Happy 200th birthday to Sandyville: the town that moved
By Scott Daniels
July 10, 2015
1004
The small, unincorporated community of Sandyville, in Sandy Township at the northeastern edge of Tuscarawas County, has a rich history that belies its small population of only 368. The village will mark its 200th birthday Saturday, July 25 as part of a series of community events that have been held throughout the year.
Representatives of the Ohio Historical Society will be on hand as a historic marker is unveiled at noon to begin festivities that are scheduled through 6 p.m. Proclamations from the governors office and the Ohio Senate will also be presented. Bicentennial Committee member Jo Anne McKinney said the unveiling will be followed at 1 p.m. by a bicycle and pet parade, then at 1:30 p.m. old-fashioned games will be offered for children, with vintage toys on hand.
A play written in the early 1950s by Dorothy Nixon Hodgdon that details the history of Sandyville will be performed at 2 p.m. and again at 2:30 p.m. Hodgdon was born in Tuscarawas County in 1905 and would go on to author The Hall Heritage: A record of the family of Edward James Entricon Hall and Catherine Elizabeth Schroeder Hall in 1986 and Zoar: The little town that thought it could in 1993. She passed away in 1998 in Wooster and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Sandyville.
Its about 20 minutes long, so theyll perform it twice, McKinney said. The play will be presented at the Church of the Open Door, located in the former Lutheran church, at 10984 Sandyville Road NE.
A chicken barbecue rounds out the day from 3 to 6 p.m. Advance tickets for the barbecue are $10 and are available until July 10 by calling Phillis Crone at 330-866-9725. On the day of the event, tickets are $12. Childrens barbecue tickets for children under 8 are $5. McKinney said the chicken barbecue harkens back to the towns traditions, as annual chicken barbecues were held for many years.
Narrated tours of the village will also be conducted, pointing out homes that have been moved.
Sandyville spent more than a 100 years at a different location. The town included 58 homes, town hall, a greenhouse, two gas stations, four stores, a barbershop, restaurant, garage, a church and a mill according to a newspaper article published April 8, 1936.
In the 1930s, the efforts of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District to control flooding in the area created numerous levies and reservoirs, putting a portion of the village in the path of total flooding after construction of the Bolivar Dam.
Residents were given the choice of abandoning the town or moving it to higher ground, McKinney said. They chose to move it. So more than 30 buildings, including homes, the town hall and stores were moved to the present location. I look out my window at home and every building I see has been moved.
McKinney helped put together a book on the history of the town, titled Sandyville, the Town That Moved. The book has sold out, but a fresh run of 50 copies will be available for sale at the bicentennial event.
McKinney said other events marking the bicentennial include birthday cake at the old gas station, ice cream at the site of Curlys Hardware and music.
