Ohio Life

Blue spruce being loaded onto truck from Howard M. Cowan‘s farm in Portage County (photo courtesy of Ohio History Connection)

The Year Ohio Supplied the White House Christmas Tree

In 1967, the White House Christmas tree for the family of President Lyndon B. Johnson came from Portage County.

Characters walking down the street at the 1935 Rike’s Toy Parade in downtown Dayton (photo courtesy of Ohio History Connection)

The Rike’s Toy Parade Tradition

Between 1923 and 1942, Dayton’s Rike-Kumler Co. department store hosted a colorful parade through the city to kick off the holiday shopping season.

Josh Dickerson, managing partner of the House From a Christmas Story in Cleveland (photo courtesy of the House From a Christmas Story)

How Josh Dickerson Became Owner of the House From A Christmas Story

The managing partner shares his perspective on the Cleveland home’s evolution from upstart tourist attraction to beloved holiday landmark.

illustration of Johnny Appleseed planting seeds in the ground (illustration by Bailey Watro)

Who Was Johnny Appleseed?

Two hundred and fifty years after his birth, John Chapman still holds a place in our history that often contains as much lore as it does fact. Here is how he shaped Ohio through his work.

The exterior of Tiedtke’s department store in Toledo (photo by Milton Zink, Toledo Lucas County Public Library)

Revisiting Ohio’s Bygone Department Stores

Department stores once ruled the retail landscape with their wealth of offerings and festive approaches to the holidays. These four are long closed, but the memories of them still burn brightly.

More Ohio Life

The exterior of the Historic Clifton Mill aglow in lights (photo courtesy of Historic Clifton Mill)

3 Historic Ohio Mills You Can Visit

These 19th-century mills across our state now live on as attractions with purposes that go far beyond the properties’ original ones. READ MORE >>

Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy Webb’s wedding portrait (photo courtesy of Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums)

Rutherford B. Hayes Marries Lucy Webb

On Dec. 30, 1852, the future president and first lady were wed in a simple ceremony at the home of the bride’s mother in Cincinnati. READ MORE >>

Antique wood engraving of Cincinnati’s John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge wood engraving (Library of Congress)

John A. Roebling and Cincinnati’s Famous Bridge

In 1856, the inventor began work on an Ohio River crossing that he saw as both a work of art and a monument to engineering. READ MORE >>

Colo Born at the Columbus Zoo

In December 1956, the first gorilla ever born in captivity arrived three days before Christmas and was a topic of fascination from the moment of her birth. READ MORE >>

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