City Founding

On May 9, 1808, the “plan of the town of Delaware” was filed, or  “platted,” marking the real beginning of the present city of Delaware.

The city will commemorate this day with a special observance at City Hall open to the public.

Before frontiersmen arrived the Delaware, Mingo, and Shawnee tribes lived in the area and two settlements were established by the Delaware where the future town of Delaware would develop.  One village occupied the ground around the east end of present-day William Street and the other was at the west end, near the CSX rail tracks.  The Delaware raised four hundred acres of corn within the town limits, demonstrating the value of the cleared land for agricultural purposes. Mingoes lived in a small village in “horse shoe bottom” north of the town of Delaware and also grew corn.

In 1804 Colonel Moses Byxbe arrived from Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  He had acquired a large number of land grants which were part of the United States Military lands, given in payment to Revolutionary War soldiers.  In May 1808, Byxbe laid out a town on the east bank of the Olentangy River but a few days later changed his mind about the most suitable location and platted the town on the west bank.

1808 Plat of Delaware