The village of Berlin–the oldest existing village in Holmes County–was first planned on July 2, 1816, by John Swigert, a native of
Berlin, Germany. Swigert's plan provided for 108 lots to be arrayed along two streets, one north–south and the other east–west. Another early settler, Joseph Troyer, hailed from
Berlin, Pennsylvania, and together Swigert and Troyer bestowed upon the new settlement the shared name of their respective home towns. Berlin is located at a high point in Holmes County, and local legend holds that Swigert chose the site because, thus situated, the town could be more readily defended against Indian attack. A large share of the early settlers of the Berlin area were of
German or
Swiss ancestry and came to Ohio from
Pennsylvania. In 1818, a school was established in Berlin and in 1822 a post office. These were soon followed by
Methodist,
Presbyterian,
Baptist and
Mennonite churches. Later,
Amish settlers began to arrive. Berlin enjoyed commercial and industrial growth, and during the 19th century was home to machine shops, a
foundry, blacksmith shops, a hat factory, hotels, an auction house, and a variety of retail establishments. Berlin was described in 1833 as having 21 residential houses, two stores, two taverns and a physician. Today, Berlin is in the center of Ohio's largest Amish community and is home to the
Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, featuring the Amish and Anabaptist history cyclorama,
Behalt. Ohio has about 56,000 Amish residents, an increase of 60 percent since 1992. ==Geography==