The Heritage Home Association awards plaque
Chuck and June Knaack’s received a plaque from the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association for their home at 199 E. Third St. in Zoar.
Restoring the old, the vintage or the history has been a favorite pastime of recent famed television programs, but restoration also has impacted the small communities of Tuscarawas County.
One association that finds pleasure in restoring the history of Tuscarawas County is the Heritage Home Association. Formed in 1976, the association dedicates hours of research to discovering the stories hidden beneath the walls of old homes in Tuscarawas County.
According to the association’s vice president of the plaquing committee, Jerry Stoughton, “The Zoar society disbanded in 1898, taking properties that once belonged to the society and dispersing them amongst community members, allowing for a break with communal society.”
The break with communal society is what allowed individual ownership to homes like those being awarded plaques in Zoar.
The next restoration being honored with a plaque was held on Thursday, Dec. 7 at the Emerson Banquet Center in New Philadelphia.
“The Heritage Home Association awards plaques to those whose homes, businesses or other historical locations hold a certain length in maintaining life, whether it be a building that was built during the 19th or 20th century,” Stoughton said.
The current home receiving a plaque is Chuck and June Knaack’s home at 199 E. Third St. in Zoar. The couple bought the home in 1987.
Chuck Knaack expressed his gratitude, stating that he was honored to receive a plaque from the Heritage Homes Association.
“This is the first Heritage Homes plaque we are receiving, but our home was featured in Country Living Magazine during the 1980s,” he said.
Stoughton said the Knaack family also had received a plaque from the federal government, placing it on the National Register of Historic Places.
The plaque reads, “This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior circa 1820.”
The Knaack family spent five years restoring the home. “We put in original paneling, purchased Zoar doors and saved all the brick we could for restoration. My wife designed a whole kitchen,” Chuck Knaack said.
To fully discover their home’s history, the Knaacks went to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. to dig up records about the history of Zoar.
David and Amanda Beiter are the assumed owners in 1898, standing in front of the home pictured in the photograph. The home was said to have had 10 ownership changes up to the time the Knaacks purchased it.
In the past the Knaack family opened their home to visitors coming to see the town of Zoar and its rich history.
The association has awarded plaques to churches, barns and even the Quaker Cinema, located in New Philadelphia.
The Reeve’s mansion is one of the historical homes to be given a plaque, built during the 1870s.
Interestingly the oldest home to date to receive a plaque is the Jeff and Susan Miller home on Wooster Avenue in Dover, which was built during the 1830s.
The association finds great value in preserving history, and the society’s webpage says, “Historic preservation and restoration initiatives nationwide have reversed years of deterioration and decay and continue to yield economic benefits that surpass those created by such alternative investments as infrastructure and new construction.”
Many of those paybacks for the community include stabilization of neighborhoods, heritage tourism and enhancement of community pride, among others.
Tuscarawas County may be small, but its community members have their hands on restoration without the need of a spotlight.
For more information about the Heritage Home Association and the criteria to apply for a plaque acknowledging your building’s historical restoration or maintaining, go to www.tuschha.org/, where you can find an extensive list detailing the specification of concern to the association.