Towns of Tuscarawas County

Zoar (pop. 193) - named for the Biblical town where Lot sought refuge after the destruction of Sodom.

 

“Zoar was founded by German religious dissenters called the Society of Separatists of Zoar in 1817. It was a communal society, with many German-style structures that have been restored and are part of the Zoar Village State Memorial. There are presently ten restored buildings.

The Separatists, or Zoarites, emigrated from the kingdom of Württemberg in southwestern Germany due to religious oppression from the Lutheran church. Leading among their group were some natives of Rottenacker on the Danube. Having separated from the established church, their theology was based in part on the writings of Jakob Böhme. They did not practice baptism or confirmation and did not celebrate religious holidays except for the Sabbath. A central flower garden in Zoar is based on the Book of Revelation with a towering tree in the middle representing Christ and other elements surrounding it representing other allegorical elements.

The leader of the society was named Joseph Bimeler (also known as Joseph Bäumler or Bäumeler), a pipemaker from Ulm. His charismatic leadership carried the village through a number of crises.

An early event critical to the success of the colony was the digging of the Ohio and Erie Canal. The Zoarites had purchased 5,000 acres (20 km2) of land sight unseen and used loans to pay for it. The loans were to be paid off by 1830. The Society struggled for many years to determine what products and services they could produce in their village to pay off the loans. The state of Ohio required some of the Zoarite land to be used as a right of way and offered the Zoarites an opportunity to assist in digging the canals for money. The state gave them a choice of digging it themselves for pay or having the state pay others to dig the canal. The Zoarites then spent several years in the 1820s digging the canal and thus were able to pay off their loans on time with much money to spare.

Bimeler's death in the 1850s led to a slow decline in the cohesion of the village. By 1898, the village voted to disband the communal society and the property was divided among the remaining residents.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoar,_Ohio

 

 

Zoar Store (1833)

 

 

Zoar Hotel (1833)

 

 

 

Number One House (1835-1845)

 

Bimeler House, oldest structure in Zoar

 

 

Sewing House

 

 

Zoar Schoolhouse (1868)

 

Zoar Church (1853)

 

 

 

Cider Mill B&B

 

Cobbler Shop B&B

 

Keeping Room B&B

 

For more information, visit the Zoar Community Association website at www.zca.org

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Bolivar (pop. 894)

 

History of Bolivar

In the early 1820‘s, when the Ohio Canal was surveyed, Bolivar was established as a canal town. Before the canal was built, grain had to be hauled to either Cleveland or Pittsburgh by horse and wagon. The shipping costs were greatly reduced via the canal and Bolivar became a shipping center. Farmers from as far away as Magnolia would bring their grain to Bolivar for shipment. Wagons waited in lines a mile long to be unloaded into a horse-powered elevator and was raised up into the mill.

 

During the Canal Era, there was a great influx of people to the area. The Sandy-Beaver Canal was planned to connect Pittsburgh and Bolivar. The Yant Allotment was laid out at that time. In the 1830's, the Sandy-Beaver Canal project failed and growth slowed.

 

Bolivar's first mill was operated by James F. Evans. It was later modernized and last operated by the Farm Bureau. The mill was later moved to an industrial park area were it still stands unused.

 

Bolivar is also the home of Fort Laurens State Memorial. In 1779, a garrison of fewer than 200 Americans with stood a siege of British and allied Indian forces at Fort Laurens, a tiny outpost on the Ohio frontier. Through the long winter, the troops fought off the enemy and the threat of starvation with the loss of twenty-three patriots. Their sacrifice is honored in the Fort Laurens museum and in the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution, the final resting place of one of the fallen defenders of the fort.

 

http://www.ohiotimelessadventures.com/gene/bolivar.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gnadenhutten (pop. 1280) - German for "Tents of Grace"

 

 

 

 

For buginafug  :|

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The littlest library in Ohio?

 

 

 

 

Museum:

 

Memorial monument – one squaw down…

 

 

Gnadenhutten history:  http://www.ohiotimelessadventures.com/gene/gnaden.pdf

Fantastic job!

Also in Gnadenhutten:

 

1972 Class A Basketball State Champions, coached by Charlie Huggins

 

Famous alumnus, UC and WVU coach, Bobby Huggins (class of 1972):

 

 

i've been waiting forever for a uo thread on these towns. way to deliver the goods!

 

here's a historic shot i found of the bimeler house taken in 1896.

i think it was built in 1817:

 

 

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=35

 

 

The library in Gnadenhutten is great.

Neat photoset. I visited some of those places in the late sixties, and I recall seeing many abandoned brick kilns of the beehive style.

Great photo series.  I remember going to these places a lot as a kid, and the pictures pretty much look the way I remember it from back then. Not much changes in those parts.

My grandparents lived in Gnadenhutten back in the early 90's.  It was a great little town.  I spent a lot of time walking around the place because there wasn't much else for a 13 year old to do around there.  It's a good thing I had already developed an interest in architecture.

Excellent treatment of my home county.

Finally a thread on Gnadenhutten! And those other two towns are very impressive, especially considering how small their populations are. Terrific tiny towns!