Trail Ridden & Broke

After an aborted attempt at settlement in 1794, the hill overlooking the Horseshoe Bend of the Licking River just downriver from the present city was fortified and settled c.  1800 by Archibald Prater, Ebenezer Hanna, and others. Originally known as Prater's Fort, the community had become Licking Station by the time of its first post office in 1839. In 1849, the post office was moved to the community at site of the present city and renamed Adamsville after local landowner William "Uncle Billy" Adams. In addition to his farmland, Adams operated a hotel, a gristmill, a tannery and a blacksmith at the new location.