21 July 2016

Historic Roscoe Village

NOTE: Some of you have mentioned not being able to view the photographs. Please remember to click on the title in the email post. There are two titles so please click on the one which gives a link (typically the colored one).

In August 1830, the first canal boat docked at Roscoe Village and the vivid history of this port town on the 309-mile Ohio and Erie Canal began.  Today the spirit of Roscoe is kept alive in this 1830 canal town.  With historic tours, costumed interpreters, traditional craft demonstrators, and horse-drawn canal boat rides, you will get to experience life as it once was in the 19th century!

The Ohio and Erie Canal was part of an extensive Canal system developed in the Northeast.  Prior to the advent of railroad systems and major road systems, it was the canal system which allowed easier travel between the remote towns. With the advent of the canals, the economies of these more rural parts of the country began to significantly expand.

We spent several hours touring the village of Roscoe and then decided to visit the Monticello III, a replica of a passenger vessel which once traveled up and down the canal. To get a sense of the importance of the canal, consider the following quote from a local newspaper of the times:

“The arrival of the first canal boat, ‘Monticello’ at Coshocton and Roscoe August 21 (1830) filled the townspeople with awe and wonder at the sight.”

Meriam and I arrived at the Monticello III just in time for a 1 ½ mile ride on a restored portion of the Ohio & Erie Canal. What great fun!

As we were on the canal, it’s hard to imagine our boat would just be one of 300 boats traversing this canal in a given day!

A few notes about the photographs: (1) The flower garden is a typical Amish Quilt Pattern Garden. The second photograph of the garden was taken from over a mile away in order to see the entire garden in the hillside. (2) The photograph of the Amish buggies was taken in the parking lot of the local IGA grocery store! Note: In keeping with the Amish requests, we did not photograph any of the Amish people.