Ohio is more than having 2 great amusement parks or world class zoos. Ohio is more than having abundant urban attractions, or some of the best agricultural production in the world. Ohio is really the "Heart of America" in 
many ways.
Ohio has an abundance of things to see and do, especially when comparing actual size of states. Thirty-three states are large than Ohio, but only 12 with more square miles of water. Ohio has always been blessed with abundant natural resources: navigable waterways, rich soils, abundant wildlife, wood, a 4-season climate, salt, flint, coal, iron, oil and gas.
Natural resources attracted people from the beginning. Early cultures and later Native Americans, came here because of Ohio's wealth of natural resources. Not long after Europeans discovered North America, they discovered the Ohio Country and began exporting its wealth. In time early pioneers were attracted to the land not only for their survival, but that their families would have a better life someday, but it was never easy. Those that survived the environment, were a hardy lot. Those that survived the Indian wars were more often than not, lucky.
Ohio is great because of its people, both yesterday and today! Ohio is great because of its beautiful land. Ohio is great because of its quality of life.
What would one day become the 7th most populated state in the country was for more than 50 years a battleground before finally came at a great cost and a mighty upheaval in the world order. France and Great Britain left Ohio for good. Native Americans that supported the British were temporarily confined and eventually moved west of the Mississippi. Eventually, even those Native Americans that had become friendly with the Americans, were also moved. The threat of Native American conflicts was over.
This was just the beginning. Ohio would become and still is a state of immigrants. Ohio became what America promised: a land of opportunity.
Historically, Ohio was the 4th state admitted to the Union in 1803, just 20 years after the Revolutionary War. The first state to be formed from lands that had been originally assigned by treaty to Native Americans. This fact meant Ohio would be forged out of conflict. While treaties may have eventually led to Native American removal, those treaties were the result of years of fighting with unspeakable brutality on both sides. Eventually, the numbers and resources were on the side of Americans and Native Americans were forced to surrender.
This was not the first time the land south of Lake Erie had been conquered. Long before Native Americans visited their seasonal hunting grounds here, long before European explorers canoed Ohio's boundary waters, there were cultural centers across the land that would one day become Ohio.
Most people, including many Ohioans, are unaware of the vast cultural remains still visible across the state. At one time these massive cultural structures measured in the thousands. A few of these sites have been protected but open to the public, others are protected from the public to to preserve the works from vandals and scavengers that long ago ravaged their European and African counterparts. The work continues to understand and appreciate their accomplishments.
These civilizations understood complex mathematics, natural sciences, and had a strong historic connection with their ancestors and those that came before and respect for those that would come in the future. How wonderful it would be if we could visit these cultures and see them functioning instead of just seeing the earthen constructions they built with great care and engineering.
As research on these massive historic locations continues, it is hoped that more of them will be opened to the public. While there are many historic sites around the world, almost none compare to what we have here in Ohio. It is truly amazing. Learn about them, visit them, and appreciate them.
Read our 2,000 word essay on the history of the Ohio Country. It gives everyone a quick, easy-to-understand overview of this land and the people that have lived here. A lot of history has happened here and a lot to make its citizens proud that they are Ohioans. From the first footsteps across the snow covered landscape of the last ice age, to the first footsteps on the moon, there's a line running through us, connecting us unlike any other place in the country.
Read your history to this land in 2,000 words 
Today we have a bunch of fun things to do when we're not working. Ohio's North Coast is a bonanza of fun not only for the shear beauty of the lake, but the natural habitats that have been preserved, the amusement parks, the great urban centers.
There's also a number of wineries along the north coast, but then, most of Ohio has been blessed with great wineries. In the southern half of the state we have the Wayne National Forest and the Shawnee State Forest, two areas that have been protected and preserved and offer visitors a real sense of what all of Ohio was like at one time. A little less rugged, but just as beautiful are the Hocking Hills. Here state parks have been created around a number of spectacular geologic features that date back to the melting glaciers.
Looking for a little more wild life? Ohio has a number of zoological gardens and of course The Wilds in southeast Ohio gives visitors a real safari-like experience that will be talked about for years to come.
Ohio is a 4 season state. In reality it means we sometimes we can have all 4 seasons in one week anytime during the year. That’s why winters seem to drag on and on here because we experience multiple years of weather in such a short span of time.
Some years the seasons get out of phase. Months normally associated with winter, may switch with summer and winter may replace spring. The reason is simple: we live in some kind of vortex that can turn a beautiful warm spring day into a raging snow storm in the span of 6 hours.
These are just one of the things a first time visitor to the state should be aware. Here's a few more things you might want to keep in mind.
The hollows and caves of the park complex have long attracted Ohio's residents. Evidence of the ancient Adena Culture illustrates man first inhabited the Hocking Hills recesses more than 5,000 years ago.
The scenic features of the 6 areas of the Hocking Hills State Park complex are carved formations in the Blackhand sandstone. This bedrock was deposited more than 350 million years ago as a delta in the warm shallow sea which covered Ohio at that time. Subsequent millions of years of uplift and stream erosion created the awesome beauty seen today.
Amish Country in Ohio is composed of Holmes, Wayne, Tuscarawas, Coshocton, Knox, Ashland, Richland and Stark Counties. All combined, these areas offer a variety of good food, attractions and some of the most beautiful country in the state.
The Amish found a way to not only survive but to thrive in our technology filled world, without compromising their beliefs in their total obedience to their church and their separation from the rest of the world.
In 1854, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem Catawba Wine, to memorialize Ohio's first vineyards in the Cincinnati area. Today there are wineries located in all areas of the state offering something for everyone's taste and budget.
Ohio is the only state without a state flag? What we call our state flag is not really a flag, it's a burgee! Ohio has plenty of other symbols. Did you know Ohio has a state fossil? A state bug? A state rock song? Yep, and these are just a few of Ohio's official symbols.
We've divided the state into 5 regions, each providing visitors a unique experience. Those same regions attracted early settlers for specific reasons and those reasons can still be seen in the people living there today.
Northwest | Northeast | Central | Southwest | Southeast
Ohio Gave Flight and Light to the World
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