Nestled in the rolling hills of Athens County, Ohio, the Cannabis Museum offers a window into a forgotten past—one where cannabis was not a controversial topic, but a staple of medicine cabinets, fabric production, and military defense.
(Photo credit: Ashley Bunton).
Through a growing collection of artifacts and hands-on demonstrations, the museum is working to restore cannabis to its rightful place in history.
At the heart of the museum’s fiber education is artist Isaac Coblentz, a 50-year-old craftsman who began working with hemp and flax just last year. During public demonstrations, Coblentz shows visitors how to process raw stalks into usable fiber, using antique and replica tools that mirror pre-industrial techniques.
“I’m going into my second year,” Coblentz said. “I try to stick to what I know when I’m talking to visitors, and I focus on keeping the conversation about hemp balanced.”
Hemp, a variety of the cannabis sativa plant, is legally distinct from its THC-rich counterparts. Grown for its fiber, seed oil, and nutritional properties, hemp has seen a resurgence in recent years, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting a 40% increase in national hemp production in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The Cannabis Museum, which opened in 2023, was founded by attorney and longtime cannabis advocate Don E Wirtshafter. Wirtshafter has spent decades collecting cannabis-related artifacts from Ohio and beyond, building a collection that now spans generations and continents.
“When cannabis was made illegal in 1937, the government went store to store removing anything related to it,” Wirtshafter explained. “They erased it from public memory. This museum is our dedication to preserving that lost history.”
Located in a renovated brick building that once housed the Canaan Coal Company, the museum sits just off State Route 32. Deep-set divots in the old wooden floor still mark where miners once lined up to collect their wages. Since the coal mine’s closure, the building has been home to a bakery, an antique shop, and a homebrew store before finding new life as the Cannabis Museum.
Inside, visitors will find exhibits that document cannabis’s medicinal and industrial roles throughout American history. One striking display features a large color image of the 1861 Battle of Hemp Bales, where Confederate soldiers soaked hemp bales in water and rolled them forward as bulletproof shields during a Civil War battle in Lexington, Missouri.
Another centerpiece is the “Cannabis Americana” exhibit, which includes rare artifacts from Coblentz’s own family history. Several generations of his ancestors were Ohio-based druggists, and their early medicinal products—such as “Corn Cures” made with cannabis—are on display, along with letters, documents, and vintage packaging.
The museum’s collection also includes glowing uranium glass jars once used to hold cannabis medicines, and a bottle of Hindu Pain Conqueror produced by Coblentz’s ancestors in Germantown, Ohio.
Many of the museum’s fiber-processing demonstrations are performed using pre-industrial tools. One standout is a replica Kentucky hemp brake, donated by Winkin Sun Hemp Company of Wheeling, West Virginia. Coblentz uses the wooden tool to separate the fibrous part of the plant from its woody core before spinning it into thread using a drop spindle.
“At some point, I might get a working spinning wheel,” he said. “The ones we have on display are antiques—fragile, but beautiful.”
Coblentz’s interest in plant-based fibers dates back to early childhood. Raised in Ashtabula, he began carding wool with his mother at just three or four years old. His parents, both artists and Ohio University alumni, instilled in him an appreciation for traditional crafts. As an adult, Coblentz studied sculpture at Ohio University and later joined a local fiber arts group called “Nettles for Textiles,” where he began working with natural materials like stinging nettle, yucca, dogbane, and eventually hemp.
To source materials for his demonstrations, Coblentz stays connected with hemp farmers throughout Ohio. One such partner, TJ Richardson of the Ohio Hemp Company, helps connect artists and educators with the resources they need.
“Whether they need hemp fiber, fabric or just someone to bounce ideas off of, we’re here to help make it happen,” Richardson said.
Coblentz is also working closely with the Southeast Ohio Fibershed, which supports sustainable fiber production in the region. On June 8, the Cannabis Museum will host a meeting for artists, farmers, and educators organized by Fibershed founder Lisa Heinz.
“Our goal is to promote the use of locally grown fibers like wool, flax, and hemp,” Heinz said. “It’s about building community and reconnecting with the land.”
Coblentz is typically on-site at the museum from noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. He’s happy to answer questions about fiber production, historical artifacts, and the wider cultural significance of cannabis. The museum is located at 16050 Cannaville Road in Athens, Ohio.
