Plain City
What we know today as Plain City was first plotted as a village called Westminster in 1818, but there had been pioneers living here for a number of years dating back to around 1800. Before those first pioneers arrived, the land was populated by a number of Native Americans, but primarily Wyandotte and Mingo. In fact, the land just north of Plain City along the Big Darby was a large camping grounds long used by these Nations.
Plain City is located on the western side of Big Darby Creek, a beautiful river designated as a Scenic River (one of just 4 such designated rivers in Ohio). Its slightly elevated geological position meant this particular piece of ground was drier than the surrounding prairie and important factor early on in the development of the area.
The Big and Little Darby Creeks were named by Lucas Sullivant after an old Indian they found living at the confluence of the Darby Creek and Scioto Rivers just north of Circleville. The old Indian was friendly and enjoyed Sullivant's short stays here despite the fact that there were a number of hostile Native Americans that would have easily killed the surveying party if they came across them. So fearful of this threat, that the surveyors refused to fire their weapons for food, even to the point of starving while they went about their surveying.
Although much of the land surrounding Plain City today is rich farm land, it was anything but that when the early pioneers arrived. Much of the land was considered uninhabitable except along the rivers. The mostly swampy land never seemed to dry out except during the most drought prone seasons. There were islands of trees here and there where large oaks and sycamores grew, but the other lower lands found between the Big and Little Darby Rivers were covered with thickets of briars and mosquito infested waters. It would be almost 70 years before ditches would be constructed that would eventually drain the swampy land leaving behind a rich loamy soil highly prized by farmers.
Despite the swampy land, there was a section on the western side of the Big Darby that was slightly higher in elevation. This land was first occupied by Native Americans that dominated the area around the Big Darby. Most of the early pioneers that moved into the area were well aware that there was a population of Native Americans, but for the most part, they got along without problem. Even during the War of 1812, when Tecumseh was trying to unite the Nations, there was rumors and fears, but few encounters in the area.
One of the early settlers here was Richard Taylor. Taylor traded land that he had in Kentucky for some 300 acres of land along the Big Darby, about a mile south of where Plain City would later be formed. Here he built a cabin and cleared some of the land. He would later note that on some occasions when some of the Native Americans acquired some hard cider or liquors, the women of the village would gather up all the weapons they could and secreted them to Taylor's barn where they would remain until the men sobered up.
Over the next several years, Taylor's brothers would also arrive in the area and become known for their extensive stock herds and Clydesdale draft horses. The brothers would be followed by a number of other settlers that appreciated the value of their land purchase, and could see that in time, the land would be worth even more. After the War of 1812, a number of soldiers settled in the area along with families from the east that felt the land was now safe from possible Indian attacks would be a great place to make a new start without a lot of cost.
In 1814, 17 year old Isaac Bigelow made his way to Ohio from Centre County, Pennsylvania to make payment for land his father had purchased from his uncle and namesake, Isaac Bigelow. The elder Isaac, had served in the American Revolutionary War, and as payment for his service in the war, was given land in the new territory instead of lost wages. Much of Ohio would become occupied under similar circumstances. The land had been designated long before Ohio became a state as the Virginia Military District and was set aside land used as payment to officers. The new government did not have enough money to pay these officers, so instead they were paid with land from the government. This was the land on which Plain City now stands.
After making payment the young Isaac returned to Pennsylvania to continue his medical studies. But about a year later, after marrying Polly Bigelow, his first cousin, they moved to Ohio setting up housekeeping along Trickle Creek in Champaign County. On a trip to Darby Township in 1818, Isaac came to the conclusion that this would be a good place for a town. Here the tree lined banks of the Big Darby made the land a peninsula that could provide plenty of water and water power to a growing village. Mills could be built to process locally grown grains, and to create lumber for building.
Isaac Bigelow immediately began laying out the new town that he called the Village of Westminster, which was a common name found throughout the east coast and in Ohio. This unofficial name was never officially recognized by the state, and as county lines were being finalized during the early 1820s, the name was changed to Pleasant Valley. However, as Ohio's railroad network began making it easier for rapid mail delivery, the postal network sought clarification of official name towns so as to not stop confusion in being able to successfully deliver the mail and in 1877 the name was officially changed from Pleasant Valley to Plain City.
1906 Main Street looking west.
Although the first religious groups in the area were thought to be Methodists, as the 19th Century came to a close, a number of Amish groups had moved into the area. This was a short-lived congregation, but one that left its mark with the popular Dutch Kitchen and Der Dutchmen Restaurant, as well as the many Amish furniture stores located in and around the area. A number of the Amish families moved away from the hustle and bustle associated with Central Ohio and headed for Holmes County where their lifestyle could be fostered without the constant erosion associated with modern living. Today there are still a large number of Amish descendants living in and around Plain City.
In 1902 local farmer Samuel Taylor donated the large Seth Thomas clock for the tower sitting on top of the hardware store owned by Taylor's son-in-law, W.J. Keiser, and M.D. Barto for the town square. Five years later a massive flag pole was installed in the center of the town square.
The village's public park is named Pastime Park, and features baseball and softball diamonds, camping facilities, a 0.25 miles nature walking path, two children's play parks, and the village's public pool: Pastime Pool.
Miami Valley Steam Threshers
Each year, during the month of July, the city hosts the multi-day Miami Valley Steam Threshers show at Pastime Park, which showcases antique tractors, steam threshers and other farm equipment, plus a parade through the center of town.
Stone marker indicating the location of an "Old Indian Trail" erected in 1941.
Native Americans on the Darby Plains
Located along the Big Darby Creek, the area was popular with the Wyandotte and Mingo. Jonathan Alder, who was kidnapped by marauding Indians as a young boy in western Virginia lived in the area.
Although most of the interactions between white settlers and Native Americans were peaceful encounters, there was still a distrust that overshadowed these relations. Even with the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, this uneasy peace was just that: uneasy. Although there were a number of Native Americans that spent part of their time here when the settlers first began arriving, their populations were not enormous. There were small enclaves of various groups throughout Central Ohio as it was in much of the state. In time, with the influx of pioneers, these small enclaves began to cluster together. One such group was located in Upper Sandusky. Here a number of the remaining Wyandottes remained.
Unhappy with the invasion of white settlers in the area and the lack of recognition by the new State of Ohio, Tecumseh began a strong effort at uniting Native Americans, not only in Ohio, but throughout the Midwest and all the way south to Louisiana. When war once again erupted between Great Britain and the United States, Tecumseh sided with the British in hopes that if the British were successful in this war, they would be able to grant permanent ownership of the Midwest to the Native Americans in a duly recognized nation. That plan failed to gain the widespread support among the Native American peoples and when Tecumseh was killed during the war, it came to an abrupt end. Just three decades later all of the Native Americans still living in Ohio were forced to leave their homeland relocate west of the Mississippi River.
