By the late 1960s, the once-proud canal town of Roscoe Village, Ohio had deteriorated badly, which discouraged industrialist Ed Montgomery who drove through the village every day to and from work at his Coshocton glove factory, the Edmont Manufacturing Company, according to Linda Scott, director of the Montgomery Foundation.
“If you look at any of those pictures, the buildings had deteriorated and were boarded up,” Scott said.
With the encouragement of his wife Frances, Montgomery spearheaded the restoration of several buildings up and down Roscoe’s Whitewoman Street, starting with the Toll House in 1968.
These days, Historic Roscoe Village attracts about 70,000 visitors annually, according to Debbie McDonald, marketing manager for the Roscoe Village Foundation.
Annually, it hosts festivals that draw from the state and region.
Roscoe Village, the Monticello III canal boat and the area’s wineries serve as the biggest draws for visitors to Coshocton County, according to Jan Myers, director of the Coshocton County Visitors Bureau.
Visitors come from across Ohio and surrounding states, she said, but also from around the world.