Event and Exhibit Details
Events, Programs & Exhibits
PROGRAM - Senior Discovery Days
Gather with friends for a field trip close to home to experience the joy of learning from specialists in the field of local history. Museum Senior Discovery Days are open to all seniors age 60 and over. A $5.00 fee includes admission to the Museum, light refreshments and a special program/activity/guided tour (actual value of the experience is $25 – what an amazing deal!). Pre-registration is required. To register please call 419.337.7922, stop by the museum, or make reservations at the Fulton County Senior Center (if needing transportation)
Dates: Third Thursday of every month
Time: 9:30-11:30 AM
Fee: $5.00
Program Schedule:
May 21 – Barney Oldfield the Speed King Program - Join us to learn more about the accomplishments of local legend Barney Oldfield and play games of "Speed Racer"!
June 18 – The Great Museum Rally - Explore Fulton County in a whole new way as you swap local facts and enjoy a fun, county‑themed activity.
July 16 – America 250 Birthday Celebration
August 20 – The Libby Prison Woman Spy of the Civil War Program
September 17 – Indoor Gardening Then and Now Program
October 15 – Best of Fulton County Haunting History Stories
November 19 – Historic Holiday Sing-alongs at the Museum
Senior Discovery Days are part of a special partnership with the Fulton County Senior Center. Seniors are welcome to drive themselves, or if at least ten seniors sign up for bus transportation from the Fulton County Senior Center, the bus will transport you for an additional $3 per person, suggested donation, from 695 S. Shoop Ave., Wauseon. If you’re riding the bus, meet at 8:45 a.m. to leave on the bus at 9 a.m. Sign up by calling the Museum of Fulton County, 419-337-7922, or call the Fulton County Senior Center at 419-337-9299.
After returning to the Senior Center, why not stay for lunch to continue your conversations! Chances are that you'll eagerly make plans to come back to the museum next month for Senior Discovery Days!
Date: Saturday, June 20
Times: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm at Museum. Barney Oldfield Race at 7:00 pm
Location: Museum of Fulton County and Oakshade Raceway
Barney Oldfield was a pioneer automobile racer whose name was synonymous with speed! Join us for a spectacular celebration of this racecar legend, presented by the Fulton County Visitor’s Bureau, Museum of Fulton County, Wauseon Cruise Night Committee, Ohio America 250 Commission, and the Oak shade Raceway. Check out all the great activities planned for this special day:
PINEWOOD DERBY - For children of all ages, two FREE Pinewood Derby Races will be held inside the lobby. 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. will be for Kindergarten through 5th Grade (using Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby rules). A second race for ages 11 - 100 years old (using their old cars from childhood) will be at 2:00 p.m. Trophies, medals and participation pins will be awarded.
REFRESHMENTS - Barney Oldfield’s turn-of-the-century Los Angeles, Oldfield and Kipper Saloon & Cafe will be recreated in the museum lobby will be selling coffee and doughnuts beginning at 9:00 am and selling lunch menu items from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mocktails and other non-alcoholic turn-of-the-century drinks will be available at the saloon.
MOVIES - An official “Ohio Goes to the Movies” Barney Oldfield FREE Film Festival will be in the Emergency Operations Center at the museum. Screenings will be at 10:00 a.m. (Race for a Life)., 10:30 a.m (The Speed Kings)., 11:00 a.m. (Young Oldfield), 11:30 a.m. (Speed Demon), 12:30 p.m. (The First Auto), and 2:00 p.m. (Blond Comet).
AMAZING ARTIFACTS - At 12:00 pm in the Emergency Operation Center, Rusty Schlink, the last winner of the Barney Oldfield Oakshade Raceway Race, will unveil the museum's newly acquired helmet worn by Barney Oldfield in the Corona Road Race, September 1913.
CAR SHOW - A car show in front of the museum will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and some of the evening’s Barney Oldfield Oakshade Racecar entries will also be on display. 50/50 fundraising raffles will be held as well.
FUN FOR KIDS! - A "Duck Race" will be held in front of the museum throughout the day with prizes for small children.
