Tuscarawas County, Ohio - Seven museums and historical sites in Tuscarawas County will be offering free admission this Saturday during Smithsonian Magazine’s 14th-annual Museum Day Live event. 

Museum Day Live is a one-day, nationwide event during which participating museums and cultural institutions provide free entry to anyone presenting a Museum Day ticket. 

Tickets can be downloaded online at www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday and provide free general admission for two to a participating museum.

Local sites that will be participating in this year’s Museum Day include the Dennison Depot Railroad Museum and its sister museums Uhrichsville Clay Museum and Historic Schoenbrunn Village, and participants can use their ticket to visit all three museums.

“People who download a coupon onto their phone or print off a coupon online can actually go through all three of the sites for free, which is a really great deal,” says Jacob Masters, the manager of brand relations and consumer engagement for the Dennison Depot Railroad Museum, Uhrichsville Clay Museum and Historic Schoenbrunn Village. 

Masters notes Museum Day is one of the biggest admission days of the year for the three museums. 

“A lot of people like to do it because it gives the opportunity for people who may not be able to normally come, it gives the opportunity to do that, which is wonderful,” he says. “It’s for all three sites, so they can experience a lot of history for free.”

Historic Zoar Village and its sister site, the Fort Laurens Museum, will also be offering free Museum Day admission.

Tammi Mackey Shrum is the site director for Historic Zoar Village. She says Museum Day is a great opportunity not only for visitors but also for the participating museums. 

“If you wanted to get out and see a museum, this is your chance because you can get a free ticket through the Smithsonian, and then be able to visit the museums. It’s good for the museums because we can possibly see an uptick in visitors, but then we also get some of the Smithsonian-affiliated perks and we get to be on the Smithsonian website as one of the participating museums,” she says.

Other participating sites in Tuscarawas County include the Reeves Victorian Home and Carriage House Museum in Dover and the David Warther Carvings in Walnut Creek.

For a complete description of each museum, along with directions and hours of operation visit www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday.

Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV