I'm wondering about historic villages, towns or even specific areas in larger cities such as mill villages that have developed as tourist attractions. Crich in the UK is an example, although it is actually a sort of low key replication in an old quarry. Bendigo naturally, and Lowell also. There seem to a many pioneer and colonial era examples, but not much comes to mind for the post Wild West and pre WW II era. Can anybody point me to examples?

dave

Not early 20th century specifically, but close..
Genesee Country Village and Museum, Mumford, NY:
https://www.gcv.org/

Generally a Civil War to 1900 sort of flavor.
They have moved many historic 19th century structures to the site, including some large Victorian mansions, and a couple train stations.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad mainlime once ran along the edge of the property, and a few LV structures that were once nearby are now part of the village:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2710/5784 ... 76a6_o.jpg

Scot

Hi Dave,

Great question and a few examples come to mind. These are a few that I have visited, but I know there are others I have omitted. Some are built around a specific movement, concept, or religion, while others are more general in scope.
Connecticut:
Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT
http://www.mysticseaport.org/locations/village/

Massachusetts:
Hancock Shaker Village, Hancock, MA
http://hancockshakervillage.org
Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA
http://www.osv.org

New Hampshire:
Strawberry Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH
http://www.strawberybanke.org

New York:
Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Old Bethpage, NY
http://www.visitnassaucounty.com/OBVR
The Roycroft Campus, East Aurora, NY
http://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com
Hanford Mills Museum, East Meredith, NY
http://www.hanfordmills.org
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York, NY
http://www.tenement.org
Rome Erie Canal Village, Rome, NY
http://www.eriecanalvillage.net

Pennsylvania:
Hopewell Furnace NHS, Elverson, PA
http://www.nps.gov/hofu/index.htm
Eckley Miners Village, Eckley, PA
http://www.eckleyminersvillagemuseum.com/apps/location/

I suppose that one could also consider the historic district of Pullman in Chicago, although this is less cohesive and formally organized than most of those listed above. (I also have never been there so maybe someone else can speak regarding their experience)

Take Care,
Steve

Boothbay Railway Village in Maine. A number of buildings moved in from other locations, all arranged around a loop of narrow gauge track.

The Ironbridge district in England, with lots of Industrial Revolution connections.

My all-time favorite, though, is the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish. A late 19th-century English village, a coal mining hamlet, a working demonstration farm and a huge manor house. Railway and trams, too.

Nominations for the list with related RRs:

Cold Spring Village, Cape May County, NJ (1789-1840): http://www.hcsv.org/

Cass, WV...

Not rail-related: Old Bedford Village, Pa.

Pioneer Living History Village, AZ: http://mojavemuleskinners.com/pioneervillage.html

Surprisingly, the Delaware valley north of Trenton, in both NJ and PA should fit the bill:

http://www.howellfarm.com/ , New Hope and Ivyland RR, Black River & Western RR and much much more all very close together.

Regards,

Art S.

Thank you....I'm obsessive about context, and it's one of the most difficult things to find at many railway museums. I have a lot of things to explore now.

dave

More in the Midwest:

Large, Old World Wisconsin in Eagle, WI. Many many historic buildings moved to the site to depict various stages of development in Wisconsin, unfortunately, the scope pretty much predates railroads.

http://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/

Medium, Huckleberry Railroad and Crossroads Village in Flint, MI

http://www.geneseecountyparks.org/crvdefault.asp

Pinecrest Historical Village in Manitowoc, WI. Old World Wisconsin writ small, but at least it as a railroad depot and some stationary equipment.

http://www.manitowoccountyhistory.org/#!pinecrest-historical-village/c12t2

2 Canadian examples to check out...Calgary's heritage park
http://www.heritagepark.ca/plan-your-visit.html
And Hamilton Ontario's Westfield Village
http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/imag ... ngTour.pdf

Tifton GA has a late 1800s setup which isn't that bad, including a NG train with steam: http://www.abac.edu/museum
Tallahassee Florida has something similar, but on a smaller scale and no RRs other than a Seaboard hack: http://tallahasseemuseum.org/index.php? ... -bend-farm

Here in California we have Columbia State Historic Park. This is a real town that has a combination state ownership and private businesses.

This community dates from the California gold rush era and while it suffered several fires, the major ones in 1854 and 1857; the town rebuilt and survived over the decades. Thoughts of making it a state park began in the 1920s, intensified in the 1930s and in 1945 the State Legislature made the site a State Historic Park "in order to preserve a typical Gold Rush town, an example of one of the most colorful eras in American history."

Here in Ohio, and I know there are more:

Roscoe Village near Coshocton, with a section of watered canal preserved for boat rides
Zoar, reconstructed village on its original site, some buildings intact
Schoenbrunn, reconstructed (obviously, considering its history)

Fort Pitt has been rebuilt at the forks of the Ohio, of course, but there's no village with it.

I'm on the iPad and this thing won't do links properly.

The History Park at Kelley Park in San Jose, CA, operated by History San Jose, features a diverse assortment of relocated and replicated structures assembled as a representation of the city shortly after the turn of the last century. Of particular note is a reconstruction of A.P. Giannini's first Bank of Italy (B of A) branch, an operating streetcar line, active trolley restoration barn, and more recently, SP 0-6-0 1215 and the ex-AT&SF "Little Buttercup."

Allaire Village near Farmingdale, NJ.
Location of the Howell Furnace which was a source of bog iron.
3' gauge New Jersey Museum of Transportation is located in the park.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allaire_State_Park

Don't forget Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.

http://www.thehenryford.org/village/index.aspx