Delaware

The History of Delaware

In 1804, Moses Byxbe arrived in Delaware from Berkshire County, Massachusetts to survey the large number of land grants given to him in payment for his Revolutionary War service. On May 9, 1808, an official plan for the town of Delaware, Ohio was filed. Long before Byxbe’s arrival, the region was occupied by the Delaware Indians who shared the territory with the Mingos and other tribes.

Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States, was born in Delaware and met his future wife, Lucy, at Ohio Wesleyan University. The university was founded in 1842 and the original Mansion House building, known as Elliott Hall, is still situated on campus.

Prior to the Civil War, abolitionists brought the Underground Railway through the area. Camp Delaware, a Civil War-era Union camp, was one of the few which housed African-Americans before their deployment. By 1900, Delaware had its own electric street railway and an interurban rail system connected the city with Columbus and Marion. Delaware’s history is evident in the many 19th century buildings and homes that are still standing today.

The city of Delaware is more than the sum of its parts. It is more than a bedroom community twenty-four miles north of Columbus. It is more than the home of Ohio Wesleyan University, a private independent liberal arts college. It is more than the county seat of Delaware County. It is more than a town of farmers. It is a community whose real value is its intangible desire to maintain its own identity and unique rural culture in the face of metropolitan pressures.