Battle on the Ohio-Erie Canal

While the Civil War was primarily waged in the South there were skirmishes in Ohio, most notably Morgan's Raids into southern Ohio where a marker stands near a conflagration. But on an early fall weekend along the Ohio and Erie Canal, a battle waged that looked and felt like a step back into the 1860s.

Zoar Village is a living history village overseen by the Ohio Historical Society. Nestled along the Ohio and Erie Canal in northern Tuscarawas County, Zoar was a communal village that existed between the early 1800s and the late 1890s [see previous entry]. When you couple a historic village, replete with Victorian age homes and buildings that have been restored, with a passion for re-enacting the Civil War, you get a weekend unlike any other.

The Battle on the Ohio-Erie Canal puts over 1,000 re-enactors for a weekend encampment in this historic place. Camps were pitched throughout the town and as you walk the streets you could get a sense of real history. This is what many places looked like during those war-torn years. Fittingly the units portraying the north were camped along the northern edges of the village and the rebels the southern and western parts. While walking along one set of tents, marveling at how authentic the scene looked against a home built in the mid 1800s, you still can chuckle seeing a 2008 Mustang parked in the driveway.

What sets this re-enactment apart from many others is the air of authenticity of the village. It feels like this is the way things should look. Even a baby being pulled along in Victorian-age baby carriage did not seem to strike me as unusual. Although later walking through House #1 in the Village and the display in one room of Victorian baby gear (a kind of 1860s Babies R Us display) made me think of checking close to see if one of the carriages was missing.

Walking among the Sutlers (for non-Civil War folks, these are the merchants that trailed armies, selling them the wares they did not get from the Army), the sounds of a fife and drum unit demonstrating their military purpose could be heard wafting among the smells of kettle corn and other modern concessions. Certainly an unusual juxtaposition of vintage and contemporary! The care and detail the living historians take to present both military and civilian life in the Civil War is inspiring. These musicians range in age from elderly to juvenile and are as serious about their reproduction period pieces as any musician is about their modern instrument.

The earthen dam constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect the village from flooding provided terrific theater seating for both demonstrations of artillery and cavalry fighting and the actual battle itself. A demonstration by the Battery A, 1st Ohio Statehouse was a special treat, as the highly polished bronze cannon is one of those on display of the ground of the Ohio Statehouse [see previous entry]. On Saturday night of the event weekend a dusk fire-off was held that provided the equivalent of a fireworks show for spectators. From a distance of about 30 miles I could hear the cannonade in my Stark County home!

It is a rare treat to watch a cavalry demonstration, as re-enacting is expensive enough to do as an infantry unit but a unit with horses brings a new level of cost and care [see previous entry]. The 6th Ohio Cavalry portrays both Yankee and Rebel units and demonstrated several cavalry tactics and manuevers, which was no small feat on the slope of a hill and a small plateau rife with gopher holes.

It is amazing to see how well trained the horses are and can only imagine and the sheer number of these animals used during the actual war. The unit spokesperson who led the public through the demonstration while on his own horse equated the use of the animal to how we treat our cars today. Cavalry horses were worked hard and not necessarily treated any better than the old beat up Chevy in the driveway. It was also neat to see just how much fun the re-enactors had in engaging each other in this demonstration.

The terrain offered a great, albeit condensed, view of how many of the battles during the Civil War played out. A Union skirmish line took on advancing Confederates, who wove through a field of goldenrod to reach the battlefield. The open fields offered a great vantage point to see the tactics of the time. Cannon exploded from the hilly and wooded slopes surrounding the field, adding an air of authenticity from a visual, acoustic and aromatic standpoint.

It is a combination that needs to be experienced: the authentic village hosting authentic living historians. Although it occurs bi-annually, it is well worth a day, if not two, to wander the village, order some bread from the still operating bakery, spend a night in a historic bed and breakfast and absorb all that was during a time very long ago when advancing armies engaged each other not far from a crossroads in America.

- J.

