Ohio River Museum

The Ohio River Museum and W.P. Snyder are Currently Closed as we build a New Ohio River Museum.

Northwest Territory Museum Society, Ohio History Connection and the Washington County Public Library are partnering together to construct a new Ohio River Museum to meet the changing needs of visitors in the 21st century.

The new Ohio River Museum will serve as a hub for river-connected stories across time to the benefit of the local and regional community.

This multi-phase project will build a new facility for the museum, co-located with the Local History and Genealogical Collections of the library and allow for shared space and year-round access to the museum.

The first phase will construct the new facility, build out the library and meeting rooms, and improve the parking lot. The second phase of the project includes exhibit development and installation.

A historic paddlewheel riverboat named W.P. Snyder Jr. floating on a river with green hills in the background. The boat's name is displayed on the side and a black sign on top. In the foreground, there is a grassy area with colorful purple, red, white, and purple flowers.
A large red-brick building with a clock tower on the right and an American flag flying, surrounded by green grass and trees, with a sidewalk and a person walking on it under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Download the renderings (PDF)

What to expect from the new facility

The new facility will allow for:

  • A re-envisioned interpretive plan for permanent and traveling exhibits

  • Expanded in-person and virtual programming for many different audiences

  • Visitor access to genealogical resources

  • Collaboration among library and museum staff under one roof

  • Updated technological resources

  • School and Community use of classrooms

  • Available conference space for civic, business, and private use

The Ohio River Museum is an Ohio History Connection historical site.

Group of people wearing hard hats standing with shovels at a groundbreaking ceremony on a construction site with heavy machinery in the background.