COSHOCTON, Ohio – Throughout February and March, Historic Roscoe Village will be displaying simple machines used during the canal era in the East Gallery of the Visitor Center.
The exhibit will include a variety of simple machines that were used to help make daily tasks easier and less time consuming.
Among the simple machines displayed will be an old-fashioned coffee grinder exemplary of what would have been used in a canal era general store; an antique casket dolly used to move caskets easily; and a canal era wheelbarrow demonstrating how the wheel and axle work together to move heavy loads with less strength. Examples of the various types of simple machines guests can see throughout Roscoe Village include screws, levers, wheel and axles, wedges, inclined planes, and pulleys.
Many of the simple machines included in the exhibit are hands-on and allow Roscoe Village guests to try their hand at grinding coffee the old fashioned way or lifting a heavy block of wood up the steps by pulling it up an inclined plane. By using simple machines like pulleys to move heavy items, innovators of the past have impacted the present and these simple machines continue to make everyday tasks easier.
The Visitor Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with guided living history tours of Roscoe Village beginning at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Group tours are available and school groups are welcome.
For more information about the Simple Machines Exhibit or Historic Roscoe Village, call 800-877-1830 or 740-622-9310.
