PRESS RELEASE – As part of the America 250-Ohio celebration, a spectacular exhibit will open on March 4 at the Museum of Fulton County.
“Thirteen Moons in 1776 – Life along Turkeyfoot Creek” features life throughout one year in the land we now call Fulton County. As visitors explore the new exhibit, they will travel through one year (13 lunar months) during the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A fictional fur trader and his wife will explain the change of seasons, the monthly lives of an Odawa village, their winter journey up Turkeyfoot Creek, and facts about the year’s thirteen moons.
The three-dimensional, historical fiction exhibit will be laid out in 13 equal sections that, from above, resemble the back of a turtle (the Anishinaabe name for North America is Turtle Island). A timeline of colonial American events during the Revolutionary War will also run throughout the exhibit.
“Our new exhibit will focus on a fictional, French-speaking fur trader, based on the real person St. Vincent from Captain Thomas Morris’ 1764 journal, who is married to an Odawa Chief’s (Chief of the Wolf Rapids Band at Kin-jo-no, now Providence, OH) daughter,” shared John Swearingen, Jr., director of the Museum of Fulton County.
“Guests will learn about their summer home near the mouth of what is now the North Turkeyfoot Creek in Henry County and how they traveled north to ‘The Six Mile Wood’ during hunting and syrup harvesting season. They would have also traveled on the ‘Rice Road’ (now County Road RS) through what is now Fulton County during the rice harvest season.”
Partially sponsored by America 250-Ohio, the new exhibit will feature a variety of unique artifacts, including a large collection of items once given to the museum’s founder, Colonel Dresden Winfield Huston Howard, by his Native American friends.
The exhibit will also include artifacts used during the Revolutionary War and fun, family-centered interactives related to the history of Nouvelle France (New France) fur trading that occurred in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana in 1776. French-American heritage thrived in northwest Ohio from the late 1690s through the 1830s.
“We recognize and honor the Algonquin Anishinaabeg as the original stewards of the land where the Museum of Fulton County now stands,” Swearingen added. “This traditional territory, which was never ceded, continues to hold great historical, spiritual, and sacred significance for the Algonquin people, whose enduring presence we respect.”
This new exhibit will be open throughout 2026. Admission to the “Thirteen Moons in 1776: Life along Turkeyfoot Creek” exhibit is included with a general admission ticket to the museum.
Admission to the Museum of Fulton County is $8 for adults 16 and up, $7 for seniors, and $3 for children ages 6-15. Members and children under 6 are free. Museum memberships are also available for purchase online or at the museum.
The Fulton County Museum and Legacy Gift Shop are located at 8848 State Highway 108, across from the Fulton County Fairgrounds. The Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4:00 p.m.
To learn more about the new exhibit, memberships, special events, or how to plan a visit to the Museum of Fulton County, call 419-337-7922 or visit museumoffultoncounty.org. Additional information is also available on the museum’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
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