Town in Cedar County which has a strong Germanic population. This community is also home to Georg von Podebrad College. (Zoar's name is originally taken from the one of the "Cities of the Plain" to escape destruction when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Lot and his daughter's took refuge there. Also called "Bela." There is also a Zoar, OH, on the Tuscara was river, near New Philadelphia. Formed by a group of separatists who fled Germany in 1817, under J.M. Bimeler. A communistic system was established there and the commune flourished until Bimelers's death. The communistic system was abandoned in 1898. SeeColumbia Viking Desk Encyclopedia pp 1396.)