"Between 1867 and 1898, the Society was located in downtown Cleveland in a building which stood on what is now Key Tower, the site of the KeyBank headquarters. During this period the Society's collections grew rapidly as did its means of support as leading citizens, including John D. Rockefeller, collectors, and scholars became associated with its operations. The growth and stature of its collections were such that it obtained a charter from the State of Ohio on March 7, 1892 which made it an independent organization, one on a par with other major cultural and educational institutions that had arisen in the post-Civil War period."