Historic Roscoe Village

As someone who has been going to Roscoe Village since I was a kid, it breaks my heart to see the direction this village has taken. We go yearly to the candle lightings at Christmas and I fear last weekend could’ve been our last one out of almost 20 years of tradition. The whole point of the village was to recreate a historical village not just in exhibits but in stores. I remember going to the general store as a kid and searching through parchment reproductions of historical documents to claim as my souvenir along with licorice pipes or old toys from back in the day. Or wandering through The Cheesery and my mom getting a package of «lemon stuff» that would barely make it a few days especially when accompanied with ginger snaps. Exploring the tea shop in the back of the Cheesery to see what wonderful blends they offered. Looking at all of the birds the guy whittled that was down one of the little pathways.
The old hardware store is long gone as is the Roscoe Village Inn (actually, when they got rid of that to put a campus branch there is when we knew things were going to shift for the worse.) Some stores are barely able to stay open for a few years or even year to year. I was so looking forward to a vintage store on the 2^nd floor of a place that had changed hands/​inventory quite a bit over the past few years but of course, it was gone. In it’s place was an overload of cruddy wholesale bought signs made to look vintage. It was actually offensive to the eye there were so many crammed on every available square inch of the walls and on tables. I couldn’t get out quick enough. There are no street carolers anymore for the holidays. A decent décor store that used to be connected to the general store has been turned into a photo studio and the wall between the two, crudely patched up. It appears the general store looks like it’s going to be the next and final original on the outside business to go. The shelves are not nearly as full, many things are being sold off and we bought a few cookie cutters so we could say we bought them there because we’re pretty sure it won’t be there next Christmas.
It is a shame that this has turned from a Victorian/​Colonial type village in all aspects to modern mom and pops pushing out the experiences of going back in time like we had as kids. I can’t imagine this is the vision the Montgomery’s initially had for this place. Change can happen anywhere and I get that but this little mile stretch of road couldn’t hold on to the past? Given the way all of the children reacted to the historical figures roaming by the candlelighting, I’m sure historical field trips still would’ve brought in money. But now there’s nothing very historical about it anymore other than a few pay attractions and those weren’t the things I remembered much as a kid.
What a shame.

Historic Roscoe Village is a nice blend of historic information, attractive setting, and is a manageable size.
Remarkably, several blocks of brick houses built in the mid 19^th century have been preserved through the ages. Some are operating as restaurants and shops, which require no admission to enter; others are staffed on the weekends by costumed interpreters– a blacksmith, printing press, the doctor’s office and school house are among them. Since it does blend real businesses with an historic village atmosphere, I think it won’t be too «over the top» for those who aren’t particularly into that kind of thing.
The visitor center is where you buy tickets, which also has exhibits on the history of the Ohio canal on the lower level. Your ticket allows you admission into the staffed buildings. You pace yourself and are essentially self-​guiding.
All the buildings are along one main street. It is doable in a few hours. Well worth the two-​hour journey from Cleveland!