Right under Ohioan’s noises is a very small village named Zoar. Like many who came to America, Zoar Village’s founders, known as The Society of Separatists of Zoar, came to escape religious persecution. These separatists, or Zoarites, traveled from Württemberg, Germany due to their differences in theology with the dominant Lutheran beliefs of the region.
The Zoarites founded their colony in 1817 on 5,000 acres of land they purchased without having first seen. The village struggled for many years to figure out how to best pay off the loans used to purchase the land. In the 1820’s the State of Ohio required that some of the community’s land be used as a right of way for the Ohio Erie Canal. The state gave the Zoarites two options: either the state would hire someone to dig the canal or pay the Zoarites for the digging labors themselves. The Zoarites were able to pay off their loans by helping to dig a portion of the Ohio Erie Canal.
After approximately eighty years of living as a communal society, in 1898, the village voted to disband the communal society and divided the land amongst the remaining residents.
Today much of the village has been restored by the local historical society and private owners. Some of the German-style village is operated as a museum and run costumed reenactors who will teach visitors about the agrarian, Zoarite way of life, while other buildings serve as shops, restaurants and private residences.The village also features the Historic Zoar Garden, a two and one half acre flower garden based on images of from the Book of Revelations and other religious allegory related to the Zoarites’ beliefs.
Zoar Village offers a variety of activities and tourist attractions as well as special events.
Did you know “zoar” is a word taken from the Bible meaning “place of refuge”?
~ Jody Victor
