Thomas Alva Edison, the great inventor, first made his mark on the world from a little cottage in Milan, Ohio in 1847. Planned by Edison’s father, the three-story brick house sits on the side of a hill and has been turned into a museum, furnished by the Edison family. The home looks deceptively small from the outside, but actually has three floors. The Home and the Welcome Center next door contain examples of Edison’s early inventions, family furniture, rare Edisonia, documents and family mementos. The Birthplace is the only Edison site in the United States where the Edison family descendants are involved and is a National Historic Landmark.
The Edison family lived in Ontario, Canada. Tom\'s father Sam had become involved in a political struggle - a much later and unsuccessful Canadian counterpart of the American Revolution known as the Papineau-MacKenzie Rebellion. When the movement failed, he was forced to escape across the border to the United States, and after many dangers and hardships, finally reached the town of Milan, Ohio, where he decided to settle and take up shingle-making because business seemed really active there.
Milan, in the 1840\'s, was entering upon the period of its greatest growth and prestige. Its position on the Huron River facilitated the building of a ship’s canal by enterprising citizens, linking it to the Great Lakes. The town became such a busy grain port on Lake Erie, an inland lake of the Great Lakes, that it rivaled, for a short time, that of the great port of Odessa, on the Black Sea, in Russia. Not only commerce, but ship building was carried on around the basin at the end of the Milan Canal, below Tom\'s family home. It was here, for 7 years that the young Tom (Al) Edison pursued his never ending curiosity about the world around him.

Local

Eat and Drink

• Tin Goose Diner - Port Clinton (19.7 miles) - We are located at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport (PCW) connected to the Liberty Aviation Muse...

See and Do

• Edison Birthplace Museum Milan (0.0 miles) - Thomas Alva Edison, the great inventor, first made his mark on the world from a little cottage in Mi...
• Ghostly Manor Thrill Center Sandusky (9.6 miles) - We are a indoor attraction center offering fun for all ages. We have Ghostly Manor haunted house whi...
• African Safari Wildlife Park Port Clinton (16.9 miles) - We are the Mid-west's only Drive-Thru Safari! With your paid admission, you receive unlimited tr...
• Liberty Aviation Museum Port Clinton (19.7 miles) - The Liberty Aviation Museum is a newer "working" museum that opened in July of 2012 at the E...
• Miller Nature Preserve/Lorain County Metro Parks LaGrange (24.3 miles) - Miller Nature Preserve is a 5,000 square foot conservatory featuring orchids, bromeliads, ferns, bon...