Local spots to visit on International Museum Day

Thursday is International Museum Day, an unofficial holiday celebrating the institutions that preserve our culture and history.

State of play: COSI, the Columbus Museum of Art and the Ohio History Center are among beloved local heavyweights, but Central Ohio is also home to several other museums with lesser-known collections worth exploring.

Some suggestions:

🚙 Wagner-Hagans Auto Museum

This private collection of old cars and Americana is hidden inside a nondescript German Village garage.

• Those who've been there really love it — visitors rate the museum on TripAdvisor as Columbus' No. 1 thing to do.

Details: 476 E. Kossuth St. Call 614-271-0888 to schedule a private visit. Free!

• Read more about the collection

🏌️‍♂️ Jack Nicklaus Museum

A trip to this museum dedicated to golf history and the Golden Bear's lengthy career is appropriate with the Memorial Tournament in Dublin approaching.

• It's located on the OSU campus, Nicklaus' alma mater.

Details: 2355 Olentangy River Road. 9am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday. $10.

🏠 Whitehall's Lustron Home

Step back in time and visit an iconic home built by the Columbus-based Lustron Corporation.

The intrigue: The company designed thousands of small, prefabricated houses in the post-World War II years and they are becoming rarer to find.

• This one was built in 1949 and later moved to Whitehall Community Park to serve as the local historical society's headquarters.

Details: 400 N. Hamilton Road. Open houses held the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Free!

🎖️ National Veterans Memorial and Museum

If you haven't yet toured this museum, which opened in late 2018, the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is a good time to fix that.

• The site features an exhibition called "A Midshipman's Journey" about candidates navigating the U.S. Naval Academy.

Details: 300 W. Broad St. 10am-5pm Wednesday-Sunday, plus Memorial Day. $11-18; children under 5, veterans and active-duty military free.