Timeline
- 1820 Chosen as County Seat for Shelby County
- 1830 Population: 240
- 1834 Incorporated as Village
- 1834 Population: 500 to 600
- 1837 Canal opened through City
- 1856 Railroads introduced
- 1865 First Fire Department established. (Essentially a
bucket brigade
)
After Water Works was built, improvements were made - 1870 Population: 2,808
- 1873 First waterworks in operation (mostly for fire protection)
- 1877 First sidewalks installed (some areas around town square)
- 1887 Natural gas introduced
- 1890 Electric lights (usually 1 or 2 lights in businesses only)
Residential lighting came later - 1892 First telephones installed
- 1896 First graded streets
- 1897 Incorporated as a city
- 1900 Population: 5,688
- 1903 Main, Ohio, Court, and Poplar streets paved
- 1903 First sewers installed
- 1903 Western Ohio Interurban Lines opened. (Closed in the 1930s)
- 1939 New Municipal Building built
Previously City offices were housed in Monumental Building - 1950 All city streets have by now been paved
- 1956 Charter government established
- 1957 Income Tax approved
- 1990 Population: 18,710
- 2000 Population: 20,211
- 2010 Population: 21,229
- 2020 Population: 20,589