Zoar is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Tuscarawas County, Ohio Tuscarawas County ( ) is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,263. Its county seat is New Philadelphia. Its name is a Delaware Indian word variously translated as "o ...

, United States. The population was 172 at the 2020 census. The community was founded in 1817 by Radical Pietists as a utopian Christian community, which survived until 1898. Much of the village's early layout survives, as do many buildings from its utopian origins. Most of the community was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1969 as the Zoar Historic District, and it was designated a

National Historic Landmark District A National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) is a geographical area that has received recognition from the United States Government that the buildings, landscapes, cultural features and archaeological resources within it are of the highest signific ...

in 2016. Some of the historic buildings are now operated as museum properties.

History

Communistic Societies of the United States Views in Zoar 1875

Zoar was founded by

Radical Pietist Radical Pietism are those Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose to remain within their Luthe ...

Christian dissenters from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

called the Society of Separatists of Zoar in 1817. It was named after the Biblical village to which Lot and his family escaped from Sodom. It was a

communal society An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, which may be political ...

: All property was communally owned, and the farms, shops, and factories were managed by regularly elected trustees. The society attained its greatest prosperity in the 1850s, when it owned over 10,000 acres of land and was worth approximately $1 million. Many German-style structures have been restored and are part of the Zoar Village State Memorial. There are presently ten restored buildings. According to the Ohio Historical Connection, Zoar is an island of Old-World charm in east-central Ohio. These Radical Pietists, also known as Separatists, or Zoarites, emigrated from the kingdom of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

in southwestern Germany due to religious oppression from the Lutheran church. Leading among their group were some natives of

Rottenacker Rottenacker is a village in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History The Separatists During the late 18th century the Radical Pietist movement throughout the Duchy of Württemberg increased again after having dim ...

on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Having separated from the established church, they based their theology in part on the writings of

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mysticism, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant Theology, theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the L ...

. 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 The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

, with a towering tree (now cut down) 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, born 1778), a pipemaker as well as teacher from

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

. His charismatic leadership carried the village through a number of crises. Bimeler led the society until his death, which occurred in 1853. An early event critical to the success of the colony was the digging of the

Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron, Ohio, Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio ...

. The Zoarites had purchased 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 on August 31, 1853, 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.

Geography

Zoar is located at (40.613102, -81.421686), along the

Tuscarawas River The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles (209 km) long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining ...

. That is 2.9 road miles east of I77 via Ohio route 212 and 16.1 road miles south of

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

in Stark County. (Canton itself is 24 miles south of

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

and 58 miles south of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

.) Zoar village is 3.2 road miles north of

Zoarville, Ohio Zoarville is an unincorporated community in Tuscarawas County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. History Zoarville was plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. ...

, an unincorporated community. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Zoar is located at Mile Post 84.5 on the main line of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway between

and

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

, which parallels the

for much of its length.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 169 people, 77 households, and 58 families residing in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 85 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.6% Asian, and 1.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.6% of the population. There were 77 households, of which 19.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 24.7% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.50. The median age in the village was 52.6 years. 10.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 14.8% were from 25 to 44; 42.6% were from 45 to 64; and 26% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 52.1% male and 47.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 193 people, 79 households, and 62 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 81 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.93%

, 1.04% Asian, and 1.04% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.52% of the population. There were 79 households, out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.4% were

living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.73. In the village, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 18.7% from 25 to 44, 42.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the village was $46,964, and the median income for a family was $55,625. Males had a median income of $45,417 versus $33,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $22,828. About 3.6% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 5.4% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 and older.

Flooding threat

The future of the village is threatened because a Tuscarawas River

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

that protects the village has been given the lowest safety rating by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

. The village sits at the base of the levee, which was built by the Corps in 1936 as part of its water management program in the region. With the levee in failing condition, the Corps was evaluating three alternatives: * Repair the levee * Purchase the village, tear it down, and let the area flood * Relocate the village to higher ground. The Zoar Village Government and the Zoar Community Association are working to preserve the village where it stands and have created the Save Historic Zoar Association. Initial Corps estimates, as of mid-2012, put the cost of repairing the levee at about $130 million, slightly less than $1 million per resident. In June 2012 the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

placed Zoar on its annual list of " America's eleven most endangered historic places." In November 2013 the Corps, following further review, reclassified the levee's safety rating from 1 (lowest) to Dam Safety Action Classification 3, meaning the possibility of failure is moderate to high. An expedited full evaluation is to occur within a year. In so doing, the Corps also dropped the option of breaching the levee from the list of solutions being considered, and studied options for repairing the existing levee, thereby significantly reducing the likelihood that the village would have to be destroyed or relocated. In 2023, the Army Corps of Engineers completed a $14 million project to repair the levee and save Zoar Village.

Financing and economics

After fleeing from Germany, due to the financing of their emigration and the settling in Ohio, the settlers needed help. The

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

in both Great Britain and Philadelphia were able to aid in their goals. The Quakers had much in common with them, like their similar ideas of pacifism and their practice of the Christian religion. In 1817, the settlers bought roughly 5,500 acres of land from Godfrey Haga. The Quakers loaned them money to support part of the purchase. Joseph Bimeler vowed to pay $15,000, the remaining balance of the purchase, off within 15 years. The following years of the society was not met with economic prosperity. In the early years of the village, community leaders required celibacy among their residents. The additional cost of bearing many children in a communal society was too large. In the 1830s, the

was being constructed. To accumulate money from the state, Zoarites constructed part of the Canal on their own, and received $21,000 from the state. During this period, blacksmithing and tin shops were flourishing in the village, as well as flour and wool mills. In 1853, after Joseph Bimeler's passing, the village was worth around $5 million. Preceding Joseph Bimeler's death, the village peaked. After 1853, the village began its decline. At its dissolution in 1898, there were 222 members of the community with an estimated worth of $3.5 million.

Buildings

As construction of the village began, the buildings were subsequently numbered in the order that they were built. Many of the original buildings are still completely original.

Number One House

Originally built in 1835 to house the elders of the village, Joseph Bimeler and his family made this building their home.

Town Hall

The town hall for the Society was built in 1887. Since the Society disbanded in 1898, this building was actually one of the last ones to be constructed. Restoration of town hall took place in 2002 with help from private funds. The lower level is used as a governmental chamber and the two upper floors house artifacts that were commonly used throughout the village.

The Zoar Hotel

Built in 1833, the hotel is said to have been a home for anyone- rich or poor. President William McKinley had a favorite room here. He is said to have enjoyed the German cuisine and he favored staying here. It is currently only open on special occasions, unlike most other museum buildings. Renovations have been made on the outside of the hotel, but the inside is worn down and unsafe for regular use. The preservation committee, Zoar Community Association, is currently waiting on funding for inside renovation.

References

Nixon, Edgar Burkhardt, ''The Society of Separatists of Zoar,'' Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1933.

External links

Ohio History: Zoar

Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
{{authority control German-American culture in Ohio Villages in Tuscarawas County, Ohio Utopian communities in the United States Populated places established in 1817 1817 establishments in Ohio National Historic Landmarks in Ohio Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Tuscarawas County, Ohio Villages in Ohio