The Ohio Literary Trail
Presented by Ohioana Library AssociationThe Ohio Literary Trail, presented by the Ohioana Library Association, shines a spotlight on Ohio’s role in shaping culture and literature worldwide. Visitors will discover the state’s rich literary landscape through landmark destinations, historical markers that recognize literary achievements, and book festivals dedicated to readers and writers.
Organized by the state’s five geographic regions for a convenient self-guided driving tour across more than 70 sites, The Ohio Literary Trail encourages exploration by tourists planning a literary-themed outing, as well as Ohioans who want to discover literary treasures they never knew existed in their own backyard.
Northwest Ohio
Literary Destinations
Malabar Farm (Lindsey Burnett photo)
1. Clyde Historical Museum with Sherwood Anderson marker (Clyde, Sandusky County)
2. Toledo-Lucas County Public Library- Nancy Drew Exhibit with Toledo’s First High School and Toledo Lucas County Public Library marker (Toledo, Lucas County)
3. The Mazza Museum (Findlay, Hancock County)
Literary Markers
4 The Brumback Library (Van Wert, Van Wert County)
5. House of Four Pillars (Maumee, Lucas County)
6. Lois Lenski (Anna, Shelby County)
7. Paulding County Carnegie Library (Paulding, Paulding County)
8. Sandusky Library (Sandusky, Erie County)
Book Festival
Claire’s Day (Maumee, Lucas County)
Northeast Ohio
Literary Destinations
The Rager Reading Room at Wagnalls Library, courtesy of Wagnalls Memorial Library
9. Haines House (Alliance, Stark County)
10. Malabar Farm with Louis Bromfield marker (Lucas, Richland County)
11. Oak Hill Cottage (Mansfield, Richland County)
12. Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and Hart Crane Memorial Park (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
13. Wick Poetry Center and Reinberger Children’s Library Center (Kent, Portage County)
Literary Markers
14. Daniel Carter Beard (Painesville, Lake County)
15. Bristol Public Library (Bristolville, Trumbull County)
16. Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library – Harvey Pekar (Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga County)
17. Hart Crane (Garrettsville/Portage County)
18. East Cleveland Public Library (East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
19. James Mercer Langston Hughes (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
20. The Oxcart Library (North Olmsted, Cuyahoga County)
21. Earl Derr Biggers and Leigh Brackett (Warren, Trumbull County)
22. Helen Steiner Rice and Toni Morrison Reading Room and historical marker (Lorain, Lorain County)
23. The Second High School – Burton Public Library (Burton, Geauga County)
24. Home of Superman (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
Book Festival
Buckeye Book Fair (Wooster, Wayne County)
Central Ohio
Literary Destinations
Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum (Jodi Miller photo)
25. Thurber House Museum and Thurber Center with James Thurber marker (Columbus, Franklin County)
26. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute(Columbus, Franklin County)
27. Ohioana Library Association (Columbus, Franklin County)
28. Wagnalls Memorial Library (Lithopolis, Fairfield County)
Literary Markers
29. Columbus Metropolitan Main Library (Columbus, Franklin County)
30. Dawn Powell (Mt. Gilead/Morrow County)
31. John Crowe Ransom and The Kenyon Review (Gambier, Knox County)
32. Wilbur H. Siebert Collection (Columbus, Franklin County)
Book Festival
Ohioana Book Festival (Columbus, Franklin County)
Southwest Ohio
Literary Destinations
McGuffey House (courtesy of Ohio History Connection)
33. Harriet Beecher Stowe House with Harriet Beecher Stowe marker (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
34. Paul Laurence Dunbar House and State Memorial with Paul Laurence Dunbar marker and Erma Bombeck (Dayton, Montgomery County)
35. McGuffey Museum with William Holmes McGuffey House (Oxford, Butler County)
36. The Mercantile Library (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
37. The Rankin House (Ripley, Brown County)
Literary Markers
Harriet Beecher Stowe House marker (courtesy of Ohio History Connection)
38. Natalie Clifford Barney (Dayton, Montgomery County)
39. Hallie Quinn Brown (Wilberforce, Greene County)
40. Milton Caniff (Hillsboro, Highland County)
41. Virginia Hamilton (Yellow Springs, Greene County)
42. William Dean Howells (Hamilton, Butler County)
43. Fannie Hurst (Hamilton, Butler County)
44. McCloskey Museum (Hamilton, Butler County)
45. Percy MacKaye-“The Poet’s Shack” (Oxford, Butler County)
46. The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
47. Albert Nelson Marquis/Who’s Who (Decatur, Brown County)
48. Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
49. Helen Hooven Santmyer (Xenia, Greene County)
50. Wilmington Library (Wilmington, Clinton County)
63. Lowell Thomas/Garst Museum (Greenville, Darke County)
64. Ulysses S. Grant/Grant Birthplace and Grant’s Boyhood Home (Point Pleasant, Clermont County and Georgetown, Brown County)
Book Festival
Books by the Banks (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Southeast Ohio
Literary Destinations
National Road/Zane Grey Museum (courtesy of Ohio History Connection)
51. Dard Hunter marker (Chillicothe, Ross County)
52. National Road and Zane Grey Museum with Zane Grey marker (Norwich, Muskingum County)
53. Grandma Gatewood Trail(South Bloomingville, Hocking County)
Literary Markers
54. James Edwin Campbell and Ambrose Meigs (Pomeroy, Meigs County)
55. Frances Dana Gage (McConnelsville, Morgan County)
56. William Dean Howells (Martins Ferry, Belmont County)
57. Putnam Family Library – Belpre Farmers Library (Belpre, Washington County)
58. Burton Egbert Stevenson (Chillicothe, Ross County)
59. Tessa Sweazy Webb (Logan, Hocking County)
60. Western Library Association – The Coonskin Library (Amesville, Athens County)
61. James Arlington Wright (Martins Ferry, Belmont County)
62. Carnegie Library of Steubenville marker (Steubenville, Jefferson County)
Book Festival
Spring Literary Festival (Athens, Athens County)