The earliest settlers in the region, two Moravian missionaries and the wife of one arrived on April 24, 1801 at the present site of Brookville. They encountered several Native American tribes, notable the Miami, the Delaware, and the Illinois. The hills and valleys along the Whitewater River were favorite resorts for hunting and warring, and numerous relics are still found. Traces of prehistoric Indian mounds, known for their archaeological significance, can still be found in some parts of the valley.

They could not know, as we do now, that they were on the "Dearborn Highland"—a part of Indiana and Ohio where upheavals within the Earth’s crust forced rocks from the earliest geologic ages upward. They may well have been puzzled by the unusual fossil formations found in the rocks along the streams. Nor did they know that ancient Mound Builders lived in this region before the Indians who greeted them.

But the newcomers were quite sure that they were safely within the "right to settle" when the Native Americans abandoned their claims on much of the region as early as 1795, following the signing of the Treaty of Greenville. On May 25, 1803, Benjamin McCarty signed for the first land entry in the county—a site in New Trenton. Amos Butler from Pennsylvania soon followed suit. (His son, William Wallace Butler, was the first white child born in Brookville.) Industry in the form of paper mills, grist mills and a bank sprung up, and on August 8, 1808, the original plot of Brookville was duly recorded in the Court House at Lawrenceburg. Consequently, the county began its corporate existence on February 1, 1811 as the seventh county in the Indiana Territory—and named in honor of Benjamin Franklin.

Still, the flood of pioneers truly began after the War of 1812, when thousands came on the "horns of a crescent moon," up the Whitewater. Many were in search of religious freedom.

According to the “State Gazetteer” a publication of the time, by 1817 Brookville had over 80 homes, one gristmill, two sawmills, two fulling-mills, three carding machines, one printing office, one silver smith, two saddlers, two cabinet-makers, one hatter, two tailors, four boot and shoemakers, two tanners and curriers, one chair-maker, one cooper, five taverns, seven stores, a jail, a market house and a brick court house.

During the early expansion days, Brookville became the cultural and political center of Indiana. During the period of 1825 through 1840, every governor of Indiana called Brookville his home. However, following the transfer of the State Land Office from Brookville to Indianapolis in the 1820s, the growth and development of the Whitewater Valley stagnated.

Prosperity arrived again in 1834 when the construction of the Whitewater Canal was initiated. In order to ship their commerce to the world, these pioneers established an impressive 76-mile horse-drawn canal and lock system that cost several million dollars to build, and ran from Cambridge City through Metamora to Lawrenceburg. The canal was the most important means of transportation of the period. The 80-foot long Duck Creek aqueduct was built in 1848 to carry the canal 16 feet above Duck Creek, and was once featured in Ripley’s "Believe It or Not" as the only working wooden aqueduct structure still in the United States. Because of the Canal, the towns of Laurel, Cedar Grove, and Metamora were founded in the Whitewater Valley. By the 1860s the canal was no longer used for transportation due to the development of the railroad.

Many famous people have called Brookville their home. Indiana governors James Brown Ray, David Wallace and Noah Noble, known as the "Brookville Triumvirate," in that they all had lived in the town of Brookville in Franklin County, Indiana and served consecutive terms in the office of Governor of Indiana. Noble and former governor Ray were political enemies. General Lew Wallace, author of such classics as Ben Hur, was born here, as well as painters J. Otis Adams, William Forsythe, T.C. Steele, and Otto Starke. They set up a studio/art colony in the 19-room house which today is known as The Hermitage (currently a bed and breakfast). It’s one of the properties in the town that qualified Brookville to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1965 the Corps of Engineers started construction of the 5260 acre Brookville Lake. Fairfield was the only town in the Whitewater River Valley, so the town was inundated. There were attempts to move the town, but most folks just moved elsewhere. All of the cemeteries were moved to one location east of the former town site.

Much of this information was acquired by the village profile. www.villageprofile.com/indiana/brookville/brookville1.html#history

Settlers needed to get deeper into the Midwest because there was money to be made- the thriving east coast cities had a lot of difficulty getting adequate supplies of timber to build the rapidly growing towns and cities along the atlantic coast- timber that was plentiful deep in the relatively new states of Indiana and Ohio.

The need to get people and supplies into the interior, and get timber out of the virgin forests is what fueled the canal building fever. One canal boat could move the same load as four or five covered wagons, and move it faster and more reliably with fewer people and horse.

Metamora, centrally located along the proposed route of the Whitewater Canal, was founded by canal planners and builders as a place to call home while undertaking the years-long canal construction.

The popularity of the canal boat transportation system was diminished dramatically by the invention and development of the railroad, which could move infinitely larger loads much faster than the canal boat. The railroad company liked to locate along the canal route where possible because the raised embankment prepared originally as a towpath for the canal boat horses proved to be quite satisfactory for laying rails, thus making railroad construction faster since they did not have to do as much earthwork. It’s interesting that the canal boats helped accelerate their own demise by transporting the rails along the canal for railroad construction.

