Wood County Museum

Wood County Museum Award-winning local history museum located within the former Wood County Infirmary building.
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Former County Poor Farm now a museum open for self-guided tours daily. Featured exhibit: For Comfort & Convenience: Public Charity By Way of the Poor Farm.

The Museum will be closed December 20-February 1 for exhibit construction. On February 2nd we will reopen for tours!
12/19/2025

The Museum will be closed December 20-February 1 for exhibit construction. On February 2nd we will reopen for tours!

Day 19: Christmas Party Everyone gets into the holiday spirit this time of year, businesses included! In our collectio...
12/19/2025

Day 19: Christmas Party

Everyone gets into the holiday spirit this time of year, businesses included! In our collection, we have a holiday trinket dish/ashtray from Ajusto Equipment Co, Bowling Green. Maybe something given out during a company holiday party?

The company was founded in the early 1930s in Kewaunee, Wisconsin and was originally called Kewaunee Manufacturing Company. The company expanded quickly and moved production to Adrian, Michigan. By the early 1940’s, wartime shortages slowed production and it was another 10 years before the company was able to progress again. They merged with another company, Hardware Engineering Company, to form Ajusto Equipment Company in 1954. We were able to find classified ads from 1955, suggesting an expansion of the company that year with the hiring of more employees!

Ajusto Equipment Co. was originally located on Conneaut Avenue, Bowling Green. Interestingly enough, this was the location of the former Newton Glass Co (who we covered on day 2)! Ajusto later moved to a larger site on Haskins Road. They made equipment, mainly chairs, for education, medical, and other office settings. In 1993, the company changed its name to BioFit Engineered Products. They still operate off Haskins Road to this day! In 2021, BioFIT made headlines for creating chairs for Abbott Industries, during the COVID pandemic, that were easy to clean and sanitize. In 2023, they received a top industry innovation award for their FBT™ Series of Fold & Roll Booths!

Day 18: Archive ElvesHere are your “Archive Elves” for 2025; the crew behind the posts! They channeled their best JCPe...
12/18/2025

Day 18: Archive Elves

Here are your “Archive Elves” for 2025; the crew behind the posts! They channeled their best JCPenney photo shoot poses for this 😂

Meet the Elves:
Photo 2: Curator, Holly Kirkendall, who cares for and maintains the collections. She also does research, and creates exhibits with the items in our collections.
Photo 3: Museum & Events Assistant, Alyssa Garland, helps create many of the history posts you see for social media (What is it Wednesday and TBT are her specialties).
Photo 4: Collections Volunteer, Sarah Ransom, who helps to photograph the collections, further preserving the history we hold.

The Wood County Museum is more than just a building for old stuff. We have an entire team of educated professionals on site to care for and preserve YOUR history!

Today’s is in partnership with our friends at the North Baltimore Area Historical Society! To celebrate the holiday se...
12/17/2025

Today’s is in partnership with our friends at the North Baltimore Area Historical Society! To celebrate the holiday season, we have a Christmas photo of the Charles Lloyd Family.

Charles Lloyd was born in Stryker, Ohio on March 11th, 1909. He attended the Columbus School for Embalming and became a mortician. Along with working as a mortician in Portsmouth and Ironton, he served in the Navy as a medical technical photographer stationed in the Great Lakes Navy Training Center. In 1936 he married Thelma Louise Hogan and the two lived in Ironton, Ohio. In 1946 their daughter, Judy, was born.

The Lloyd family moved to North Baltimore in 1951. Charles went to work at Rippeth Funeral home and Thelma worked as a secretary at the North Baltimore High School. Judy attended school in North Baltimore, graduating in 1963.

By 1962, Charles Lloyd purchased Rippeth funeral home from H. R. Rippeth. He operated under the same name until 1971 when he and his wife, Thelma, retired. The couple moved to Cape Coral, Florida where they spent the remainder of their lives. Charles died in 1983, Thelma in 2013 (just a few months shy of her 100th birthday) and Judy in 2021. All three are buried in Coral Ridge Cemetery, Cape Coral, Florida.

Day 17: Christmas ColorsToday we have a hand made red and green plaid child's dress, donated to us by Jan Sarver! As s...
12/17/2025

Day 17: Christmas Colors

Today we have a hand made red and green plaid child's dress, donated to us by Jan Sarver! As soon as we saw this, we immediately thought of CHRISTMAS COLORS ❤️💚

Looking to do some last minute Christmas shopping? Come pick up a gift at the Museum Gift Shop! Every purchase from our ...
12/16/2025

Looking to do some last minute Christmas shopping? Come pick up a gift at the Museum Gift Shop! Every purchase from our gift shop goes right back into helping the museum out 💙.

Gift Shop hours for the rest of this week (December 17-19): 10AM-4PM.

