Description: This illustration, which depicts the village of Zoar in 1848, appears in "Discovering American History Through Maps and Views," published by Gerald A. Danzer in 1991. Zoar is a small community in Tuscarawas County, which was founded by a group of German separatists in 1817. These separatists, who soon became known as Zoarites, were originally from an area of Germany known as Wurttemburg. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, they separated from the official German religion, the Lutheran Church. Separatists faced severe persecution in Wurttemburg, including confiscation of their properties and imprisonment. The group's leader, Joseph Bimeler, decided to bring the separatists to the United States. The community of Zoar was not originally organized as a commune, but its residents had a difficult time surviving in 1818 and early 1819. As a result, on April 19, 1819, the group formed the Society of Separatists of Zoar. Each person donated his or her property to the community as a whole. In the decades following the establishment of the Zoar commune, the Separatists experienced economic prosperity. The community was almost entirely self-sufficient and sold any surpluses to the outside world. In addition to agriculture, Zoar residents also worked in a number of industries, including flour mills, textiles, a tin shop, cooper, wagon maker, two iron foundries, and several stores. Bimeler died in 1853, and although Zoar was still economically prosperous, the members' commitment to the society's original goals began to deteriorate in the second half of the nineteenth century. Over time, many of the original residents died. The younger generation did not have memories of the persecution back in Europe or the society's early struggles in Ohio. The outside world influenced the community more and more, and in 1898, the remaining members decided to dissolve the society, and the Zoarites divided the property among themselves. Throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Zoar has continued to exist as a small town in rural eastern Ohio. Today, the Ohio Historical Society operates a portion of the town as a historic site. A number of the Zoarite buildings are restored and are open to the public. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04204
Subjects: Zoar (Tuscarawas County, Ohio); Society of Separatists of Zoar--History; Historical societies
Places: Zoar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)