The village was platted by Jacob Harsh on December 26, 1828, along the Steubenville–Canton stage coach line established by Bezaleel Wells. It succeeded as a town until it was bypassed by the Connotton Valley Railroad. When Carroll County was considering a new courthouse in the early 1880s, a local merchant offered ten acres to relocate the county seat, but was unsuccessful.[3][4] A writer in 1920 noted there was "nothing to note a commercial interest at this point – it only remains a memory of the older citizens of the county."[3]