History of Moscow

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The Village of Moscow had its plat recorded in 1816 by owner Owen Davis.  The name of Moscow may have been from the officers of Napoleon's army who fled to the United States after his defeat at the Russian city.

Underground Railroad activities had a strong presence in the Village of Moscow.  Robert and Thomas Fee became Underground Railroad Conductors, with their homes as "stations" or "hiding places" for freedom seekers as they crossed the Ohio River on route to freedom in Canada.  A candle lit in the second story window was a sign that it was clear to cross.  Tunnels allegedly under these homes created the escape route for freedom seekers to move from house to house and eventually travel northward.  The Fee Villa remains above the Moscow wharf at Broadway and Water Streets today and is listed on the  National Park Service's Network to Freedom Program as a documented Underground Railroad site.  The visible cobble-stones at the wharf were put in place in 1882.  Other area Underground Railroad sites can be found by following the Clermont  Freedom Trail.

From 1829 to 1839, the Moscow Union School was in a log building. In 1853, state law required each Township to subdivide its schools into numbered districts. The Moscow Seminary opened in 1844 at the present Masonic Lodge location. The Moscow School as known today was built in 1932 and closed in 1980. The structure is currently used as the River Valley Community Center.

A swinging foot bridge was a landmark that crossed Ray's Run, a creek that feeds into the Ohio River on the southern boundary of the Village. A glass factory, pork packers, lumber yard, barber shop, drug store, flour mill, distilling and milling, tailor shop, millinery/hatter, grocer, shoe shop, saloon, hotel, hospital/cancer clinic, hardware store, theater (5 cents for silent movies), and car dealer all were sources of business and family activities that made up the Village of Moscow in the early days.