Day 16 - BellsWe took some creative liberties again 😅Today we have a Western Electric Blue Bell Dry Cell Battery that ...
12/16/2025

Day 16 - Bells

We took some creative liberties again 😅

Today we have a Western Electric Blue Bell Dry Cell Battery that was used for telephone service. These batteries were created to be long lasting, efficient, and able to stand up under extreme conditions. Today, lead-acid, gel (VRLA), and lithium-ion batteries are used.

Due to the overwhelming response to our bourbon sale, we’re excited to offer a second pickup. If you enjoyed your bourbo...
12/15/2025

Due to the overwhelming response to our bourbon sale, we’re excited to offer a second pickup. If you enjoyed your bourbon or missed the first round, don’t miss out, this will be the last group pickup available. 🥃

**Purchase by 8:00PM on December 29, 2025 to have your bottle included in the group pick up!

Bourbon Link: https://willowrunbourbon.com/product/bottles-for-a-cause-personal-stock/

Day 15 - Wrapping PaperWho remembers circling the items your wanted for Christmas in big catalog 🙋‍♀️Today, from our a...
12/15/2025

Day 15 - Wrapping Paper

Who remembers circling the items your wanted for Christmas in big catalog 🙋‍♀️Today, from our archives, we have a Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog from the winter of 1937. Among the hundreds of pages, we found a section for wrapping paper, gift tags, and bows. Take a look at those prices!

Day 14 - DecorationsA few days ago, we shared some of the Christmas tree bulbs from our collections. Here is a little ...
12/14/2025

Day 14 - Decorations

A few days ago, we shared some of the Christmas tree bulbs from our collections. Here is a little more information on the particular bulbs we have 🎄

The first are a set of hand painted santa ornaments from the Silvestri Manufacturing Co. The company was founded by George Silvestri Sr. in 1901 in Chicago. Silvestri Sr. made a wide range of decorations including hand painted christmas tree bulbs. By the 1950s and 60s, the company was under the leadership of George Silvestri Jr., who led the company through some very exciting changes. Silvestry Jr. was able to receive a licensing deal with Walt Disney to create ornaments with characters on them. Silvestry Jr. also introduced the Italian miniature christmas bulb. Up until that point, the only sting lights available used C7 bulbs. The Silvestri bulbs were smaller, elegant, and almost jewel-like. This product changed christmas trees for generations to come!

The second set are hand painted from the Shiney Brite Co. and have a very interesting connection to World War II. Max Eckardt had been making glass ornaments since 1907, importing hand blown glass bulbs from Germany. However, seeing that there were tensions rising in the region in the late 1930s, he began to work with Corning Glass. Corning mass produced clear glass bulbs and shipped them to Eckardt’s factories where they were painted by hand. This was the start of Shiny Brite Co. The fact that the ornaments were made in America was a huge selling point during World War II, leading to their popularity.

Mike McMaster here to tell you about this really cool map! The exterior and interior lines of Perry Township were survey...
12/14/2025

Mike McMaster here to tell you about this really cool map! The exterior and interior lines of Perry Township were surveyed in 1819 and 1821. James McCormick dammed a portion of the East Branch of the Portage River and built the first gristmill in the area in 1835. McCormick’s “racoon buhr” was within a hewn-log structure. Prior to McCormick’s mill, settlers in the southeast portion of Wood County had to travel for days with their corn to either Fremont or Tiffin to have it milled. A frame saw mill was built near West Mill Grove shortly after allowing settlers to begin building with cut lumber.

Address

13660 County Home Road
Bowling Green, OH
43402

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+14193520967

Website

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Our Story

The Museum is the former County Poor Farm, or Infirmary, now open for self-guided tours daily. Featured exhibit for 2020:

Utopia: A Visual Storytelling of Our Home

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the formal creation of Wood County, Taylor Houpt Ayres created a 35-piece gallery style photography exhibit titled Utopia: A Visual Storytelling of Our Home documenting elements of the county that inspire her as a young professional. Taylor knew the overall purpose of the exhibit was not to view this anniversary milestone as an exercise in look backwards. These photos are a symbol of the many possibilities waiting for young people just beginning their adult lives. Capturing more than 6,000 photographs over a three-year period, the journey showcases a visual storytelling of our home and highlights its beautiful landscapes, vibrant cityscapes, and a multitude of back road barns and farm fields. Utopia was made possible with a sponsorship by American Frame.

Traditionally, anniversary milestones are deeply rooted in memory. Historic photos often lend themselves to conversation among groups of people well acquainted with their community surroundings. Current interpretive methods used by museum professionals seek to include the perspectives of younger generations. Over time, the way a landscape is developed or how people navigate their homeland evolves. While the progress of our community is celebrated at the Wood County Historical Museum through historical interpretation, we also seek to celebrate fresh ideas and modern thinking. Anniversaries are not stopping points. Yes, we like to honor the past, but are also incredibly excited for the future.