With hundreds of attractions spread throughout the region, you'll be sure to find many treasures for you and your family to enjoy. Just click on the links below for a taste of the wonderful attractions for you to visit.

Completed in 1908, the Westcott House is Frank Lloyd Wright’s only Prairie Style home in Ohio.  The Westcott House has recently undergone an inch-by-inch $5.3 million restoration and has been restored to its 1908 appearance.  Furniture has been rebuilt according to Wright’s specification and gardens re-landscaped in keeping with the time.  Take a guided tour and learn about this Prairie Style home, industrialist Burton J. Westcott and his family.  Admission fee includes a forty-five minute house tour plus eight-minute movie on Frank Lloyd Wright and the Westcott House restoration process.  To schedule a tour, visit www.westcotthouse.org. 
 

The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches.  In July of 1979, over sixty buildings representing the German Catholic settlements of southern Auglaize and Mercer Counties, as well as portions of northern Darke and Shelby Counties, were placed on a National Register of Historic Places.  Consisting of churches, schools, rectories and convents, this grouping is symbolic of the culture and  historic uniqueness of the region. Today, most of these structures remain to   remind us of the hard work and dedication of these early settlers as they built the Miami-Erie Canal and forged a new life on the area’s rich and productive farmland. A drive along this Ohio Scenic Byway through the rural countryside follows the quaint churches with their cross tipped “spires to heaven” and    includes stops at the focal points of the region: the former convent at Maria Stein, St. Augustine Church – the original Mother Church of the area, and the magnificent and impressive former seminary at Carthagena.  For more information, call the Auglaize –Mercer CVB at 800-860-4726.

Nested in the lush countryside, two European-style chateaus will recapture your curiosity for days gone by. Each with its own charm and personality, Castles Mac-A-Cheek and Mac-O-Chee were two limestone homes constructed prior to the turn of the century by Abram and Colonial Donn Piatt, prominent brothers who grew up in the area. Castle Mac-O-Chee is nestled in the hillside of what the native Americans once called “smiling valley”. Castle Mac-A-Cheek sits on top of hill with a breathtaking view of its surroundings. This home has never been out of the Piatt family. Engage in a detailed, guided tour of each castle.  Call 937-465-2821 for more information.

Come and experience the story of the Heartland in this beautiful state-of-the-art museum located in downtown Springfield!  A century-old City Hall and Marketplace has become the new home for Clark County/Springfield's heritage. Priceless mementos have been assembled to open an exciting window on seven generations of fascinating history. Exhibit galleries, an archive and research    library, meeting facilities, a museum store, restaurant, and the office of Veteran's Services are all housed in the Heritage Center of Clark County.  Call 937-324-0657 or visit www.clarkcountyhistoricalsociety.org for more information.

Designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan in 1917 and completed in 1918 the Peoples Federal Savings and Loan is an architectural masterpiece. The bank  features clear-cut lines terminated with a flat roof and bold cornice. The building is dominated by a Syrian arch at the entrance with blue glass mosaic in the tympanum. Sullivan’s terra cotta relief ornamentation is punctuated by lion’s head gargoyles (decorative rain spouts).  To give the business a spacious and well-lighted interior, Sullivan designed within the building’s west wall a continuous string of windows composed of subdued green glass, accented by occasional     ornamental designs in tomato and pale amber glass.  The interior of the building, with its safe symmetrically located, and in full view by all, offers the comforting  presence of security.  For more information or to schedule a tour call 937-492-6129; Visit http://downtownsidney.com/Pages/PeoplesFederal.asp for photos.

You have likely seen many amazing visionary art sites, but none quite like the one Jim Bowsher has created on Wood Street in Wapakoneta.  The Temple of Tolerance is really two separate, but interconnected environments. The first is his home, an incredible museum of artifacts from the America that wasn't written about in your school history books. It's the secret Smithsonian. A Grand  Central Terminal for the Underground Railroad. An invisible library of unwritten books on Freemasons, Harry Houdini, and Neil Armstrong.  In the backyard, in fact over several backyards, is the actual Temple complex. It feels more like a place that been unearthed rather than constructed.  Massive glacial boulders mound up to form the central monument, dedicated to tolerance.  Surrounding the main temple is a stage for summer music performances, a Vietnam War memorial, as well as a Tree of Life (constructed by neighborhood kids).

Throughout the grounds you'll also find the archeology of good and evil: boundary markers from a Shawnee Indian reservation, slab steps from a Klan meetinghouse, stone dragons from Ireland, fragments from the first baseball park in Cincinnati, even a marble countertop from a bank that John Dillinger robbed.  For more information, contact the Auglaize-Mercer CVB at  419-394-1294.

Constructed in 1875 as a living memorial to the Shelby County Civil War veterans, the Monumental Building was home to Sidney Fire Department, Public Library, Government Offices, and Opera House.  Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, and many other legendary performers graced the stage of the Opera House.  This building is now home to the Sidney Municipal Court.  To schedule a tour, please call  937-498-0011.

Built in 1910, the St. Clair Memorial Hall is the center for the arts in Darke County. Also housed in this building are the Anna Bier Gallery which features art work during the year and the Civic Room.  Located in Greenville, this fine piece of architecture has been completely remodeled and is a showpiece for all of Darke County.  For more information, contact the Darke County Visitors Bureau at 800-504-2995 or www.discoverourlegends.com.

Courthouses, shops and banks, sculptures, parks and public squares are waiting for you to tour and enjoy in Ohio’s Historic West.  Call us at 800-348-8993 to arrange your Downtown Walking Tour today.

Ohio’s Historic West is a not for profit organization comprised of 8 counties in west central Ohio, including; Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Logan, Mercer, Miami and Shelby counties. Ohio’s Historic West is the story of our American Experience as illustrated by our cultural and ethnic diversity, family farms, historic freedoms and liberties, rural lifestyle, scenic beauty, ingenious industrial innovations, hometown heroes, patterns of development and settlement, small town charms, and spirit of community. Take the journey!

Ohio's Historic West
Consisting of Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Logan, Mercer, Miami and Shelby counties.