Sandstone Village Map
Amherst Auto Garage
On display in the Auto Garage are two vintage automobiles – a 1920 Model T Ford and a 1920’s Model Chevy Stake Truck donated by Evan Nord. The 1900’s Auto Garage is in a building that is original to the property and contains many interesting items you would have found in a repair garage of that time period.
Located in Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Avenue, Amherst, OH 44001
Art Gallery
The Jenne Building, donated by Marilyn Jenne and dedicated to the late local artist Neal Jenne, is a replica of an early 1900 storefront.
Blacksmith Shop
An enlarged reproduction of a Blacksmith’s Shop in Vermont, this type of building would have been common in Amherst around 1870 and incorporates native Amherst sandstone.
Designed by our former Executive Director, Scott Kodger, and built by our gifted Construction Supervisor, Terry Traster, this building was completed in 1999, taking less than six months to construct. Ninety percent of the materials used to build the shop date before the Civil War, including a period slate roof, hand hewn and notched timbers, bracing wires, and hand carved, sandstone blocks from Amherst.
Thanks to swinging doors on each side of the Blacksmith Shop, up to 65 children or adults may watch a single blacksmith demonstration with a clear, unobstructed view. Each bracing pole used to prop up these doors is in itself a work of art, featuring portraits of animals, native leaves, nuts, or flowers–all handmade by our talented group of blacksmiths.
Our Blacksmith Shop has been an instant success and is home to our “Fire and Iron: Blacksmithing” program. Our volunteer blacksmiths produce handrails, hinges, nails and other hardware for use throughout our Sandstone Museum Center.
Located in Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Ave, Amherst, OH 44001
Farrier Barn
The Farrier Shop was important because this was where one’s horse received new horseshoes.
Pine Tree Building
The Pine Tree Building formerly known as the Firelands Archaeological Research Center was built in 2008 using Amish and Society volunteers. The Center was organized to discover, document and conserve archaeological sites and material within the State of Ohio, especially within the region bordering Lake Erie. The building is now housing the Garage Sale furniture for the summer and is no longer the FARQ building.
Harris Dute House
A two-story 1840’s house is a beautiful example of Greek revival architecture, and bears the surnames of the two families who inhabited it for the greatest amount of time. Volunteers and hired contractors completed reconstruction and restoration of the house in 2001. Because of their efforts, visitors can now enjoy lovely rooms representing the style of the 1840’s to the 1880’s.
Located in Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Avenue, Amherst, OH 44001
Hickory Tree Grange One Room School House
One of only two buildings at the Sandstone Museum Center in its original location, the “Grange Hall” started out as a one-room schoolhouse for the Amherst community. Built in 1879, this building went from schoolhouse to church before it became home to the local Hickory Tree Grange.
Now used as the main meeting hall by members of the Amherst Historical Society, the building is well known to many area school children as the site of our award winning “One-Room Schoolhouse” program. Recently, the Grange has undergone several restoration and preservation projects, including a complete interior and exterior painting in correct period colors.
Located at Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Avenue, Amherst, OH 44001
Octagonal Barn
Originally located off Middle Ridge Road, this unique Octagonal Barn was disassembled, moved and rebuilt using Amish and Society volunteers. Like many other historic buildings at the Sandstone Museum Center, this barn was threatened with demolition. One of approximately twelve in the entire state, the Society’s Octagonal Barn is actually a carriage house. The top floor was used to store hay, oats and other supplies.
Today, the Octagonal Barn is being prepared as the home for our agricultural farming education programs.
Located in Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Avenue, Amherst, OH 44001
Pig Barn
This charming stone building is made entirely of cut sandstone quarried around 1890-1900 from the Amherst Quarries and was used as a pig barn.
Quigley Museum
The Quigley House is situated on its original site at the corner of South Lake Street and Milan Avenue. Built in 1832 by Mr. Joseph Quigley, it is one of the earliest examples of hand hewn sandstone architecture in the Amherst area.
Mr. Quigley, one of the earliest quarry owners, used sandstone to build his home which was excavated from a small quarry located off Quarry Rd., about 1.5 miles east of the house. The quarry had since been filled in.
While the interior of the house has been remodeled many times in the 168-year history of the house, the exterior features have remained essentially untouched, making this building a rare, untouched, example of early Amherst sandstone architecture. Each hand-finished block bears the unique mark of craftsmanship from a bygone era.
Quigley Museum
Open from 2-4 pm
Every Sunday
May 6, thru
September 23
St. George Chapel
St. George boasts the unique charm and beauty of a true country chapel. Built in 1882 as a one-room schoolhouse, it was converted into a sandstone chapel and used as an Episcopal church for many years until sold and converted into a duplex housing rental. Painstakingly restored to resemble its origins as a house of worship, St. George Chapel may be toured as part of the Sandstone Museum Center.
Live Oak Engine Company Museum
The Live Oak Engine Company Museum was built in 2011 and was built by local fireman. The funding came from grants and donations. There are some really interesting pieces in the museum. One item is a 22 man hand drawn, piano box squirrel tail hand pumper.
The Pavilion
The Pavilion can be rented for $100.00 an event. It has an outdoor working fireplace. Call us for availability 440-988-7255
The Caboose
A 1925 B & O 1-5 Caboose was purchased by Evan Nord from the City of Oberlin and was donated to the Historical Society in 2004. The society renovated the interior to it’s original decor with a potbelly stove and vent pipe, water tank and smoke stack. The walls contain a pictorial history of the 1916 Amherst Train Wreck and its impact on the village.
The photo below is Amherst historian Jim Wilhelm who spent more than a year putting together a monument and a display in memory of the 1916 train wreck that took place behind the caboose (Image courtesy of Michael Sangiacomo / Plain Dealer).
Mary Pickford, the most famous silent actress of that time was one of the trains that wrecked.
Quarrymen's Tool Shed
The shed is original to the property. It’s decorated to replicate a quarrymen’s tool shed as once appeared in the early Amherst and surrounding quarries. The shed would hold rods, punches, sledge hammers and other tools for workers.
Smoke House
This authentic smoke house was donated in the memory of John & Helen Big of South Amherst. It was dismantled and relocated and relocated from it’s orginal location on Telegraph Road in 1999.
Milk House
Years ago milk houses were built over a well that pumped cold water to keep the milk cool. The milk house was donated by Marilyn Jenne and transported from her back yard on Middle Ridge to the back yard of the Harris-Dute House in 2015.
