Roscoe Village Coshocton Ohio

South of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus is Roscoe Village in Coshocton Ohio.  It is a little out of the way if you are visiting the major cities in Ohio, but it is perfectly located if you are enjoying a casual drive through the rural parts of the state.

Roscoe Village bills itself as an 1830s canal town.  It is a few blocks of shops and businesses that you would have been able to visit in that era.


When we first arrived, we went to the main visitor center in town.  We talked to a very nice lady, in period costume, who told us about the village, and she showed us a film about the area.  The film was great, and I think it very clearly described canals and how they were utilized.

Afterwards, we bought tickets to do the living history tour.  The ticket (actually a paper wrist band) allowed us to visit several historic buildings, hear about the people and places of the town from more costumed guides, and see demonstrations of how certain items from the 1830s worked.

As we walked into each "shop" one of the guides would say hello, and do a little presentation.  I had a few favorites here....  The broom maker's demonstration was great, and he mentioned that there was a sorghum plant that had been developed by broom makers to make a better broom.

I had two absolutely favorite stops, and one of them was at the print shop.  A very nice young lady demonstrated some of the printing methods used back then.  She then gave me a wonderful print she made commemorating the 100th anniversary of the US entering World War I.  She warned me that the ink takes three days to dry, and it cant' be removed from skin or clothing.  This may have been a joke, as I look very fidgety, but I did not take any chances.  I placed the print flat in the trunk of my car for three days.

ALSO, the print shop sold some VERY cool larger paper prints for a BUCK EACH!  I bought a nice vintage looking poster advertising Lincoln's need for troops to join the Union.  I also bought a gorgeous newsprint style poster noting the sinking of the Titanic.

Our other favorite stop involved the school house.  The teacher had us practicing writing the letter A on our slate, and she discussed the school books used at the time.  The teacher was informative, animated and funny.  I hope a local theater group utilizes this young lady as Laura Ingalls or Anne Shirley at some point.

We enjoyed all of the building and house tours, and each one was easily worth the price of admission on its own.