AuGlaize Village & Farm Museum in Defiance, OH, is filled with surprises, included two New Deal-era CCC buildings repurposed during WWII as barracks for German POWS. You can see more photos and read about my visit here: www.markstrecker.com/auglaize_vil.... #TravelAddicticsHistory #OhioHistory

Here are some photos of my recent visit to Schoepfle Garden beside the Vermilion River in Birmingham, OH. It includes a photo of the Birmingham Community Cemetery, which is runs alongside the garden's grounds. #TravelAddicticsHistory #VermilionRiver #OhioHistory #PubicGardens #LorainMetroparks

Ever wonder why M&Ms were invented or how Cheetos is linked to a military program? The Science History Institute in Philadelphia, PA, has these answers and a whole lot more. You can read about my recent visit here: www.markstrecker.com/science-hist.... #TravelAddicticsHistory #histsci #histech

If you know nothing about the War for Independence and you go through the of the Museum of the American Revolution, you may come out an expert on the topic. If you’re well-versed on the topic, you’ll still learn things you didn’t know. www.markstrecker.com/museum-of-th... #TravelAddicticsHistory

Zoar Village in OH is a snapshot in time of what was once a 19th century communist village. That's right, they owned everything collectively until the third generation decided they liked private wealth better. www.markstrecker.com/zoar-village... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory #ZoarVillage

In downtown Woodville, OH, you'll find the Woodville Historical Museum, a one-room place jam-packed with artifacts of the past including a Native American mask. The village was once the center of an oil boom. www.markstrecker.com/woodville-hi... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory #WoodvilleOH

The Wood County Historical Center & Museum in OH is located in a former "Infirmary," a euphemism for where the county sent poor and mentally ill people. At one point every county in OH had one. www.markstrecker.com/wood-county-... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory #19thCenturyBuildings

National Park rangers our a national treasure. The presentations they gave at Independence Hall during my recent visit were top-notch! #TravelAddicticsHistory #IndependenceHall #ILoveNationalParkRangers #PhiladelphiaHistory #History #PAHistory

Ben Franklin's Philadelphia house was torn down in 1812. On that spot today you'll find the Benjamin Franklin Museum at which I learned that Franklin invented windsurfing and call small, furry animals "skuggs." www.markstrecker.com/benjamin-fra... #TravelAddicticsHistory #BenFranklin #PhillyHistory

An old trope is fiction is that a character was raised by Indians to explain his woodcraft. At the Wolcott Heritage Center in Maumee, OH, I learned that Mary Wolcott's father was captured by Miami warriors in KY and raised by this people. www.markstrecker.com/wolcott-heri... #TravelAddicticsHistory

I found the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton, OH, the oddest museum of its type I've ever seen. In addition to being about McKinley, it's filled with dinosaurs and an ecology island! www.markstrecker.com/william-mcki... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory #USpresidents

The White River Light Station Museum in MI isn't especially large, but it's worth visiting for the view alone. One interesting artifact I saw while there was a fire-extinguishing grenade. www.markstrecker.com/white-river-... #TravelAddicticsHistory #MIhistory #Lighthouses

The Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio in Wooster runs an extraordinary museum. When I visited back in 2018, they had some of the most impressive theater costumes for the local Ohio Light Opera. www.markstrecker.com/wayne-county... #TravelAddicticsHistory #OhioHistory #OhioLightOpera

The Warther Museum near Dover, OH, is filled with the carvings of Ernest “Mooney” Warther. He made mostly steam engines and never never sold one, although he did go on the road to show them off. www.markstrecker.com/warther-muse... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory

At the Warren G. Harding Presidential Sites in Marion, OH, I learned that during Harding's courtship of his future wife, Florence Kling, her father threatened to kill him under the false belief that he had an African ancestor! www.markstrecker.com/warren-hardi... #TravelAddicticsHistory #history

