City of Shelby History Ten Essential Facts from Shelby’s History
1. Prior to white settlement, various Native Americans called
the Ohio country their home. They include the Shawnee, the
Delaware, the Mohican, and the Wyandot tribes. 2. In April 1818,
Stephen & Sarah Marvin and her mother, Mrs. Deborah Moyer,
arrived from Connecticut. Other early settlers were Mr. & Mrs.
Eli Wilson, Mr. & Mrs. Henry Whitney, and Revolutionary War
veteran James Gamble and his son, John. 3. Gamble’s Mill Post
Office was established in 1826. It was named after the horse-
powered grist mill around which the fledgling community grew. 4.
On June 26, 1834, James Gamble had laid out “the Town of
Shelby.” He named it after Gen. Isaac Shelby, a hero of the
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and first governor of
Kentucky. Lot No. 1 was located at the southwest corner of West
Main and South Gamble Streets. 5. The first train arrived in
Shelby in 1846 on the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad (now
the Ashland Railway). Shelby Junction is