Zoar Village office is located at 198 Main Street, Zoar, OH 44697.
Phone: 330-874-3011.
The village of Zoar [†] was established in 1817 by a group of i Separatists from Germany. Although founded primarily as a religious community, the Separatists soon introduced a communal system in order to pay their debts for the land, and to guarantee their economic and social security.
The village has remained somewhat isolated, thereby retaining much of the simplicity of its earlier days, and offering an excellent study of a European culture and architecture in Ohio.
Present day Zoar is a small residential community about 15 miles south of Canton, Ohio, and 9 miles north of New Philadelphia, Ohio. Most of the inhabitants are employed in Canton or surrounding towns. A number are descendents of the first Zoarites. There are at present three taverns operating in the town. One (open on a part-time schedule) is housed in the old Zoar Hotel. The other two are across the street in former residences. A couple of the Zoar properties are used only as summer residences by people from Cleveland.
The village is five streets long by five streets wide. There are some modern homes on the edges of town, but the main part is nearly a l l early or mid 19th century. Almost all of these earlier buildings have been altered to some extent for use as family dwellings. The common structure is half-timbered with rubble filled walls and exterior wood siding. There are, however, five brick houses plus the brick school and church. Four of the early log houses built as temporary structures remain. Most of the original buildings were roofed with red tiles made in Zoar. This gave the village a striking appearance. Several of these roofs are intact,
† Adapted from: Charles C. Pratt, Assistant Director, Ohio Historical Society, Zoar Historic District, 1969, nomination document, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.