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What to See in Mansfield - Top Sights and Attractions

Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Mansfield (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Ohio State Reformatory, Memorial Museum, and Kingwood Center. Also, be sure to include Oak Hill Cottage in your itinerary.

Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Mansfield (Ohio).

Ohio State Reformatory

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / Author / Public Domain

Famous Romanesque Revival prison. The Ohio State Reformatory, also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, is a historic prison located in Mansfield, Ohio in the United States. It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal Court ruling ordered the facility to be closed. While this facility was seen in a number of films, TV shows and music videos, it was made famous by the film The Shawshank Redemption when it was used for most scenes of the movie.

The Ohio State Reformatory is currently open to tourists 4 days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from April 1 to September 2. There are also tours on weekends from February 2 to March 31 and holiday tours on weekends from November 23 to December 23.[1]

Address: 100 Reformatory Rd, 44905 Mansfield

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Memorial Museum

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / Publichall / CC BY-SA 3.0

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio. The Mansfield Memorial Museum, originally Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, is in downtown Mansfield, Ohio. It was founded in 1887 and opened to the public in 1889 as the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. The museum's collections include various exhibits including Native American artifacts, American Civil War memorabilia, and collections from Asia and Africa. The museum originally housed a library and theater. Oscar Cobb of Chicago designed the building. The building was built by noted architect F.F. Schnitzer, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Grand Army of the Republic has space upstairs in the building.

Elektro, an early robot, is part of the museum's collection.[2]

Address: 34 Park Avenue West, Mansfield

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Kingwood Center

Botanical garden in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / Mar07 / Public Domain

Botanical garden in Mansfield, Ohio. The Kingwood Center Gardens is a historic 47-acre site with a house, Kingwood Hall, gardens and greenhouses located in Mansfield, Ohio.

Mr. Charles Kelley King began making his fortune when he was hired by the Ohio Brass Company as its first electrical engineer in 1893. He led Ohio Brass into new ventures, particularly the manufacture of electrical fittings for railroads and trolleys. Mr. King was responsible for much of the company's success and he eventually became president and chairman of the Board of Ohio Brass. Mr. King was married and divorced twice, and had no children. The house and grounds were built in 1926 for King and his second wife, Luise, with grounds designed by Cleveland landscape architecture firm Pitkin and Mott. One year after his death in 1952, the 47-acre estate opened as a public garden to a private foundation that continues to operate Kingwood Center today.

On November 7, 1976, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

Address: 50 N Trimble Rd, 44906-2654 Mansfield

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Oak Hill Cottage

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / Author / Public Domain

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio. Oak Hill Cottage, built in 1847 by John Robinson, superintendent of the Sandusky, Mansfield, and Newark Railroad, is an historic Gothic Revival brick house with Carpenter Gothic ornamentation located at 310 Springmill Street in Mansfield, Ohio, in the United States. All of the furnishings and artifacts inside the house are original to about the 1870s and have come down to the present, intact.

Robinson purchased the land for his home in April 1844 from Edward Wilkinson. He named the plot White Oak Hill. His home was later called, “The one perfect Gothic House I’ve seen in the United States,” by Ralph Adams Cram, architect of the New York Cathedral. The house was built near the railroad for the convenience of its owner, who wished to live near Mansfield's railroad and business district.

After falling on hard times financially, Robinson returned the house to the Farmer's Bank, which held it until it was bought by Mr. Harvey Hall in 1861.

It was acquired by its most prominent and famous owner, Dr. Johannes Jones in 1864 and was the home of his family for over a century. It was Dr. Jones’ wife Francis Barr Jones and their four daughters Madell, Bess, Ida, and Leile who made Oak Hill Cottage a showplace and the centerpiece of Mansfield's leading social affairs at the time.

It was the habit of Dr. Jones to hold informal receptions for musicians who were visiting and performing in Mansfield at Oak Hill.

Dr. Jones died in 1895 and his funeral services were held at Oak Hill Cottage. His wife Francis lived on in the home until her death in 1912.

The last private owner of the house was the Jones’ youngest daughter Leile Barrett. She maintained the home until her own declining fortunes and failing health caused her to allow the house to fall into disrepair. This led her to sell Oak Hill to the Richland County Historical Society in 1965.

The Historical Society restored the house and the furniture inside to about the year 1870, which was around when most of the items inside the house had been bought originally. It was finally open for public tours in 1983.

