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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 "old town" or "open mouth". Tuscarawas County comprises the New Philadelphia–
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cleveland–Akron–Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area.


History

For years, European-American colonists on the East Coast did not know much about the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains except for reports from a few explorers and
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
rs who ventured into the area. In 1750, Christopher Gist of the Ohio Land Company explored the Tuscarawas Valley. His report of the area hinted at some natural riches and friendly American Indians. In 1761 Moravian
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to set up a mission in the Tuscarawas Valley.
Christian Frederick Post Christian Frederick Post (an anglicanization of Christian Friedrich Post) (1710 Polish Prussia - 29 April 1785 Germantown, Pennsylvania) was a missionary of the Moravian Church to the indigenous peoples of the Americas who played a brief but signi ...
, David Zeisberger, and
John Heckewelder John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder (March 12, 1743 – January 21, 1823) was an American missionary for the Moravian Church. Biography John Heckewelder was born in Bedford, England and came to Pennsylvania in 1754. After finishing his education, ...
met with Chief Netawatwees of the western Delaware Indians, also known as the "Lenape". He invited them to the tribal village he had founded, Gekelemukpechunk (present-day Newcomerstown, Ohio). He granted the missionaries permission to build a cabin near the junction of the Sandy Creek and
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 a ...
, in present-day Stark County and begin evangelizing the natives. While they were successful in baptizing dozens of converts, they were forced to abandon the mission in 1763 during the French and Indian War (part of the Seven Years' War). Again, at the request of Chief Netawatwees in 1771, David Zeisberger returned to found additional missions in the Tuscarawas Valley. In the spring of 1772, near the present site of
New Philadelphia, Ohio New Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The county's largest city, New Philadelphia lies along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 17,677 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city in the ...
, Zeisberger, along with five converted Indian families established the mission of Schoenbrunn (beautiful spring), also known as Welhik Tuppeek (best spring). They built a school house and a chapel. In August of that year, John Heckawelder brought an additional 250 converted Christian Delawares into the village. In late summer 1772, they established a second settlement, roughly 10 miles away from Schoenbrunn, called
Gnadenhütten Gnadenhütten (; ) the name of settlements founded by the German Moravian Church. The word was transliterated as ''Canatanheat'' by the missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote it ...
(cabins of grace). On October 17, 1772, Zeisberger conducted the first religious service at Gnadenhutten. In 1776, Chief Netawatwes donated land for another settlement, Lichtenau (meadow of light), near present-day Coshocton, then the principal Delaware village in the region. The American Revolutionary War brought the demise of these first settlements. The Delawares, who at the time populated much of eastern Ohio, were divided over their loyalties, with many in the west allied with the British out of Fort Detroit and many in the east allied with the Americans out of Fort Pitt. Delawares were involved in skirmishes against both sides, but by 1781 the American sense was that the Delawares were allying with the British. In response, Colonel Daniel Brodhead of the American forces led an expedition out of Fort Pitt and on 19 April 1781 destroyed the settlement of Coshocton. Surviving residents fled to the north. Colonel Brodhead's forces left the Delawares at the other Moravian mission villages unmolested, but the actions set the stage for raised tensions in the area. In September 1781, British forces and Indian allies, primarily Wyandot and Delaware, forced the Christian Indians and missionaries from the remaining Moravian villages. The Indian allies took their prisoners further west toward Lake Erie to a new village, called Captive Town, on the Sandusky River. The British took the missionaries David Zeisberger and
John Heckewelder John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder (March 12, 1743 – January 21, 1823) was an American missionary for the Moravian Church. Biography John Heckewelder was born in Bedford, England and came to Pennsylvania in 1754. After finishing his education, ...
under guard back to Fort Detroit, where the two men were tried (but eventually acquitted) on charges of treason against the British Crown. The Indians at Captive Town were going hungry because of insufficient rations, and in February 1782, more than 100 returned to their old Moravian villages to harvest the crops and collect the stored food they had been forced to leave behind. In early March 1782, 160 Pennsylvania militia led by Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson raided the villages and garrisoned the Indians in the village of Gnadenhütten, accusing them of taking part in raids into Pennsylvania. Although the Delawares rejected the charges as they were
pacifist Christian Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Chr ...
s, the militia held a council and voted to kill them. The next morning on 8 March, the militia tied up the Indians, stunned them with mallet blows to the head, and killed them with fatal scalping cuts. In all, the militia murdered and scalped 28 men, 29 women, and 39 children. They piled the bodies of the Moravian Christian Lenape and Moravian Christian Mahicans in the mission buildings and burned the village down. They also burned the other abandoned Moravian villages in the area. This action, which came to be known as the Gnadenhutten massacre, caused an outright frontier war to break out between the Delawares and the Americans. After several years of ongoing campaigns by the natives to terrorize and keep out further American settlers, a brutal campaign by US General "Mad Anthony" Wayne from Fort Washington (now Cincinnati) was carried out in late 1793, eventually resulting in the Treaty of Greenville being signed in 1795 between the US government and the local natives. The Treaty ceded the eastern ⅔ of current-day Ohio to white settlers and once again opened up the territory for white settlement. In October, 1798, David Zeisberger, the same Moravian missionary who had founded many of the original missions in the 1770s, returned to the Tuscarawas Valley to found a new mission, Goshen, from where he continued his work to evangelize the local natives with the Christian gospel. Over the next several years, farmer settlers from Pennsylvania came trickling into the area, and by 1808, the first permanent settlement, New Philadelphia, was founded near the Goshen mission. After the War of 1812, Goshen declined as a mission until it was disbanded in 1824. Tuscarawas County was formed from Muskingum County on Feb. 15, 1808. In the late 1820s, Tuscarawas County was chosen to be on the route of the Ohio and Erie Canal, a man-made waterway linking Lake Erie (via Cleveland) to the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
(via Portsmouth, Ohio). Construction from
Massillon, Ohio Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately west of Canton, Ohio, Canton, south of Akron, and south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Mass ...
to
Canal Dover, Ohio Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 13,112 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of Cleveland, west of Pittsburgh, and northeast of the state capital of Col ...
was completed in 1829. Construction from Canal Dover, Ohio to Newark, Ohio was completed in 1830. A total of 15 locks were built in Tuscarawas County, entering the county line on an aqueduct north of
Zoar, Ohio Zoar is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 169 at the 2010 census. The community was founded in 1817 by Radical Pietists as a utopian Christian community, which survived until 1898. Much of the village's e ...
on Lock 7 to Newcomerstown, Ohio, exiting the county below Lock 21. In 1848, the feeder Sandy and Beaver Canal was completed, linking
Bolivar, Ohio Bolivar (, rhymes with Oliver) is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 994 at the 2010 census. Bolivar is also home to Fort Laurens, the only American Revolutionary War-era fort in what is now Ohio. History Shin ...
to the Ohio River at
Glasgow, Pennsylvania Glasgow is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 71 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The borough was named after Glasgow, in Scotland. Geograp ...
. With the rise of railroads, and a massive flood in 1913, the canal system was abandoned. Three years later, the city of Canal Dover shortened its name Dover to 1916.


