Founded in 1867 as an historic branch of the Cleveland Library Association on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) has been here to preserve and provide access to the stories of Northeast Ohio and beyond – stories of the people, the artifacts and the archives that are the provenance for our region.

Operating six sites throughout Northeast Ohio, WRHS presents exhibitions, programs and experiences that tell the story of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio through items, documents and artifacts from a variety of collections at its headquarters, the Cleveland History Center in University Circle. Through the use of its vast and varied collections in the areas of family history, community history, entrepreneurship, and technological innovation, the Cleveland History Center provides the public with a much-needed sense of place in today’s mobile society, and a base for learning about invention and ingenuity that can be transferred into modern economic expansion.

One admission to the Cleveland History Center includes access to two historic mansions, both on the National Register of Historic Places, the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum (with support from The Frederick C. and Kathleen S. Crawford Fund of the Cleveland Foundation), Chisholm Halle Costume Wing, Research Library, Kidzibits Playzone, Community History Galleries, and two rides on the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel. Cleveland Starts Here®!

WRHS is a Smithsonian Affiliate (www.affiliations.si.edu) a national outreach program that develops long-term collaborative partnerships with museums, educational, and cultural organizations to enrich communities with Smithsonian resources. WRHS is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Sponsorships, bequests, grants, admissions, and other funding are used by WRHS to preserve and enrich the region’s artistic and cultural heritage. Charity Navigator, the nation’s most-used independent evaluator of charities and nonprofits, has given WRHS a top four-star rating.

Local

Eat and Drink

• Hofbräuhaus Cleveland - Cleveland (3.7 miles) - Welcome to Hofbräuhaus Cleveland, modeled after the legendary 400+ year-old Hofbräuhaus in Munich,...
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See and Do

• Cleveland History Center Cleveland (0.0 miles) - Founded in 1867 as an historic branch of the Cleveland Library Association on Public Square in downt...
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• NatureVation Outdoor Adventures Shaker Heights (4.2 miles) - NatureVation Outdoor Adventures is Northeast Ohio’s premier outdoor tourism provider of fully equi...
• convergence-continuum Cleveland (5.0 miles) - Most theatres are like mirrors, reflecting the familiar. You go to a show, you sit, you watch a play...
• Lockdown Cleveland Cleveland (7.6 miles) - Lockdown Cleveland, an escape room experience, offers fully immersive, 4D escape room games. Upon be...