After touring some of Ohio’s charming small towns, groups can get a glimpse into life in small-town Ohio in the 1800s at two interesting living-history sites.
“For something a little different, visitors can try a re-created pioneer village from the days of the Black Swamp in northwestern Ohio,” said Tammy Brown, public relations manager for the Ohio Tourism Division.
“Sauder Village offers an entire town, from broommaker to glassblower and basketmaker to blacksmith, along with a formidable quilt shop with quilters, an inn, the Barn Restaurant, a bakery, a church, a museum of farm implements and plenty more.”
Sauder Village’s “Natives and Newcomers” exhibit illustrates how Ohioans and American Indians lived in the area from 1803 to 1839, and “Pioneer Settlement” depicts life in Ohio from 1834 to 1890 as the Great Black Swamp was being developed.
Roscoe Village, a restored village in Coshocton County, 90 miles east of Columbus, depicts life in the 1830s in a commercial center along the Ohio-Erie Canal.
“We have a blacksmith, a broommaker, a weaver and a printer. We have a doctor in the doctor’s office, and Mrs. Johnson is in the doctor’s house. We have a one-room schoolhouse,” said Debbie McDonald, marketing and public relations manager for the village.
“We also have horse-drawn canal boat rides. The horses walk a towpath on a restored section of the Ohio-Erie Canal.”
