Tour Our Buildings


 

      

Greet Straus the stag. Ring the school bell.
Learn about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

 

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Guided Oberlin Origins + Little Red Schoolhouse Tours

Guided 45-minute tour of the first floor of the 1866 Monroe House and the 1836 Little Red Schoolhouse. Hear about the events and individuals that shaped Oberlin’s first one hundred years. Topics include Oberlin's beginnings as a Christian Perfectionist community and its philosophies on education, abolition, integration, and more. 

Tour Times

Tour Fee


Self-Guided Oberlin Origins Tours

Are you unable to attend a guided tour? Then drop by during our open hours for a self-guided experience of the popular Oberlin Origins tour. Visitors are provided with a tablet that will take them through the first floor of the 1866 Monroe House. Hear about the events and individuals that shaped Oberlin’s first one hundred years, including stories of those who lived in the Monroe House. Topics include Oberlin's beginnings as a Christian Perfectionist community, coeducation, and abolition. 

Tour Times

Tour Fee

Tour patrons who have health, accessibility, or sensory concerns may reach out to the Museum Education and Tour Manager to arrange an alternative experience.


Jewett House Tours

A guided 45-minute tour of the Jewett House. Learn about Frank Fanning Jewett, Sarah Frances Gulick Jewett, Charles Martin Hall, the Aluminum Reduction Process and life in Oberlin during the Progressive Era. Additional topics include architecture, interior design, social reform, and student boarders who stayed with the family during their time at Oberlin College.

Tour Times & Details

  • Available on the first and third Fridays of the month at 1:30pm, year round. 
  • No registration required; walk-ins welcome. 
  • Guests will meet at Monroe House to register and be greeted by the tour guide prior to walking over to the Jewett House.
  • Due to the historic nature of our buildings, the tour involves walking and climbing stairs. Contact our office for advance arrangements as needed. Guests with hearing difficulties can ask the docent to wear an audio amplifier.

Tour Fee

  • $4 per adult

  • Free for members, college students with a valid ID, and children under 18 accompanied by an adult. Also free for active duty military personnel and their families as part of the Blue Star Museums program and for individuals who receive SNAP benefits through the Museums for All program.

Tour patrons who have health, accessibility, or sensory concerns may reach out to the Museum Education and Tour Manager to arrange an alternative experience.


Upstairs/Downstairs Guided Tour: Small Town, Big Stories

*Please note at this time, OHC is not offering this tour except for group tours arranged in advance. Please see Group Tours for more information.*

Enjoy the lifestyles and architecture of historic Oberlin in a guided tour of three beautifully preserved buildings that tell the unique, nationally significant story of the community and college in Oberlin from their beginning in 1833 until the 1930s. Learn about Oberlin's founding as a Christian Perfectionist colony, women attending college, African American education, abolition and the Underground Railroad, aluminum history, decorative arts, the Progressive Era, student life, and more.

Tour Details

  • Tours begin at the Monroe House of the Oberlin Heritage Center. Directions & Map

  • Tours typically last 75 minutes.

  • All ages are welcome but the tour is of most interest to adults and children above the age of 7 years.  See our Event Calendar and Bring a Youth Group page for more children-friendly options, such as the I Spy Oberlin scavenger hunt or Lessons in the Past program.

  • Due to the historic nature of our buildings, the tour involves walking and climbing stairs. Portions of the buildings are accessible by wheelchair. Contact our office for advance arrangements. Guests with hearing difficulties can ask the docent to wear an audio amplifier. For more information, visit our Accessibility and ADA page.

  • Groups of 8 or larger should contact the Museum Education and Tour Manager prior to registering for tours. Group Tours

Tour Fee

  • $8 per adult

  • Free for members, college students with a valid ID, and children under 18 accompanied by an adult. Also free for active duty military personnel and their families as part of the Blue Star Museums program and for individuals who receive SNAP benefits through the Museums for All program.

