Clark County’s historical societies have written their own unique chapter in Ohio’s history. Their formation and subsequent activities predate almost all other historical institutions in the State, including the Ohio Historical Society.

While it did not leave extensive records of its activities, in 1870 the Mad River Valley Pioneer and Historical Association was formed. Its president, Reverend A.H. Bassett, stated, "to rescue from oblivion interesting facts and important information would seem a duty which we owe to those who come after us. The present is indebted to the past, so the present should provide for the future. Today we have the benefit of yesterday’s observations and experiences. So should we preserve and carry forward the accumulated information for the benefit of tomorrow."

In 1871, during that organization’s only recorded meeting, Dr. John Ludlow read a paper: "The Early Settlement of Springfield," which remains in the Clark County Historical Society’s archives. The Mad River Valley Pioneer and Historical Association was also responsible for the first reenactment of the Battle of Piqua. In 1880, it joined with the Clark County Veteran’s Memorial Association to present the "sham battle" in fields later to become Clark Park.

Civil War veterans campaigned for a local museum as early as 1895, during the Grand Army of the Republic’s Art Loan and Midwinter Fair. They envisioned a permanent home for military memorabilia and a focus for Springfield’s 1901 centennial.

In June, 1897, members of the G.A.R. held a joint meeting with the Board of Trade (later to become the Chamber of Commerce) at the Board of Trade Offices in Springfield’s new City Hall on Fountain Square. During the meeting, a committee was appointed to establish "...a society for the preservation of colonial, pioneer, Indian, war, and other relics as could be collected in Clark County, and curios of any kind that any person might wish to deposit therewith." Over a century has passed and the Historical Society has moved into the same building that hosted its birth and establish a new museum.

A newspaper editorial responded, "Let us have the museum, the pictures, the relics of Clark County’s share in the Nation’s struggle for its life, and all the treasures that such an institution will be able to gather and preserve." Another meeting was held in September where industrialist P.P. Mast moved to adopt the name Clark County Historical Society. Bylaws were drafted in early October and Wittenberg University professor, Benjamin F. Prince, was elected Society president, a post he held for thirty years. A century later the president of the Society was William Kinnison, immediate past President of Wittenberg University. There has been a long-standing connection between these two institutions for the past hundred years.

Charter membership dues were affixed at one dollar, a rate that remained until the 1930s when they doubled to two dollars annually. There were sixty charter members of the Society. In 1997 membership had risen to over one thousand.

Soon after its formation, the Society began collecting a wide range of historical material from war relics and farm machinery to manuscripts, rare books and photographs. In November, 1897, County Commissioners provided two rooms on the second floor of the County Court House for the collections, which were quickly filled with objects.

Almost from the beginning, the Commissioners granted funds to the Society. In 1899, the agency received its first County appropriation of $50.00. The relationship between the Society and County continues. In 1995, the Commissioners issued a proclamation affirming the Historical Society as Clark County’s official historical agency and increased its annual appropriation to $60,000.

A flood of new artifacts during its first few years forced the Historical Society to search for larger headquarters several times. In October, 1900, the agency moved to a large room (called the Relic Room) in the Bushnell Building (Wren’s Department Store). The room was open most Saturdays. The Society again outgrew its space in 1903 and County commissioners gave it the East County Building on the southeast corner of Limestone and Columbia Streets where the Juvenile Court Building now stands. There the Society remained for many years; the building became known as the Historical Building.

From the start, the Historical Society’s growing collections were a source of local pride. After viewing the Society’s archaic Indian collection, one Philadelphia archaeologist remarked that it was "...one of the best I’ve seen, its value not short of fifteen thousand dollars." In a 1933 letter, one prominent historian wrote "...the collections of the Clark County Historical Society rival those of the Ohio State Museum in Columbus." The Society moved again in 1925, this time to the second floor of Memorial Hall where the collections remained until recently.

The Historical Society has always held an interest in the Battle of Piqua and developments to the site of that 1780 engagement. In 1901, Leander Baker made a bequest of a quarter of an acre on a knoll northwest of the Hertzler House as a monument site to the battle. An additional acre was donated to the Society by trustee William Keifer to provide area for a park surrounding the monument. It was not until 1924, however, that the Society received sufficient funds to place the statue that is on the site today.

The Society maintained the monument until 1930 when it was given to the State. The Depression made it impossible for the Society to fund both sesquicentennial events and to purchase an additional two hundred acres for a battlefield memorial park. It was decided to pay for observances and request the State Legislature purchase the land. A twenty-nine year history of the Society’s involvement at the battle site culminated in 1930, with a reenactment that attracted over 100,000 viewers, including the Vice-President of the United States.

The Historical Society constructed a pole barn at the Clark County Fairgrounds in 1954 where many of its larger objects were stored until recently. A metal addition in the rear of the barn was added in 1972.

The Society conducted a county-wide search to secure an outdoor museum in 1971. Many sites were considered, but the Crabill Homestead seemed the best option. That pre-National Road structure was at the time in danger of demolition, as a part of a spillway at Clarence J. Brown Reservoir. An agreement was reached with owners, and the Army Corps of Engineers and volunteers set about renovations. Four years later, the homestead was opened for public tours. The site is still a major seasonal attraction.

In the past decade, the Historical Society has witnessed a transformation greater than any in its history except perhaps that of its founding.

The most dramatic event occurred when museum doors were closed in 1985 following rejection of a levy to renovate Memorial Hall. Eighty-seven years of exhibition came to an abrupt halt and the institution was forced to search for new quarters. As drastic as this seemed, the closing enabled the Society to cultivate new areas of support, and to strengthen ties with its traditional constituents. Wittenberg University offered a building to house a research library and offices. The County Commissioners increased the agency’s annual appropriation and permitted the continued storage of the collections in Memorial Hall.

The lack of proper facilities forced a major shift in the Society’s programs. The institution became a "museum without walls." Special activities were sponsored all over the County that made local history more accessible. The traditional image of a historical society enclosed within hallowed museum halls was transformed to one of a professional institution vitally concerned with its public. This transformation allowed major segments of the community to, for the first time, be actively involved with the Society’s mission.

In his 1985 State of the Society address President Emerson Reck urged the development of a "...meaningful statement of mission, an institutional assessment in the light of that mission and a strategic plan guided by it." All agreed that the Society must completely define the range of its services and responsibilities in the community and translate them into terms of its operations long before another museum facility was sought.

Evaluation began with membership and community surveys. An operational assessment was conducted by the Ohio Historical Society’s Local History Office. Museum consultants met with trustees to discuss fiduciary roles. Concurrently, a committee produced new mission and goals statements, re-evaluated constitution and bylaws, and made recommendations for unproved professional operating standards. New mission and goal statements served as guidelines to develop policies for the collections, trustees, staff, and finances.

The Board completed its first long-range plan in 1992. This contained goals to gain greater community outreach (via marketing and membership campaigns), to refine exhibition and collection management and ensure financial stability, particularly in the area of endowment. Finally, the plan outlined professional requirements for operation of a new museum facility.

The remainder of the 1990s was a time of studies, planning and development as the Society moved closer to realizing the dream of a new facility.  A synchronicity of opportunities resulted, finally, in the opening of the Heritage Center of Clark County in March 2002.