• Home
• Contact
• About Us

2010 Guide Now Available!

25 Amazing Facts About Tuscarawas County

#1 - "Tuscarawas", for which the county, river and village are named, is an Indian word meaning "open mouth" or "mouth of the river".

#2 - Tuscora Park in New Philadelphia is home to a 1928 Spillman Carousel and many other children’s rides.

#3 - Dennison, Ohio was dubbed "Dreamsville" by the over 1.5 million World War II servicemen who were served at the Depot’s canteen. The history of the Canteen is on display at the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum.

#4 - The Christian Indian translation of the Mohican-founded village of Gnadenhutten is "huts of grace". Gnadenhutten was the site of one of the most brutal massacres of Christian Indians in history

#5 - Ohio’s first white child was born on July 4, 1773 in Gnadenhutten, a town that is also the site of a Frank Lloyd Wright home.

#6 - The first Christian settlement in Ohio was Schoenbrunn Village, founded by Moravian missionaries in what is now New Philadelphia. Reconstructed cabins exist on the village site today.

#7 - "Schoenbrunn" is a German word meaning "beautiful spring".

#8 - Zoar Village, founded in 1817, was a communal society that lived successfully for over 80 years and was founded by Joseph Bimeler. Today the original buildings and garden may toured.

#9 - Fort Laurens (near Bolivar) was the only Revolutionary War Fort built in what is now Ohio. A museum exists on the site today.

#10 - The Ohio Swiss Festival in Sugarcreek is one of the largest and oldest festivals in the state.

#11 - Paul Green’s "Trumpet in the Land", which tells the story of the Moravian Missionaries and their Christian Deleware Indian converts is Ohio’s first and longest running outdoor drama.

#12 - Uhrichsville, Ohio was once known as the "clay center of the world".

#13 - Newcomerstown, Ohio is home to baseball legend, "Cy" Young, legendary Ohio State Football coach, Woody Hayes, and Artist and Broadway Theatre designer, Norman Bel Geddes. Their memorabilia can be viewed at the Temperance Tavern Museum.

#14 - Ernest "Mooney" Warther whose amazing carvings can be seen at the Warther Museum in Dover Ohio, was declared the "World’s Master Carver" by fellow international carvers.

#15 - The first state road in Ohio ran from Millersburg, Holmes County to Port Washington, Tuscarawas County.

#16 - Sugarcreek is not only known for Swiss Cheese making, but also for brick-making.

#17 - The business district of New Philadelphia was laid out as a replica of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the New Philadelphia post office is a replica of Independence Hall.

#18 - The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, headquartered in New Philadelphia, operates ten lakes for both flood control and recreation, including Atwood, Tappan and Clendening Lakes.

#19 - At the Alpine Hills Museum in Sugarcreek, you can see everything from an 1895 firehouse to a complete replica of an 1890 cheese house.

#20 - The word "Zoar" means "Refuge" (The place that Lot fled to when Sodom and Gormorrah was destroyed).

#21 - The first Protestant sermon west of the Alleghenies was delivered at Newcomerstown (then named "Gekelamukpechunk", home of Chief Netawatwes, who later took the name "King Newcomer").

#22 - Jeremiah E. Reeves was a wealthy industrialist in the Dover area; his family’s Victorian Home may be toured courtesy of the Dover Historical Society.

#23 - The 1913 flood of the Tuscarawas River marked the end of the Canal era for the area as well as doing massive damage to the city of Dover. Pictures and memorabilia from the canal era as well as the flood may be viewed at Union Hall in Port Washington, Ohio.

#24 - Sharon Moravian Church at Tuscarawas is home to a Christmas Putz. A "Putz" is a 14' by 8' display of the town of Bethlehem on the night of the birth of Christ which includes figures hand carved by artists in Oberammergau, Germany; live moss; driftwood; sand; rocks and live plants. A 25 minute taped narration with music tells the story of Christmas.

#25 - Tuscarawas County is one of the northern-most Appalachian counties in Ohio.