The Pencil Sharpener Museum in the Hocking Hills

Today, keyboards have all but commandeered the writing world, leaving accessories like the pencil sharpener without much to sharpen. But in Hocking County, there’s still a place for the device — around 5,000 of them. 

Tucked next to the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center in Logan, the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum pays tribute to the trusty schoolroom staple.

Paul A. Johnson, a retired minister, began his collection in 1988 after his wife bought him a small selection of transportation-themed pencil sharpeners as a whimsical Christmas gift. 

“He was very hard to buy a gift for,” Charlotte Johnson said of her late husband when we talked to her in 2017. “He’d say, ‘Just buy me some shaving lotion.’ Well, you can’t buy shaving lotion every time there’s a holiday.”

Charlotte’s gift sparked her husband’s interest, and soon he was thumbing through catalogs and scouring flea markets for new pieces to add to the collection. 

“Every place we would go he would look for pencil sharpeners,” she recalled. “One time, I think he brought home 20.“

Once the collection outgrew an office at the couple’s home, they built a small shed in their backyard to accommodate the sharpeners that range from cars to furniture to famous landmarks.

“One of his prized pencil sharpeners was the twin towers from New York,” Charlotte told us in 2017.

When the collection outgrew its original shed, the Johnsons built a larger one and invited the public to see the array of pencil sharpeners by making an appointment or just stopping by. Prior to Paul’s death in 2010, he asked that the collection stay together, and that’s when the Hocking Hills Tourism Association stepped in to move the museum, building and all.

In 2022, that original structure needed improvements but was deemed unrepairable, leading to a temporary shuttering of the museum. 

Work began to create a new permanent space to house a collection. Around that time, the wife of Tampa, Florida, native Frank Parades learned of the museum's existence and knew it was the right home for her late husband’s collection of more than 1,000 pencil sharpeners. 

The new Rev. Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum, which opened to the public Jan. 20, 2024, houses both collections in a structure that is handicapped accessible and has museum-grade display cases. Travelers can stop in to see the collection any time the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center is open.

Visit website for center hours; 13178 St. Rte. 664 S., Logan 43138, 800/462-5464, explorehockinghills.com