Things to Do in Oberlin, Ohio

Founded in 1917, the Allen has more than 15,000 works and has been free to everyone since the day it opened. The main building is an Italian Renaissance design by Cass Gilbert, and the 1977 Venturi Wing is an early example of postmodern architecture. Strengths include 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting and a large group of Japanese woodblock prints.

★ Good to know The museum also holds artist talks and after-hours events, so check its calendar before you go.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed this 1940s home for a middle-class family, and it was the first Usonian house in Ohio. The Allen Memorial Art Museum runs it, and it’s one of the few Usonian houses in the country open to the public. It sits at 534 Morgan St., about a mile and a half from the museum.

★ Good to know It opens on the first Sunday of the month from April through November, with docent talks on the hour, and advance registration is required.

The conservatory puts on hundreds of live performances a year across nine spaces, from student recitals to guest artists. Finney Chapel, at the center of campus, is the largest. Warner Concert Hall has 645 seats and a 3,400-pipe Flentrop organ.

★ Good to know Big-name artist concerts are ticketed while public lectures are free, so check the college events calendar for what’s on during your visit.

The town’s historical society runs three buildings: the 1866 Monroe House, the 1836 Little Red Schoolhouse and the 1884 Jewett House. The Jewett House tour covers Charles Martin Hall, who worked out the aluminum reduction process here as a student. The Oberlin Origins tour covers the town’s founding, co-education and abolition.

★ Good to know Oberlin Origins tours run Thursday and Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. year-round, and kids under 18 with an adult go free.

The Heritage Center leads guided walks through town in the warmer months. The 90-minute Freedom’s Friends walk covers freedom seekers who passed through Oberlin and the people who helped them. Others cover Civil War Oberlin, women’s history and historic Westwood Cemetery.

★ Good to know Walks start near First Church at 106 N. Main St. or on Tappan Square, and they may be canceled if it’s raining at the start.

The Apollo opened downtown in 1913 and was one of the earlier theaters to show talkies, in 1928. Oberlin College bought it in 2009, and Cleveland Cinemas runs it as a working movie house. It also anchors the college’s cinema studies center.

★ Good to know Mondays are bargain days, and the Oberlin Film Society also screens here.

This paved trail follows an old railroad line through Oberlin, west toward Kipton and east to Elyria. The Lorain County section is 13.1 miles long. You’ll pass the town’s old rail depot, now in a park.

★ Good to know It’s an easy way to reach Oberlin by bike from Elyria, and the trail runs right past downtown.

College and Main streets hold most of the shops and restaurants, facing Tappan Square. The Ben Franklin store at 13 W. College St. opened in 1935 and now shares space with MindFair Books, a new and used bookstore. There’s a piano anyone can play and a gazebo used for readings and small concerts.

★ Good to know On late-summer Wednesday evenings, the Crossing College event brings extended hours, music and specials to downtown; check the Oberlin Business Partnership calendar.