Zoaring above it all

In 1817 a group of German separatists took root in Tuscarawas County not far from the river of the same name. They formed a commune and until 1898 successfully separated not only from the German Lutheran religion, but also somewhat from American society as well. A visit to Zoar Village (see right, click to enlarge) brings you into a world almost unto itself, even in the modern 21st century.

Located about 45 minutes south of Akron and not far off I-77 (map), Zoar offers a glimpse of life in the 1800s that was a simpler time fraught with long hours of hard work. But it is a village that sheds the contemporary for its history. Residents are allowed to operate stores on their property, but only if they reside at that location. It increases the dedication of those who live there to the village and the care is evident. There are no rundown, blighted old properties in the village.

Due to Ohio Historical Society budget cuts, legislated by the Ohio General Assembly and done at a deep and lasting manner, the extent of guided tours may be limited and inconsistent with printed or web-posted literature. A guided tour offers a costumed interpreter detailing the nature of the Zoar commune as well as the individual jobs at various buildings.

House #1 is a large brick building that was originally intended for the aged as they moved to a later stage in life. A senior assisted living facility as it were. However stubborn seniors of the day tended to refuse moving into the facility. Wide entries and hallways with extremely high ceilings give a vast open feel to the rooms. Each room today displays various aspects of the Zoarites culture, from baby carriages, clothing, typical bedrooms to even musical instruments including a massive pipe organ. Through a breezeway the kitchen and laundry facilities can be found (see left, click to enlarge).

Several of the homes around Zoar feature clay roofing tiles that were kilned in Zoar (see right, click to enlarge). They have a striking resemblance to cedar shakes. Bricks were also kilned in the village and many pottery items were made there as well. Zoar was quite the self-sufficient commune in many senses of the word.

Central to the town are the gardens, which have religious symbolism in the planning (see left, click to enlarge). At the center tree rises to heaven as the Tree of Life or Christ, surrounded by hedge represnting heaven and 12 others trees which symbolize the 12 apostles. Paths lead from outside the gardens to the center and are representative of the paths people walk in life. At the edge of the garden is an innovative greenhouse, including a furnace that piped in heat via terra cotta pipes from a basement to the main greenhouse.

The bakery still operates on weekends and the freshly baked bread is a local favorite and quite popular (see right, click to enlarge). A large and smaller oven originally produced hundreds of loaves a day. Frequently on their way home children would stop into the bakery to bring home bread to the family. At times it was even passed out the front windows.

Bread making was often a slow process, as a Starter was created and fermented (see left, click to enlarge) many months for the sourdough bread that is so popular in the village. Starters were often begun in January. Men often also cut wood in January as it was the time sap was lowest in the tree (making it easier to cut) and would dry faster for use later in the year.

The blacksmith and tinsmith were two of the more highly skilled trades operating in the village. The tinship shop today (see right, click to enlarge) is loaded with a plethora of highly specific tools for various types of products. While seemingly frail and flexible, many of the tools added strength and durability to the product making it lightweight and built for longevity.


The Springs building (see left, click to enlarge) is one of the locations tin products can be seen as used. Spring water was fed into the room below and behind the town's general store and into pools that drained very slowly. Milk from the adjacent dairy was placed in tin containers in the Spring building to cool and to have the cream skimmed for use in making butter. Each house number was stamped on the tin container denoting the family's milk for the day.

Preservation efforts turned the run-down, decrepit dairy building into a beautifully restored masterpiece over several years between 1988 and 1992. Today the Zoar Community Association preserves and educates about the time, place and principles of the Zoarites.

While some buildings, such as the Treasurers House (see first photo of this essay), are privately owned and not part of a guided tour, others are open to the public regardless of any touring. The former Town Hall (and Firehouse) houses, on separate floors, a learning center and museum that includes Zoar's involvement in the building of the Ohio and Erie Canal through the region (see rleft, click to enlarge).

While state funding continues to decline and slow to a trickle, here's hoping that Zoar continues to soar as a living piece of the history of Ohio for the future to understand how the past created the present.

- J.