Kidron, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in southwestern Sugar Creek Township
Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, Ohio
Sugar Creek Township is one of the sixteen townships of Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 6,502 people in the township, 4,897 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
, Wayne County
Wayne County, Ohio
Wayne County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, and is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. As of the 2010 census, the population was 114,520. Its county seat is Wooster....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
It is home to an outdoor flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
held Thursdays and Saturdays, weather permitting, and, since 1929, a retail store
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
called Kidron Town and Country, which includes a grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, butcher's shop
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, and dry goods
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
. Because Kidron is unincorporated, it has no police force; police protection is the responsibility of the Wayne County Sheriff's Department.
Kidron attracts many of its visitors for its diverse tool shops, especially Lehman's Hardware
Lehman's Hardware
Lehman's Hardware is a retail store located in Kidron, Ohio. Originally specializing in products used by the Amish community, it has become known worldwide as a source for non-electric appliances. The facility bills itself as a "Low Tech Superstore" and a "Purveyor of Historical Technology." It...
, which sells Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
-made goods and serves a wide range of customers from local Amish to tourists from around the world.
There is an underground water spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
in Kidron, and a protected forest
Protected forest
A protected forest is a specific term to denote forests with some amount of legal, and / or constitutional protection in certain countries, besides being a generic term to denote forests where the habitat and resident species are legally accorded protection and are protected from any further...
is located nearby. Surrounding countryside is largely used for farming
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
.
A public museum is located in Kidron at the Kidron Sonnenberg Heritage Center. Besides displays of local historic items, the museum includes a library and a database of genealogical information for research particularly related to those of Swiss heritage and Amish and Mennonite background that settled in the Kidron area in the early 19th century. The museum is operated by the non-profit Kidron Community Historical Society.
In addition to operating the museum, the Kidron Community Historical Society is developing a cultural heritage project named Sonnenberg Village, that will demonstrate Mennonite life and culture in the 19th Century. Being built in Kidron on a five-acre tract of land, Sonnenberg Village will consist of historical buildings from the time period, and a Welcome Center for which the State of Ohio appropriated $200,000 for its construction.
History
Kidron was originally settled in 1819 by a group of Swiss Mennonites wishing to escape religious persecution and poor farming conditions in their homeland in the Sonnenberg area of Switzerland near the Jura MountainsJura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
. In Switzerland, the Swiss Mennonites were referred to as Die Stillen im Lande meaning the quiet people in the country. They originally named their new home Sonnenberg, but this later this gave way to the present day name of Kidron.
Education
A small public elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
, for students in the first three grades, is located in Kidron and is part of the Dalton
Dalton, Ohio
Dalton is a village in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,605 at the 2000 census. Dalton is served by a branch of the Wayne County Public Library.-Geography:Dalton is located at ....
school system. Central Christian School
Central Christian High School (Kidron, Ohio)
Central Christian School is a private high school, middle school, and elementary school in Kidron, Ohio. It is a coed school, and they serve 232 students in grades 5 through 12. It is the first Mennonite high school in Ohio...
is a private K-12 school owned and operated by the Ohio Conference of the Mennonite Church
Mennonite Church USA
The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century...
.
Popular culture
In the January 26, 2009 episode of the Fox televisionFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, a city named "Kidron, Ohio" was the location of a foiled terrorist attack. The city depicted in the show was many times larger than the actual Kidron; its name was chosen because of its obscurity.