T-L Photos/JOSIE BURKHART Belmont County Heritage Museum Manager Cathryn Stanley will be at the facility during the Ohio Open Doors program weekend Sept. 14-15 to show participants these projectile points made by Hopewell era people.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Ohioans can enjoy free admission now through Sept. 15 at museums across the Buckeye State, including at the Belmont County Heritage Museum on Sept. 14-15.

The Ohio Open Doors program is put on by the Ohio History Connection, asking museums and historical landmark partners throughout the state to open their doors and invite new visitors in for free.

The weekend event, Ohio Opens Doors, is sponsored by the Ohio History Connection and Belmont County Tourism Council.

“The Ohio History Connection created Ohio Open Doors in 2016 to promote and inspire pride in Ohio’s heritage and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act,” according to its website.

Belmont County Tourism Executive Director Jackee Pugh said this is an opportunity for museums and historical landmarks that typically don’t have regular hours or have weekend hours to bring in new visitors.

“This event is really an opportunity to celebrate our history here in Belmont County,” Pugh said. “We have such a rich array of offerings with our museums that I think by doing this Ohio Open Doors, it gets people to see and learn about the culture and the heritage and the history that we have here in the county.”

Admission for the partnering places within the Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Tourism, the Ohio Travel Association and Heritage Ohio will be free.

Pugh said the program is promoted on a state level, but the Belmont County Heritage Museum took it to another level by asking all of its museum partners in the county to participate, promoting the program as a countywide Ohio Open Doors.

“It’s an opportunity to be promoted at a state level,” Pugh said, “which is always a fantastic thing for a rural community, like Belmont County, to be able to get notoriety on Ohio History Connection’s website.”

The local program will take place from 1-4 p.m. Sept. 14-15 at the Heritage museum and its partners. Eight county partners of the Heritage Museum that are participating in this event include The Watt Center for History and the Arts and the Victorian Mansion Museum in Barnesville, the Underground Railroad Museum in Flushing, the Tri-State Military Museum in Belmont and the Great Western Schoolhouse on the Ohio University Eastern campus west of St. Clairsville. Other partners include the Sedgwick House Museum in Martins Ferry and the Imperial Glass Museum in Bellaire.

“It also gives our museum partners here locally a chance to invite the public in and promote it. … By having these events, it gives people a reason to come back in the doors that they have visited before but also invites people that have never been to come in during this event.”

Each museum will be offering tours, activities, food, special exhibits and more.

The Heritage Museum will offer tours, along with self-guided tours participants can do for its featured exhibit the “Mounds, Moon and Stars” and other attractions in the museum.

Director of the Underground Railroad Museum Kristina Estle is holding a presentation during the weekend, while representatives of the Imperial Glass Museum are presenting a napkin folding demonstration.

Participants can also have the chance to win a Belmont County prize basket valued around $150 by completing a “passport” by checking in and getting a stamp at each museum. The Belmont County Open Doors passports will be available at all locations during the event.

“My hope is that this weekend event brings new faces that have never been in the museums before,” Pugh said, “but also brings a return of visitors that are looking to come back and re-experience what the museums here in the county have to offer.”