1776 – 2026 America 250 – Ohio

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Gay Fad Studios — Glass & Pottery

In 1945, Fran Taylor moved her glassware company to Lancaster, Ohio. It was here that she blazed a pioneering trail in midcentury glassware. Throughout the years, Gay Fad Studios developed multiple methods to decorate glassware with brilliant accuracy and durability. Today, Gay Fad offers new and vintage midcentury glassware inspired by the company that broke the glass ceiling.

Decorative Arts Center of Ohio — Folk & Traditional Arts

Located in the historic Reese-Peters House – considered one of the finest examples of a Greek Revival home – DACO offers rotating exhibits highlighting various aspects of the decorative arts, as well as tours of the House’s architecture, period furnishings and collections. Classes and workshops for all ages are offered regularly. This summer DACO will feature the temporary exhibition Star Trek & Worlds Beyond, May 31-August 31, 2025. The exhibition features costumes and props from the Paramount Pictures Archive & The Trumbull County Historical Society. Admission is free.

Ohio Glass & Museum Glass Blowing Studio — Glass & Pottery

Examples and stories of early glass making to present-day glass manufacturing meet at the Ohio Glass Museum, which also features rotating exhibits. Glass-blowing classes and demonstrations, as well as fused glass workshops, are available.

Buckeye Lake State Park

Ohio’s first state park surrounds a manmade lake built as a feeder reservoir for the Ohio & Erie Canal. Buckeye Lake once kept water levels stable for canal boats traveling between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. Today, its wide, sparkling waters support boating and recreation, but echoes of its canal roots remain. Walk the towpath, visit historic locks, and imagine this inland lake as a vital engine powering Ohio’s canal era.

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Millersport Canal & Deep Cut

Marvel at the Millersport “Deep Cut”—a dramatic 32-foot-deep trench carved through the Licking Summit between 1825–1831 to connect Buckeye Lake reservoir to the Ohio & Erie Canal. Carved by Irish immigrant laborers wielding picks, wheelbarrows, and oxcarts, this two-mile cut stands as one of Ohio’s most daring canal engineering feats. Once bustling with up to 3,000 canal boats annually, today it offers scenic views, interpretive signage, and links to recreation and reflection along a storied waterway.

Baltimore Community Museum

Nestled in the heart of “Canal Baltimore,” the museum celebrates how the Ohio & Erie Canal transformed this village. Discover immersive exhibits on the eight local locks, the expansive canal basin that powered mills and warehouses, and fierce rivalries with neighboring towns. Stroll through recreated period settings, explore artifacts, and learn how canal water fueled industry—shaping the community’s identity and prosperity.

Bibler Lock

The remains of the Bibler Lock are quietly tucked away behind the Baltimore Wastewater Plant and in 2018 became one of nine Ohio & Erie Canal locks to become part of the National Register of Historic Places. During the heyday of the canals, Bibler Lock served as a skating rink during the winter when the canal was not operating. This is the best-preserved lock in the area and there are still active efforts to continue to preserve the lock.

Lockville Canal Park

Lockville Canal Park preserves three consecutive stone locks (11, 12, and 13) and a covered bridge along a quiet stretch of the Ohio & Erie Canal. Fed by the waters of the Hocking River and surrounding creeks, this area once teemed with traffic as boats navigated the narrow channel. Today, it offers a contemplative walk among ruins and restored structures, where water once carved a path of prosperity through Ohio’s heartland.