BELLEVUE Village rebuilds the feel of history

Both the everyday and the opulent are featured at Historic Lyme Village.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BELLEVUE -- The days of Davy Crockett will spring to life during Historic Lyme Village's annual Pioneer Days festival Sept. 13 and 14.
As part of the weekend festivities, costumed re-enactors will wow crowds with hatchet-throwing demonstrations and other colorful pioneer-era entertainment.
Visitors can also enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides around the village grounds, buy handmade crafts and sample country vittles cooked over an open fire.
The attractions
Located in scenic Bellevue about 15 miles south of Sandusky, Historic Lyme Village features numerous historical buildings that have been meticulously restored and assembled to replicate an old-time village square.
The 1880s John Wright Mansion -- a colossal, Second Empire-style home -- is original to the village grounds, but the remaining 20 or so historical structures were torn down from surrounding areas and brought to the site during the past two decades.
Among these buildings are an 1860s one-room schoolhouse from Oxford Township; a circa-1846 log church from Seneca County; an 1830s log tavern from West Fremont, Ohio; an 1800s cobbler shop from downtown Bellevue; and an early 1900s hardware store, also from Seneca County.
All of the buildings are open to the public and feature period-appropriate displays.
For example, the sprawling John Wright Mansion, which boasts 111/2-foot ceilings and ornate woodwork, is overflowing with opulent antique furnishings from top to bottom.
But don't be fooled into thinking the settlers had it easy. The beautiful brick mansion is the only luxurious abode on the grounds.
Other side of life
Most of the village's other buildings reflect the truer, grittier pioneer lifestyle.
For example, the Schriner Log House, a modest 1800s cabin, features various weaving exhibits, including an antique loom and spinning wheel, and the Annie Brown Log House features many primitive kitchen utensils and other crude essentials used by the pioneer-era housewife.
The old Rose Tavern gives modern folks a taste of travel 1800s-style.
According to an old rules-and-regulations sign that's posted on the tavern wall, tavern guests couldn't wear boots to bed, and no more than five were allowed to sleep in one bed.
Livestock and agriculture
Of course, no old-time village would be complete without livestock, and clustered near a handful of 19th-century barns and outbuildings are longhorn steers, goats, sheep and a flock of chickens busily pecking the ground.
The 24-acre village also boasts era-appropriate crops such as flax and corn.
Although all but one of Historic Lyme Village's buildings have been trucked in from surrounding areas, the recreated atmosphere manages to evoke all the genuine simplicity and charm of days gone by.
The atmosphere is so pleasantly convincing that many people decide to get married inside the village's old log church or to host receptions, meetings and picnics on the village grounds.