New Philadelphia City Hall is located at 150 E High Avenue, New Philadelphia, OH 44663. Phone: 330-364-4491.
Neighborhoods
New Philadelphia [†] was founded in 1804 by John Knisely, a tavern keeper from York, Pennsylvania, who was drawn to the area for its game and fertile land along the Tuscarawas River. He and 33 other pioneers settled just west of the abandoned Moravian mission of Schoenbrunn, a Christian Delaware Indian settlement established in 1772 by David Zeisberger. Schoenbrunn, meaning "beautiful spring," was OhioÕs first Christian town, with a school, church, and civil code, but it was deserted during the American Revolution due to conflicts. Knisely hired surveyor John Wells to lay out the town in a grid mimicking PhiladelphiaÕs, naming streets like High and Broadway after their eastern counterparts. By 1808, it became the seat of Tuscarawas County, spurring growth. The Ohio-Erie CanalÕs arrival in the 1820s turned it into a hub for agriculture and milling, later followed by coal mining, railroads, and manufacturing (steel, bricks, and more). Incorporated as a village in 1833 and a city in 1895, it grew steadily, hitting 5,673 residents by that year. Its early economy thrived on taverns, trade, and industry, with coal and clay deposits shaping its industrial boom post-Civil War.
The cityÕs history reflects resilience, from its Moravian roots to surviving economic shifts, like the decline of canals and rise of railroads. ItÕs still a commercial center for Tuscarawas County, with a population around 17,400 today, balancing small-town charm with nods to its past, like the red rose as its official flower since 1966.
† www.grok.com, accessed April, 2025.