The Ohio Museum of Horror in Galion, OH, doesn't have the most well-designed exhibits, but if you like Halloween, this is the place for you! You can see human skulls, art by serial killer John Wayne Gacy, an X-Files script and artifacts by the Heaven's Gate death cult. #TravelAddicticsHistory

The Victorian House in Holmes County, OH, was built for a Cleveland businessman Latham H. Brightman. He and his family stayed for just two years, then sold it. Now it serves as a museum for the non-Amish history of the county. www.markstrecker.com/victorian-ho... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory

Curwood Castle in Owosso, MI, was built as the writing studio for James Oliver Curwood, a best-selling author whose name is nearly forgotten today despite many movies being made based on his books including 1988's The Bear. www.markstrecker.com/curwood-cast... #TravelAddicticsHistory #MIhistory

In the movie Operation Petticoat, the USS Sea Tiger was painted pink for lack of gray paint. While no American submarine ever sailed while this color, the USS Cod did have a pink periscope! www.markstrecker.com/uss-cod.html... #TravelAddicticsHistory #WWII #NavalHistory #ohiohistory

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I visited the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, OH, and here learned that during WWII, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fought Nazis, Soviets, and anyone else keen on their subjection. www.markstrecker.com/ukrainian-mu... #TravelAddicticsHistory

A few years back while in WV I visited Thurmond, a ghost town and museum. While there I noticed many of the buildings in the museum had burned down, and I asked why. Turns out arson and a regular form of revenge! www.markstrecker.com/thurmond-nut... #TravelAddicticsHistory #WVHistory

Sunwatch Indian Village near Dayton, OH, is a replica of a Native American village from about 1000 b.c showing how archeologists think the so-called Paleo-Indians lived--people who hunted mastodons! You can read about my visit here: www.markstrecker.com/sunwatch-ind.... #TravelAddicticsHistory

Stan Hywet Hall in Akron was once the home of one of Goodyear's founders, F.A. Seiberling. Now a museum with vast gardens, it has everything from a dining room for 50 to a conservatory in which Mr. Green WAS NOT killed with a lead pipe. www.markstrecker.com/stan-hywet-h... #TravelAddicticsHistory

Spring Hill Historic Home in Massillon, OH, was built by a Quaker couple, Thomas and Charity Rotch. By day it was a farm where Merino sheep were raised. At night it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. www.markstrecker.com/spring-hill-.... #TravelAddicticsHistory #UndergroundRailroad #ohiohistory

At the The Spirit of '76 Museum Museum in Wellington, OH, I learned when Archibald Willard's painting Spirit of '76 debuted in 1876, art critics of the day didn't like it, but it was a hit with the public. www.markstrecker.com/spirit-of-76... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory

At the under-visited the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian, I learned all about Incan engineering. To this day some of their buildings stand up to terrible earthquakes that reduce modern ones to rubble. www.markstrecker.com/smithsonian.... #TravelAddicticsHistory #Incas

The Saginaw Chippewas run the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant, MI, at which I learned that in the 1960s they started raising money for their people using bingo played by people in cars who honked when they won. www.markstrecker.com/ziibiwing-ce... #Ziibiwing_Center #TravelAddicticsHistory #history

At the Sherman House in Lancaster, OH, I learned all about William Tecumseh Sherman, including that he was fostered to another family at the age of 9 because his father had died. You can read about my visit here: www.markstrecker.com/sherman-hous.... #TravelAddicticsHistory #USCivilWar #ohiohistory

Although nearly extinct today, the Shakers were once a major American religion that had communities across the U.S. The Shaker Historical Museum in Shaker Heights, OH, tells the story of the one near Cleveland. www.markstrecker.com/shaker-histo... #TravelAddicticsHistory #ohiohistory #shakers

Although the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, OH, focuses on Hancock County and the city in which it resides, it's full of surprises. Here one can find an authentic suit of samurai armor and the captain's bathtub from the USS Maine. www.markstrecker.com/hancock-hist.... #TravelAddicticsHistory