Hancock Historical Museum to Host Historic Barn Tour

The Hancock Historical Museum will host its fifth Historic Barn Tour on Saturday, September 14th from 10a-4p.

The self-guided tour will showcase five historic barns around the community of Mt. Blanchard, dating from the 1840s to the early 1900s.

Guests on the tour will learn the history of the barns and the farms they occupy. Many of the farms have been passed down in the same families for several generations.
The barns display a wide array of timber-framing techniques and styles and have come to serve a variety of purposes.

In addition to a wealth of historical information, guests will enjoy a day of activities promoting Hancock County heritage at each of the tour stops, including antique machinery demonstrations, local food vendors, hewing and timber framing demonstrations with JCM Timberworks, live music by the Dulcimer Gatherin’ and classic country band, East of Cheyenne, and much more!

In 2017, nearly 1,000 people attended the Historic Barn Tour. In 2014, the event was awarded the Public Education & Awareness Award by the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office for one of the best preservation programs in the state, and in 2018, the event was presented with the Scenic Ohio Award.

Tickets to the Historic Barn Tour are available presale for $10 at the Hancock Historical Museum, online at http://hancockhistoricalmuseum.org, and at the following sponsor locations: Findlay Implement Co., Reineke Ford in Findlay, Citizen’s National Bank in Findlay and Bluffton, Ag Credit in Findlay, and The Alliance in Findlay. The tour is also generously sponsored by Advanced Drainage Systems.

Tickets will be available the day of the tour for $10 for Hancock Historical Museum members and $15 for nonmembers. The tour is self-guided and participants may start at any of the barns and proceed in any order. Children 16 & under are free. For more information and a map of the tour stops, visit www.hancockhistoricalmuseum.org or call the Hancock Historical Museum at (419) 423-4433.

To kick-off the 2019 Historic Barn Tour, the Hancock Historical Museum will host a Breakfast in the Barn from 7-10am in the historic Ropp-Metzger Barn in Alvada. Enjoy a home-cooked breakfast on the farm before exploring the surrounding beautiful barns on this year’s tour. Chef Elaine Bruggeman, owner of downtown Findlay’s Main Street Deli, will be preparing the morning’s offerings.

Food will be served buffet style in an open-house fashion from 7-10am. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Hancock Historical Museum. A $10 ticket includes your choice of quiche or breakfast casserole, choice of fresh fruit or freshly-baked pastry, potatoes, coffee and juice.

Breakfast tickets are limited and must be purchased separately from the Barn Tour.

Breakfast tickets are available at the Hancock Historical Museum or online at www.hancockhistoricalmuseum.org