The Putnam Underground Railroad Interpretive Center features a museum exhibit, a resource and research library, and educational programming about Underground Railroad and Abolitionist activities in Zanesville and Muskingum County.

The exhibit includes a permanent display in the main hallway featuring local sites that are part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Included are two public buildings, the Stone Academy and the Putnam Presbyterian Church, and the homes of UGRR activists Albert Austin (A.A.) Guthrie, George & Sarah Guthrie, Major Horace & Lucinda Belknap Nye, and Nelson T. Gant. Additional information is offered on panels displayed on easels.

On-going research is an important component of the Interpretive Center. Much of the original research focused on the conflict between rival communities; Zanesville (established in 1797 primarily by pioneers from Virginia) and Putnam (founded as Springfield in 1801 by New Englanders). Resent efforts have explored the role of Putnam in efforts to abolish slavery discriminatory racist laws in America, including Ohio’s Black Laws. 

Educational programming includes the annual Putnam UGRR Symposium and the Putnam UGRR Forum as well as off-site presentations for schools, civic clubs, church groups, and retirement communities.

The Interpretive Center was funded in part by a grant from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), funded by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Funding for the Forum was provided by the J.W. and M. H. Straker Charitable Foundation. The Symposium and ff-site programs are funded by Muskingum County History, Park National Bank, North Valley Bank, and thee Muskingum County Community Foundation.

The Putnam Underground Railroad Interpretive Center in the Stone Academy Historic Site and Museum, 115 Jefferson Street, is open May - September during regular museum hours (Wednesday - Friday from 1:00 to 4:00 and Saturday 10:00 - 4:00) and year round by appointment. Cost is $5.00 for adults and $1.00 for students and includes admission to the museum. Off-site presentations about Underground Railroad and Abolitionist activity in Putnam and Zanesville are available free of charge to civic and community groups.