ideas – Limited Only by Your Imagination

  • Tours of upper stories in historic downtown commercial blocks
  • Behind-the-scenes tours of museums or historic house museums
  • Walking tours of historic downtowns
  • County courthouse tours
  • “Museum crawl” of historic sites, buildings, and museums in your area
  • Museum or archive tours that feature special or rarely seen collections
  • Tours of historic buildings that are adaptively reused (examples: a historic hotel building converted to apartments, a decommissioned historic church now used as event or office space)
  • Self-guided driving tours

Participation Requirements

To create a consistent Ohio Open Doors experience, we have a few requirements for participants:

  • Host one or more 2-hour event(s) between Sept. 10 – 20, 2026
  • Event(s) must focus on historic preservation and local history: historical buildings, sites, or places
  • Event(s) must be free, open to the public, and abide by laws and local ordinances concerning safety and access
  • Event(s) should be unique to Ohio Open Doors. For example: if you operate a historic house museum, show your visitors what they wouldn’t ordinarily have the chance to see. Add a special one-of-a-kind twist to something you already do – or create something new. It’s up to you!   

 

Resources to Help Make Your Event a Success

To help you make your event even more successful, the Ohio History Connection is  

  • Hosting a calendar of your events and locations at the Ohio Open Doors website: www.ohiohistory.org/opendoors
  • Publishing press releases and social media posts promoting Ohio Open Doors
  • Creating templates of press releases and social media posts you can use to promote your events locally
  • Providing yard signs to all participating organizations, while supplies last
  • On a first come, first served basis, providing Marketing Stipends of $150, for organizations with budgets under $50,000 
Galion’s Big Four railroad depot, built in 1900 and closed in 1969, was open during Ohio Open Doors in 2024. Notice the Ohio Open Door sign. We’ll send signs to participating organizations that register by the deadline of July 13, 2026.

Ready to Join the Fun?

Plan your event and register at: ohiohistory.org/opendoors

  • Events are posted to website within approximately two weeks of approval (but incomplete registrations will cause delays)
  • Need event ideas? See the Ohio Open Doors website
  • Earlybird registration deadline, July 13. Final deadline, August 3.

 

Jeri Arent, the archivist of the Worthington Historical Society, gave Ohio Open Doors visitors in 2024 a behind-the-scenes look at how the WHS carefully manages the artifacts entrusted to it. The society’s Old Rectory was one of eight stops during a community-wide history open house organized by the society.

Need more information?

Ohio Open Doors is a cooperative effort. In addition to America 250-Ohio, our partners are Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Local History Alliance, the Ohio Museums Association, the Ohio Travel Association and Tourism Ohio.

Ohio Open Doors is administered by the State Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio History Connection.

We look forward to your Ohio Open Doors event!