Geography

According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.71%) is water.


Adjacent counties

* Stark County (north) * Carroll County (northeast) * Harrison County (southeast) *
Guernsey County Guernsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,438. Its county seat is Cambridge, and it is named for the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, from which many of the county's earl ...
(south) *
Coshocton County Coshocton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,612. Its county seat is Coshocton. The county lies within the Appalachian region of the state. The county was formed on January 31, 18 ...
(southwest) * Holmes County (northwest)


Demographics


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 90,914 people, 35,653 households, and 25,313 families residing in the county. The population density was 160 people per square mile (62/km2). There were 38,113 housing units at an average density of 67 per square mile (26/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.87% White, 0.73% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.24%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.71% of the population. 95.3% spoke English, 1.3% German and 1.1% Spanish as their first language. There were 35,653 households, out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.01. In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 25.40% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,489, and the median income for a family was $41,677. Males had a median income of $31,963 versus $20,549 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,276. About 7.20% of families and 9.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.20% of those under age 18 and 7.80% of those age 65 or over.


2010 census

As of the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, there were 92,582 people, 36,965 households, and 25,318 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 40,206 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% white, 0.8% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% Pacific islander, 0.7% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 38.0% were
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
, 16.0% were Irish, 10.9% were English, 7.7% were
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
, and 7.6% were Italian. 94.7% spoke English, 1.4% Spanish, 1.1%
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
, and 2.0% another West Germanic language. Of the 36,965 households, 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.5% were non-families, and 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 40.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $42,081 and the median income for a family was $51,330. Males had a median income of $40,490 versus $27,193 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,536. About 9.2% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.


Politics

Prior to 1912, Tuscarawas County was a Democratic Party stronghold in presidential elections. But starting with the 1912 election, the county has become a bellwether county, only backing losing candidates in 1960, 1968, 2012 and 2020.


Communities


Cities

*
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
* New Philadelphia (county seat) *
Uhrichsville Uhrichsville( ) is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,413 at the 2010 census. Claymont City School District is the major education provider for the city of Uhrichsville and for the village of Dennison, Ohio. The ...


Villages

*
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
* Barnhill * Bolivar * Dennison * Gnadenhutten * Midvale * Mineral City *
Newcomerstown Newcomerstown is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, east-northeast of Columbus. In the late 1770s, this was the largest Delaware Indian village on the Tuscarawas River, with 700 residents. Chief Newcomer (''Netawatwes'') was ...
* Parral * Port Washington * Roswell * Schoenbrunn * Stone Creek * Strasburg * Sugarcreek * Tuscarawas *
Zoar Zoar may refer to: * Zoara, a city mentioned in Genesis as part of the Biblical Pentapolis Places ;Canada * Zoar, Newfoundland and Labrador ;England * Zoar, Cornwall ;South Africa * Zoar, Western Cape ;United States * Zoar, Delaware * Zoar, Ind ...


