Ohio Tobacco Museum | Explore southern Ohio’s tobacco history (wordpress.com)
Nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, the Ohio Tobacco a museum preserves the history of tobacco production in Ohio.
The two-story brick house is of Federal and Georgian style architecture. This 1850s home was once owned by the Espey family. Mr. Espey worked for Heavy Munition Works in Cincinnati, the company that produced Ripley’s three cannons for protection during the Civil War.
The historic home became the site of the Ohio Tobacco Museum in 1988 and stands as the only such museum in the state of Ohio. The contents of the museum have been provided through public and private donations and represent the story of Ripley’s unique southern Ohio agricultural history.
Rooms within the museum include the HALL OF FAME Room recognizing individuals who have played important roles in the tobacco industry. The HISTORY Room displays early years of tobacco farming, the origin of White Burley tobacco, the Lucky Strike Green Has Gone to War story, and Lt. General Grant cigars. The STRIPPING Room shows handling of tobacco from curing in the barn to preparing it for transport to sale. The TOBACCO FARM Room offers an explanation of raising tobacco from seed to finished product, as well as a look at some of the earliest small equipment used in the production of tobacco. This room also houses a large replica of a 7-tier tobacco barn.
SECOND FLOOR rooms offer a variety of memorabilia, as well as cigar, pipe and ashtray displays.
Adjacent to the museum is a building that houses large, old tobacco equipment including one of the first 3-point hitch tobacco setters, an antique scale, tobacco sled, tobacco primer, hogshead, and various tobacco presses.
