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Downtown Athens Ohio Walking Tour
Item 7 of 11

The purpose of the Southeast Ohio History Center is to collect, preserve, and share Southeast Ohio's unique cultural and natural heritage. With its rolling hills, lush farmland, fall foliage, and quaint, homespun communities, Southeast Ohio is among the most beautiful regions in the state and the country. The area boasts some of the best of what Ohio has to offer. For nearly 50 years, the Southeast Ohio History Center, formerly the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, has been serving this region. It's collection of more than 85,000 archival materials, photographs, media, artifacts, textiles, and decorative arts offers a glimpse into the lives of those who have made Southeast Ohio their home.


West State Street side of the SOHC

Cloud, Sky, Building, Window

An example of an exhibit at the SOHC

Building, Interior design, Television, Flooring

A live film/music event held at the SOHC

Pipe organ, Chair, Lighting, Architecture

Another example of an exhibit at the SOHC

Building, Floor, Leisure, Flooring

The Athens County Historical Society and Museum was officially founded in 1983 - through the merging of the Athens County Historical Society and the Athens County Museum Corporation.

65 North Court Street served as the home of the organization, housing the growing collection, providing an exhibition space, and meeting area. It didn't take long for the organization to outgrow this space. The collections were bulging at the seams and the building could no longer serve the needs of the staff.

In late 2015, the 100 year old building housing the First Christian Church at the corner of West State and Congress Street came up for sale. In January, the Board responded to the opportunity to purchase the building. With the new 18,000 square foot space, the organization rebranded and became the Southeast Ohio History Center. Since then the SOHC, has become a leader in historic preservation and education for the region. The History Center has an expansive primary exhibition gallery space, an expanded genealogy and research library, flexible classroom, meeting, and rental spaces, a climate controlled collections storage space, and a modern collections lab where staff and volunteers can work on new preservation, research, and exhibition projects.