America's
Canal Town
Spring Homeschool Days
April 23 & 24 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
At Historic Roscoe Village, students explore an authentic 1830s canal town where Ohio history becomes visible and memorable. They walk real streets, enter historic buildings, and connect what they are studying at home to a place shaped by commerce, craftsmanship, and community.
In select buildings, students may observe traditional skills in action, such as a blacksmith shaping heated iron at the forge and explaining how essential tools were made for canal-era trades. Other buildings offer focused stories and learning moments about daily life, business, education, and civic responsibility in a growing town.
Our newly designed Trailblazer Trail transforms village exploration into an interactive challenge, helping students connect people, places, and purpose through movement and discovery.
Tavern Night
Thursday, March 26th from 6–9 PM
On Thursday, March 26th, the Warehouse Steak & Stein Tavern transforms into a canal-era gathering place where stories travel faster than the boats and music fills the old stone walls.
Captain Reynolds brings the canal days to life with tales of travel, trade, and tavern nights. Brad Fuller’s live music carries the rhythm of a town coming together after a long day along the towpath.
History Just Got Sweeter at Roscoe Village!
In the 1800s, chocolate reached Roscoe as precious canal cargo—arriving in small wooden crates alongside tea, coffee, spices, and other imported luxuries. Now, during America250, we’re bringing that story to life.
The Roscoe Village Foundation is partnering with American Heritage Chocolate, a historic chocolate created by Mars Wrigley and carried almost exclusively at heritage sites across North America.
Visitors who purchased tickets can sample this unique chocolate at the Roscoe Village Chocolate Walk on Feb. 7 , and it will soon be incorporated into our Builders, Traders & Trailblazers curriculum, helping students explore global trade routes and canal-era commerce. Later this year, it will also appear in our reimagined Foundation shop inside the Hay Craft Building.
A sweet way to celebrate our canal heritage and America250.
Self-Guided History Tour
Mondays – Sundays: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Join us for our Self-Guided Tour at Roscoe Village!
If you have wondered what life was like in a 19th-century town nestled along the Ohio and Erie Canal, we invite you to travel back in time to see for yourself. As you visit digital kiosks in our historic buildings, you will learn about some notable people whose lives and deeds of the past contributed to what Roscoe Village is today.
Elevate the Legacy Initiative
The Roscoe Village Foundation has launched Elevate the Legacy, a discovery and visioning initiative focused on exploring what’s possible for Historic Roscoe Village.
This effort will help identify opportunities to strengthen preservation, enhance visitor experiences, and support Roscoe’s cultural and economic vitality—while honoring what people love most about the Village.
Elevate the Legacy is about listening, learning, and thoughtfully shaping a shared vision for Roscoe’s future.
Support Roscoe Village Today
The Roscoe Village Foundation’s Annual Fund sustains the historic tours, immersive experiences, educational programs, preservation work, and beloved traditions that make Roscoe Village vibrant and welcoming today.
Your gift helps bring the magic to life—supporting interpreters, artisans, hands-on activities, and seasonal experiences that visitors cherish.
Support Roscoe Village Today
The Roscoe Village Foundation’s Annual Fund sustains the historic tours, immersive experiences, educational programs, preservation work, and beloved traditions that make Roscoe Village vibrant and welcoming today.
Your gift helps bring the magic to life—supporting interpreters, artisans, hands-on activities, and seasonal experiences visitors cherish.
Discover Roscoe Village
Historic Roscoe Village, nestled in the rolling hills of central Ohio, offers a warm step back in time.
Wander past historic buildings that tell the story of everyday life in the 1800s, and take part in self-guided tours, immersive experiences, and hands-on workshops—like blacksmithing—that make history feel alive.
Quaint, independently owned shops add charm and discovery, creating a village people love to explore, linger, and revisit.
In the seasons ahead, visitors can look forward to even more immersive experiences and signature, Hallmark-style festivals that bring Roscoe Village to life year-round. Stay in touch and feel the magic.
Join us for parties, events, & more
Support Roscoe Village
Key ways you can help to keep the village alive for future generations
Why Whitewoman Street?
Roscoe’s main street is named Whitewoman Street to honor Mary Harris, who is considered to be the first white woman resident in the Ohio Country.
Convincing genealogical evidence indicates that Mary Harris was born in Springfield, Massachusetts around 1695. Her father died when Mary was approximately seven years old. Due to financial constraints, Mary was then “bound out” as a servant girl to a family which soon moved to Deerfield, Massachusetts.
On February 29, 1704, 200 Indians and about 40 French soldiers attacked Deerfield. Prior to the French and Indian War, the French and English were competing for land in the area. As a results of the raid, 17 homes were burned, 38 or more people were killed and 112 captives were marched, through the snow, from Deerfield to Canada. Among those who survived the journey was Mary Harris. She was taken to Kahnawake (Caughnawaga) a Jesuit mission settlement located about 10 miles from Montreal.
She was adopted by an Indian family and later married an Indian brave. She adapted well to Indian culture. Mary had several children. Peter became a captain in the French arm. Joseph participated in the fur trade with the Dutch in New York.
Around 1748, before the French and Indian War, the French asked some of their Kanhnawake allies to move to the Ohio Country to make the French claim there more legitimate. Mary’s family was among those to establish a town near present-day Warsaw. Mary was highly respected by the Indians. They named their new village Whitewoman Town and the river near it White Woman River (Walhonding River) in her honor.
A land scout, Christopher Gist, met her in Whitewoman Town in 1751. Mary had returned to Kahnawake by 1756. It is presumed she lived there until her death.