Townships

*
Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...
*
Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...
* Clay *
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
* Fairfield *
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
* Goshen *
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
* Lawrence * Mill * Oxford * Perry *
Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...
*
Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
*
Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...
* Sugar Creek * Union *
Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
* Warwick * Washington * Wayne * York https://web.archive.org/web/20160715023447/http://www.ohiotownships.org/township-websites


Census-designated places

*
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
* Sandyville * Wilkshire Hills


Unincorporated communities

* Barrs Mills * Bernice * Blackband *
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
* Eastport *
Gilmore Gilmore or Gillmore may refer to: *Gilmore (surname) Places Australia *Gilmore, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Tuggeranong *Gilmore Avenue, a road in southern Perth, Western Australia *Division of Gilmore, an ...
* Glasgow * Goshen *
Hartwood Hartwood ( sco, Hertwid, gd, Coille an Daimh) is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Nearby settlements include Shotts, Allanton and Bonkle. The area is rural, with fewer than 50 houses. Transport is provided at Hartwood railway stati ...
* Lock Seventeen * Mount Tabor * New Cumberland *
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
* Peoli * Postboy * Ragersville * Rockford * Schoenbrunn * Somerdale * Stillwater * Wainwright * West Chester *
Winfield Winfield may refer to: Places Canada * Winfield, Alberta * Winfield, British Columbia United States * Winfield, Alabama * Winfield, Arkansas * Winfield, Georgia * Winfield, Illinois * Winfield, Indiana * Winfield, Iowa * Winfield, Kansas * Winfi ...
* Wolf * Yorktown * Zoarville


Notable people

*
Samuel G. Cosgrove Samuel Goodlove Cosgrove (April 10, 1847March 28, 1909) was an American politician who served as the sixth governor of Washington from January to March 1909. He was a U.S. Civil War veteran and a Republican. Biography Cosgrove was born in Tusca ...
, sixth Governor of the state of Washington *
William Clarke Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Having endured a tempestuous childhood before later becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who ...
, Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. * Cy Young, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer * Woody Hayes, former Ohio State football coach.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Tuscarawas County, Ohio __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Tuscarawas County, O ...


References


Further reading

* J.W. Cummins and Earl E. Sanderson, ''The Water Resources of Tuscarawas County, Ohio.'' Columbus, OH: Ohio Water Resources Board, 1947. * C. Edward DeGraw, ''The Only Game in Town: A History of Baseball in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, 1867-1955.'' Tuscarawas County Historical Society, c. 1998. * Federal Writers Project, ''Guide to Tuscarawas County.'' New Philadelphia, OH: Tucker Printing Co., 1939. * Henry Howe, ''History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, 1808-1889.'' Knightstown, IN: Bookmark, 1977. * Herbert P Lohrman and Ralph H Romig, ''Valley of the Tuscarawas: A History of Tuscarawas County.'' Dover, OH: Ohio Hills Publishers, 1972. * J.B. Mansfield, ''The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, etc.; General and Local Statistics; Military Record; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Miscellaneous Matters, etc., etc.'' Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884. * Fred Miller, ''Tuscarawas County, Ohio.'' Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000. * Lloyd E. Mizer, ''History of the Schools in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.'' n.c.: Ohio Retired Teachers Association. Tuscarawas County Chapter, 1993. * Ohio Retired Teachers Association, Tuscarawas County Chapter, ''History of Early Tuscarawas County Schools.'' New Philadelphia, OH: Printing Dept., Buckeye Joint Vocational School, 1978. * Earl P. Olmstead, ''A Documentary History of the Ohio & Erie Canal, Tuscarawas County, Ohio.'' New Philadelphia, OH: Tuscarawas County Historical Society and the Tusc-Kent Archives, Kent State University, 1996. * Edwin S. Rhodes, ''The Centennial History and Atlas of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, 1908.'' New Philadelphia, OH: Tuscarawas Centennial Association, 1908. * Julius Miller Richardson, ''A Brief History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio.'' n.c.: n.p., n.d. 990s * Tuscarawas County Genealogical Society, ''Tuscarawas County, Ohio Cemeteries.'' New Philadelphia, OH: Tuscarawas County Genealogical Society, 1981.


External links


Tuscarawas County Government's website

Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau's website

Kent State University
The Olmstead Collection, Tuscarawas County Historical Society
Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
{{Coord, 40.45, -81.47, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-OH_source:UScensus1990 Appalachian Ohio Counties of Appalachia 1808 establishments in Ohio Populated places established in 1808