Ohio Village
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Ohio Village is a living history museum in Columbus, Ohio operated by the non-profit Ohio Historical Society.
The village, intended to provide a firsthand view of life in Ohio during the American Civil War, opened July 27, 1974 on 15 acres adjacent to the Ohio Historical Center in north Columbus. The 22 buildings that comprise the village are a mixture of reproductions and historic structures moved to the site. Among those currently standing are the Town Hall, Print Shop, General Store and Masonic Lodge, Church and Education Center, Pharmacy, Blacksmith Shop, Tinsmith Shop, Broom and Basket Shop, Cabinetmaker/Undertaker's Shop, Harnessmaker's and Weaver's shops, Ladies' Soldiers Aid Society, Village Bakery, Market House, Livery Stable, Schoolhouse, Doctor's Office and Residence, the Ohio Village Bank, the Colonel Crawford Inn and the Elk's Head Tavern. Though costumed interpreters have daily welcomed tourists and school groups alike since Ohio Village's founding, since 2001, when a reduction in funding from the state legislature forced the Historical Society to make across-the-board cuts, the village has only been open for its signature events. [1]
One of the most popular of these events is the All Hallow's Eve, an 1860's-style celebration of Halloween that has taken place in late October every year since 1985. The festivities include fortunetelling, costumed interpretation of beliefs and superstitions related to the season, and a parade for the dead through the town center meant to appease roaming spirits. The night culminates in a production of Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. [2]
Ohio Village is also home to two historic baseball teams, the Ohio Village Muffins and Lady Diamonds. Both teams play by the 19th century rules of the game, very similar to those first set down by the New York Knickerbockers, America's first professional baseball club, in 1845. The Ohio Cup Vintage Baseball Festival, held at the village every year in the late summer, draws teams from across the country to compete in a tournament played by the old rules. [3]