Reserve a Tour Online


Specialized Tours

Historically Inaccurate Tour

Are you a myth buster? Can you call someone’s bluff? Come test your skills on this fun, thought-provoking 75-minute tour of the Oberlin Heritage Center's three historic buildings. This tour will include some Oberlin and national historical myths along the way, and at the end, we’ll explore what is fact or fiction. This tour is available year-round at special times.

 

Music in the Home Tour

Listen and learn how music was used for entertainment, fellowship, and teaching in nineteenth and early twentieth-century homes during this 60-minute guided tour of the historic properties at the Oberlin Heritage Center. Musicians and non-musicians alike will enjoy his opportunity to view musical artifacts up-close and hear sounds of the times. This tour is available year-round at special times.

 

Foiled Again! The Aluminum Mystery Experience

Do you enjoy mysteries? Do you like science or puzzles? If so, Foiled Again! The Aluminum Mystery Experience is perfect for your families, friends, teams, or clubs! Join us at the Oberlin Heritage Center and book this private mystery experience where your group will have a chance to help Professor Jewett solve the mystery of where his aluminum science notes went inside the Jewett House. Immerse yourself in the late 1800s as he helped his student, Charles Martin Hall discover the Aluminum Reduction Process. This teamwork-based activity is best suited for detectives over the age of 9. We recommend groups between 3-8 participants. Groups are private once booked for both publicly-scheduled offerings and as a specially-arranged group request.

2024 Public Offerings of Foiled Again!

  • Second Friday of the Month at 2:00pm
  • Please note that this experience requires advance registration. If no bookings are made by the day before the offering, the experience will be cancelled. 

Our Historic Buildings

The Monroe House (1866)

This brick Italianate-style house is the starting point for your tour. It was originally the home of Civil War General Giles W. Shurtleff, the leader of the first African-American regiment from Ohio to serve in the Civil War. The house was subsequently the long-time home of James Monroe and his wife, Julia Finney Monroe. Mr. Monroe was an important abolitionist, advocate of voting rights for African Americans, and friend of Frederick Douglass. Monroe taught at Oberlin College, served as the U.S. Consul to Brazil, and was a five-term U.S. congressman. Mrs. Monroe was the daughter of Charles Finney, the great religious leader of Oberlin College.

 

The Little Red Schoolhouse (1836/1837)
This was the first public school in town and is Oberlin’s oldest building. In defiance of Ohio's "Black Laws", the school was interracial from its inception. Sarah Margru Kinson, who as a young girl was on board the infamous Amistad slave-trading ship, returned later to America and was among the first African Americans to attend school in Oberlin.  Restored as a pioneer-era one-room school, it is a special favorite of school-age visitors.

 

The Jewett House (1884)
This was the home of Oberlin College chemistry professor Frank Fanning Jewett, and his wife Frances Gulick Jewett, author of books on public health and hygiene. The Jewetts and subsequent owners, the Hubbards, rented rooms to male Oberlin College students who slept in the attic and studied on the second floor. This wonderfully intact house and its simple wood frame barn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On display in the house is an exhibit on "Aluminum: The Oberlin Connection" that includes a recreation of Charles Martin Hall's 1886 woodshed experiment.

 

For more tour options, check out the Event Calendar, History Walks, Bring a Group, and Bring a Youth Group pages, or contact the Museum Education and Tour Manager  to discuss customized tours.


Visitor Feedback

OHC strives to make every visitor's experience a positive and memorable one, and utilizes all guest feedback to continue improving our offerings. We encourage all our visitors to share their feedback through direct communication with us and online through platforms such as Google, TripAdvisor, and Facebook. Check out some of our reviews on TripAdvisor


Reduced Tour Admission Programs

OHC offers free and reduced admissions to individuals through the following programs. More information about membership benefits and qualifying criteria can be found on the program links.

AAA Members: $1 off adult tour admission (must present membership card)

Time Travelers Network Reciprocal Membership Program: Free admission

Blue Star Museums: Free admission for U.S. active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve

Museums for All: Free admission for up to 4 individuals per SNAP EBT card