The Whitewater Canal did not fade into oblivion with the appearance of the railroad because the canal was important for reasons other than transportation by boat. The second half of the 19th century saw the growth in importance of the canal as a hydraulic water source to power factories and mills along its length. Many mills flourished along the canal in and near Metamora – so many that an area on the eastern edge of Metamora became known as Millville.

Commercial enterprises supported by the canal hydraulic power supply kept the town of Metamora occupied with the provision of supplies and services needed to support the people who worked the mills and related businesses well into the first part of the twentieth century. By the 1930’s and 1940’s, the development of rural electrification technology was coming of age, spelling the eventual demise of Metamora as an industrial center.

As Metamora industry faded, the town became mostly a sleepy “bedroom community”, with a school, general store and a few other small businesses. There were also a number of local residents who had developed a deep appreciation of the history of the town and strong desire to preserve that history.

A few of these people were well connected and engineered the purchase and turnover to the state of Indiana, in 1947, of the tract of land now known as the Whitewater State Historic District. Run by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the state completely restored the Laurel Feeder dam that feeds the canal, and several key structures along the canal, including the Grist Mill, Aqueduct, Lock 25, and a canal boat.

In the early 1970’s, the natural scenic beauty of this part of southeast Indiana and the quaint village of historic homes and buildings began drawing artists and craftsmen, and thus, tourists. Metamora began to grow their reputation in the tourist industry as a destination, with the state historic site, the craftsmen and unique shops, and the Whitewater Valley Railroad (operating from Connersville) as the major attractions.

In 1973, the west end of Metamora was platted and designated as Duck Creek Crossing, an area “designed to be developed as a replica of an early 19th Century Shopping Area within a Midwestern Frontier Town, circa 1837-1865”. Many historic buildings were purchased at other locations and moved to Duck Creek Crossing, and some new buildings were built designed to give the appearance of original. Most of the remainder of the buildings in the center of town are all original. Written by Steve Collier 3-2007. www.metamoraindiana.com

The town proudly preserves its religious, cultural, and architectural heritage. The old stone and brick structures, clapboard houses, tin facades and cornices, bilingual street signs, and the combination of shops and residences attest to the Old World influence. The settlement rapidly took on a German flavor with the immigration of German Catholics from Cincinnati. Incorporated in 1869, Oldenburg is called the "Village of Spires" because of its churches and religious educational institutions. The huge barn, seen on left when entering the outskirts of the town, is called the Sister's Cow Barn, referring to its former function when operated by members of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg. The barn is reported to be the largest in the county.

IND 229 becomes Indiana Ave. (Indiana Allee) and soon turns into Main St. (Haupt Strasse), which leads to the Immaculate Conception Convent on the right, the mother house of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, founded by Austrian-born Mother Theresa Hackelmeier in 1851. The present convent buildings dates from 1901, and the next door Chapel of the Immaculate Conception dates from 1891. The Franciscan Sisters serve schools, hospitals, parishes, and missions. Their academy for girls in Oldenburg was founded in 1885. The Holy Family Church, across the street from the convent, at the southeast corner of Main and Pearl Streets (Perlen Strasse), was the third church built by the Alsatian-born Rev. Franz Joseph Rudolph (1813-1866), pastor of Oldenburg beginning in 1844. The present church with a steeple rising 187 ft. was constructed in 1861. Father Rudolph, who is buried beneath the Holy Family sanctuary also built a stone church in 1846 that later became part of the former Franciscan Monastery complex adjoining Holy Family Church to the south around the corner of Main and Pearl Streets. The three-story brick monastery building, which was constructed in 1894, was closed in 1981 and demolished in 1986. At the north end of Pearl St., is the Holy Family Parish Cemetery and the Immaculate Conception Convent Cemetery and shrine. The convent cemetery is easily distinguished by its rows of simple white crosses and a fieldstone chapel. The parish cemetery is noted for its unusual iron grave markers. Return south on Pearl St., noting part of the convent complex on the left.

At the northwest corner of Main and Pearl Streets stands Hackman's General Store, erected in 1861-62. It features the town's most ornate tin work, fashioned by the Prussian-born master tinsmith Casper Gaupel. Directly south on Pearl St., on the right is King's Tavern. The taverns door lintel of tin, of which the word "Saloon" is and integral part, is a Guapel creation. The Town Hall, between King's Tavern and Pigtail Alley (Schweineschanz Gasse), was built in 1878 by the Eagle Fire Company, which later turned the building over to the town. A marker in front records the history of Oldenburg. Next to the Town Hall is the stone Huegal Tavern (c.1845), which bears an eye-catching door lintel with a moon and sun. South one block to the left on Water St.(Wasser Strasse) stands the Waechter house embellished with and elaborately carved unsupported balcony. The Cradle Shop, across the street, erected in 1845, is where Eberhard Waechter handcrafted grain cradles and spinning wheels. Oldenburg is clearly a diamond in the rough. The community has rallied around its unique sense of history and individual efforts to preserve her heritage are well underway. A trip to Oldenburg truly is a trip back in time. Written by Eric Munchel on 03-01-02