Side A: This village was founded in 1830 on the banks of the Blanchard River by Asa M. Lake, son of Asa Lake, veteran of the Revolution and War of 1812 and first settler of Delaware Township. The town and river are named for an early French pioneer, Jean Jacques Blanchard, who resided among area Shawnee Indians during the period 1770 to 1802. The Methodist Episcopal Church, first religious organization in Hancock Co., was founded in Delaware Twp. in 1828.
Side B: John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, established a nursery on lots 51, 52, and 53, in 1834. Mt. Blanchard Union School, organized in 1868, was the first high school in the county outside Findlay. The large brick home at the town’s south end was built by Maylangton Hamlin in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Dean Cunningham donated land for Island Park in 1932, which, with community cooperation, has been a constant source of enjoyment and pride.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.