URBANA, Ohio — Three years ago, a beloved museum in Urbana, Ohio, closed its doors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, new roots and a lot of hard work have helped the Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum open once again.

What You Need To Know

  • Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum reopens its doors

  • The museum relocated to historic Browne Hall in downtown Urbana

  • Each room tells a different interactive story of Johnny Chapman

  • Museum places a big emphasis on children and interactive learning

Marlen Mathias is the Vice President of the Johnny Appleseed Foundation and descendant of Johnny Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed.

Over the past three years, she’s made it her mission to get Johnny’s story growing again through the museum.

“Johnny was very important to Ohio. Not only planting the apple trees, supplying people with trees, keeping them informed, he was also religious and would pass out part of his Bible and pick it up on his way back through, passing on information that was being current and he even went to Mansfield to Newark to tell the citizens of an approaching attack. So he was quite important to the settling of Ohio,” Mathias said.

He was a pioneer, a conservationist, a religious man, and responsible for planting orchards all over Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia and Ontario.

However, because it was the 1700s, very little is known about what he actually looked like, but his mission was as American as apple pie.

“When you were given your land for your service in the military in the Revolutionary War, you were required to have five acres of either apple trees or peach trees, something that would grow and preserve,” Mathias said.

Thanks to funding from the state and local governments, plus private donations and COVID relief dollars, the museum could spout new beginnings.

“We went from having two rooms to having an 11,000-square-foot house,” said museum director Mikaela Prescott.

Nestled near downtown Urbana, you’ll find the museum inside the historic Browne Hall.

“Each room in the museum is sort of reflective of these different lenses which you can view Johnny Appleseed as a character,” Prescott said.

Every room holds different interactive exhibits with a few priceless artifacts, like Johnny’s Bible, perfectly preserved.

Outside is an area of discovery where children can let their imaginations ripen with curiosity.

Inside, young learners can embrace hands-on activities that are perfect for picking up new ideas.

“Inviting children is huge for us. A lot of people, they have this fond memory of Johnny Appleseed because they learn about him first and foremost in a school and classroom setting, and for a lot of people the story kind of stops and ends there at the door to the classroom,” Prescott added.

For Mathias, it’s been a labor of love and a mission to keep her family’s history growing strong.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to get kids and my grandchildren and other kids excited about Johnny Appleseed and planting things that they can see grow that will make such a difference in the future,” she said.

The museum’s address is 518 College Way, Urbana, OH 43078

It’s open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Admission is always free, but donations are encouraged.