Oak Hill Cottage was the setting of The Green Bay Tree, Mansfield native and grand-nephew to Mrs. Jones Louis Bromfield's first novel. His fond memories of spending time in the home caused him to memorialize it as “Shane’s Castle” in the 1924 novel.

On June 11, 1969, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is now the Oak Hill Cottage and Museum.[4]

Address: 310 Springmill St, 44903-7001 Mansfield

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Richland Trust Building

Richland Trust Building
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

The Richland Trust Building is a historic bank building in downtown Mansfield, Ohio. It was built in 1929 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The 9-story building was designed by Althouse & Jones and was also home to business and law offices as well as a shoe store. It is adorned with angel sculptures. It was built during a building boom in Mansfield and elsewhere that preceded the stock market crash.

Althouse & Jones, a partnership between William L. Althouse and Mr. Herbert S. Jones in Mansfield, also designed the Park Avenue Baptist Church, another building on the National Register.[5]

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Mansfield Art Center

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

Museum in Mansfield, Ohio. The Mansfield Art Center is an art center in the Woodland neighborhood of Mansfield, Ohio, United States. The art center is operated by the Mansfield Fine Arts Guild, which was founded as a non-profit arts organization in 1945. Prior to the opening of the Center, the Guild presented exhibits and classes in private spaces but demand increased and the Guild had temporary homes throughout the 1950s and 1960s that included: the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, the Leland Hotel and Kingwood Center. H. Daniel Butts III was hired as the Guild's first full-time Director and he was tasked with establishing a permanent home for the museum, its collection and classes. The building opened in 1971 and was designed by architect Don Hisaka. In the same year, it was the recipient of a Progressive Architecture National Citation Award.

In addition to a range of classes and hosting juried exhibits for the American Craft Council, the museum helps to celebrate the community's history.[6]

Address: 700 Marion Ave, 44906-5006 Mansfield

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St. Peter's Church

Church in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

Church in Mansfield, Ohio. St. Peters Church is an historic Catholic church that is located at 60 S. Mulberry Street in Mansfield, Ohio.

It was built in 1911 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The church falls under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, whose current bishop is the Most Reverend Daniel Thomas.[7]

Address: 104 W First St, 44902 Mansfield

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Renaissance Theatre

Theater in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

Theater in Mansfield, Ohio. The Renaissance Theatre, previously known as the Ohio Theatre, is a restored movie palace-type theater located at 138 Park Ave. W in Mansfield, Ohio. The 1,402-seat theater opened on January 18, 1928, as the Ohio Theatre and serves today as the largest performing arts center in North-Central Ohio. The Renaissance Performing Arts Association operates the facility and annually produces and presents approximately 40 productions consisting of Broadway-style musical theater shows, classical music concerts, comedy shows, educational performances and outreach programs, popular music concerts, special events, and family shows. The Renaissance is also home to the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra and the Miss Ohio Scholarship Pageant, the state competition for the Miss America Pageant.[8]

Address: 138 Park Ave W, 44902 Mansfield

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Central United Methodist Church

Church in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

Church in Mansfield, Ohio. Central United Methodist Church is a historic church in Mansfield, Ohio. It was built in 1910 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[9]

Address: 378 Park Avenue West, Mansfield

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Park Avenue Baptist Church

Park Avenue Baptist Church
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

Park Avenue Baptist Church is a historic church at 296 Park Ave. West in Mansfield, Ohio.

It was built in 1928 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Mansfield-based firm of Althouse & Jones also designed the Richland Trust Building.[10]

Address: 296 Park Ave W, 44906 Mansfield

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Ohio State University at Mansfield

University in Mansfield, Ohio
wikipedia / OHWiki / Public Domain

University in Mansfield, Ohio. The Ohio State University at Mansfield is a satellite campus of Ohio State University in Mansfield, Ohio. It was founded in 1958 as a land-grant college and occupies a 644-acre campus that is shared with North Central State College. The campus offers ten bachelor degree programs and graduate level coursework in education. The campus practices open admissions. Students can start at Mansfield and finish their degrees at The Ohio State University, Columbus, with one or more of Ohio State’s 200+ majors. The Bromfield Library of the Ohio State Mansfield campus provides access to all the resources of The Ohio State University and Ohio Link.[11]

Address: 1760 University Dr, Mansfield

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