WIN PRIZES! - A Yellowstone Trail Sociability Cruise (Pit Passes available now at the museum and all county libraries) is being hosted at multiple business and tourism locations, each of which has a pit pass stamp to prove that cruisers have been there. Visitors will turn in their pit passes at the museum before noon on June 20 for the first prize drawing.
DIRT TRACK RACING - After the museum closes at 4:00 p.m. guests are invited to travel up State Route 108 where Oakshade Raceway will be open for dinner and the Oldfield Race at 7:00 pm
EVENT - Barney Oldfield Day
NEW EXHIBIT - Thirteen Moons in 1776 –
Life along Turkeyfoot Creek
As part of the America 250-Ohio celebration, a spectacular exhibit is now open at the Museum of Fulton County. “Thirteen Moons in 1776 – Life along Turkeyfoot Creek,” features life throughout one year in the land we now call Fulton County.
As visitors explore the new exhibit they will travel through one year (13 lunar months), during the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A fictional fur trader and his wife will explain the change of seasons, the monthly lives of an Adawe village and their winter journey up the Turkeyfoot Creek, and facts about the year’s thirteen moons.
The three-dimensional, historical fiction exhibit will be laid out in 13 equal sections that, from above, resemble the back of a turtle (the Anishinaabe name for North America is Turtle Island). A timeline of colonial American events during the Revolutionary War will also run throughout the exhibit.
“Our new exhibit will focus on a fictional, French speaking fur trader, based on the real person, St. Vincent from the Captain Thomas Morris’ 1764 journal, who is married to an Odawa Chief's (Chief of the Wolf Rapids Band at Kin-jo-no, now Providence, OH) daughter,” shared John Swearingen, Jr., director of the Museum of Fulton County. “Guests will learn about their summer home near the mouth of what is now the North Turkeyfoot Creek in Henry County and how they traveled north to “The Six Mile Wood” during hunting and syrup harvesting season. They would have also travelled on the “Rice Road” (now County Road RS) through what is now Fulton County during the rice harvest season.”
Partially sponsored by America 250-Ohio, the new exhibit will feature a variety of unique artifacts including a large collection of items once given to the museum's founder, Colonel Dresden Winfield Huston Howard by his Native American friends. The exhibit will also include artifacts used during the Revolutionary War, and fun family-centered interactives related to the history of Nouvelle France (New France) fur trading that occurred in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana in 1776. French-American heritage thrived in northwest Ohio from the late 1690s through the 1830s.
“We recognize and honor the Algonquin Anishinaabeg as the original stewards of the land where the Museum of Fulton County now stands,” Swearingen added. “This traditional territory, which was never ceded, continues to hold great historical, spiritual, and sacred significance for the Algonquin people, whose enduring presence we respect.
The "Thirteen Moons in 1776: Life along Turkeyfoot Creek" exhibit is funded in part by the America 250-Ohio Commission. This new exhibit will be open throughout 2026 and admission to the exhibit is included with a general admission ticket to the museum.
EXHIBIT - Born in Turmoil - NOW OPEN!
To celebrate the 175th anniversary of Fulton County’s founding, a spectacular exhibit is now open at the Museum of Fulton County. The new “Born In Turmoil” exhibit brings the county’s beginning years to life as museum guests learn how Fulton County survived the crisis of the Civil War.
While exploring this temporary exhibit in the Worthington Gallery, visitors will meet Fulton County residents both on the farm and on the battle lines and experience those years through their eyes and the museum’s vast collection.
“Through patriotism, conflict, sacrifice, victory, loss and generosity, the future of 4,000 residents and even today’s residents was changed forever,” shared John Swearingen, Jr., director of the Museum of Fulton County. “Guests are sure to be inspired by this new exhibit at the museum!”
Another highlight of the new exhibit is the opportunity to hear actual transcripts of letters written during the Civil War. As part of the audio cell phone tour, guests will be guided through time as they hear a fascinating, first-hand story of the Borton family and their sons on the front line.
“As guests listen to the audio tour, they will hear two actual transcripts of the Borton letters,” Swearingen added. “These letters were mailed to family members during the war on the same week but neither received their letters. Join us to find out why!”
This new exhibit will be open throughout 2026. Admission to the “Born In Turmoil” exhibit is included with a general admission ticket to the museum.
