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The land where Mechancisburg stands today was occupied in prehistoric times by the Mound Builders, and later by the Shawnee.  This area of the Northwest Territory was part of the Virginia Military District, so many early settlers came here from Virginia to claim parcels awarded to them for service.

In the spring of 1811, General Hull marched his army through the southwest part of Ohio, establishing forts and military roads on their way to Detroit, where the War of 1812 was brewing.  According to Joseph Ware's 1917 History of Mechanicsburg, two soldiers in Hull's army became acquainted with members of the Shawnee tribe living along the Dabra (now called Darby Creek) and decided that they'd return to the area after their army service was done.

Ware's account says that John Kain and the chief mechanic of the expedition, Captain Culver met Chief Ohito and his daughter, Wawanita, and soon Captain Culver and the Shawnee princess had fallen in love.  As Hull's army prepared to move on to Detroit, Culver and Kain vowed to return to the banks of the Dabra after the war.  Legend has it that Wawanita agreed to wait for her mechanic.

After Hull's defeat in the War of 1812, the two discharged soldiers did return with plans for settling in the area planning a town, and, in Culver's case, settling down with the lovely Wawanita.  Ware says that although the Shawnee village had been moved, the chief's daughter often returned to the place to watch for her soldier and one day they were reunited.

Thus it was on August 14th, 1814, in the unbroken forest along the banks of the Darby that Captain Culver, at the request of John Kain, laid out the plat for a new town with 28 in-lots and 16 out-lots.  Culver and Kain called in Wawanita to suggest a name for the town.  She suggested "Mechanic", her first English word.  They immediately added 'Burg' and the new town of Mechanicsburg was born.  The place where Chief Ohito's teepee had stood became the site of a log cabin built by John Owen, who operated a general store and bank  here.  Later, the same site held the Darby Hotel, and also housed the Anderson Inn.  In 2002, a portion of the old hotel was renovated and restored and is now the site of "Beans and Cream" coffee shop.  At the top of the hill, alone the army's path to Fort Urbana, Kain built a double cabin for himself.  The lot is where the Finkle residence now stands.  New settlers were drawn by Darby Creek and Mill Run, which furnished power for the grist and lumber mill.

History Continued ›

• Addison White
• James Roy Hopkins
• Joseph E. Wing
• Mechanicsburg United Methodist Church
• Second Baptist Church

A listing of sites on the National Register of Historical Places from Mechanicsburg and Champaign County.