The U.S. Department of the Interior has named the village of Zoar a national historical landmark.
The village was founded by German religious dissenters in the 1800’s.
Tammi Mackey-Shrum, is Zoar’s site director.
“Zoar was kind of this really unique communal utopian society. Zoar did have the longevity, they came to America as immigrants escaping religious persecution, and then when they built their town the architecture is extremely German and European in nature and it really reflects their way of life.”
The village had previously been threatened by a deteriorating levee, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had considered breaching. The village could have been flooded as a result.
The corps decided to repair the levee instead, and Mackey-Shrum says the village’s landmark designation will protect it for the future.
The designation comes just in time for Zoar’s 200th anniversary in 2017. Zoar is now one of 73 recognized national historic landmarks in Ohio.