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