Shawnee had its start in 1872 when the railroad was extended to that point. The town was platted by investor T. J. Davis on the former Israel Gordon farm, and incorporated as a village in 1874.
The village was named after the Shawnee Indians, and a post office has been in operation at Shawnee since 1872.
Fueled by coal, clay, and oil discoveries in the region, Shawnee quickly became a bustling boomtown. Its population swelled to nearly 4,000 residents by the early 1900s, drawing immigrant miners from Wales, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. The downtown flourished with hotels, banks, saloons, and a variety of shops—earning it the nickname “the Main Street of the Little Cities of Black Diamonds.”
Passages that mention Shawnee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
1883 history perry county, ohio1883 · page 303Read the page →
Read the text
the days when tobacco was raised it was taken to Rehoboth or Rushville, the principal tobacco markets. The building of the railroad changed all this, and Saltlick, with numerous other improvements, has a railroad station at Shawnee, and another at McCuneville ; and Shawnee is a better market, for most country products, than Cincinnati or Columbus. New Straitsville, on another railroad, is but a short distance off.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1883 history perry county, ohio1883 · page 322Read the page →
Read the text
town, Indiana, two years; Ironton, Ohio, one year; Bellaire, Ohio, seven months ; Ashland, Kentucky, four years, when and where Charles began work at plate rolls in a rolling mill, remaining about two years, from where he came to Shawnee, Ohio, where he engaged as a striker at Fannie Furnace blacksmith shop for about one year, when he went to Ashland, Kentucky, remaining about six weeks, and again returned to Shawnee, and to the same shop, working about thirteen months, at which time he engaged as fireman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sundaycreek, went up through Monroe township following the stream known as Indian Creek west to its source, by way of Buckingham and Hemlock, passed through the low "gap" to Shawnee where they had a village. The stream at Shawnee is known as Shawnee Run and the town and stream stand as monuments to the redman in Perry county. It is plain why this route was selected. At McCuneville is the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Shawnee, the metropolis of the county began its existence in 1872. It was laid out by T. J. Davis. McCuneville really dates back to 1829 when the original salt works were erected. From that time until its platting in 1873 by the McCunes it received the name of the " Salt Works." When the McCunes built their extensive salt plant here, it was intended to name the town Salina, but there was already one town
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
