PLAIN CITY 43064

  • Plain City lies along Big Darby Creek, named after a Wyandot Indian Chief of the same name.
  • In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, settlers began moving into the area, and a man named Isaac Bigelow purchased the land and called it Westminster.
  • 1823, the land was resurveyed, and the name was changed from Westminster to Pleasant Valley. Over the next few decades, six additions were made to the town’s limits. Finally, in 1851, the town’s name was changed to Plain City because there was another town named Pleasant Valley in Ohio.
  • It was a tiny settlement until a significant railroad company started passing through around 1850. The town included a newspaper, bank, flour mill, brick planing mill, jewelry store, hotel, carriage and wagon store, four dry goods stores, two harness shops, two blacksmith shops, a boot and shoe store, two wagon shops, three grocery stores, three drug stores, and five churches.
  • The funeral train of Abraham Lincoln passed through the town on its way to Chicago.
  • The strong German heritage of the community shows in many of the town’s businesses.