Circleville Ohio really was once a town shaped in a circle

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I will be blogging from a farm in Circleville Ohio for the next few days. Circleville is an interesting little town that hosts a pumpkin festival each year.



History of Circleville

Circleville was unique among early American towns, built to conform to a circular prehistoric earthworks. When Pickaway County was formed in 1810 there were no existing settlements that seemed suitable for a county seat. Therefore, a new town was laid out within the ancient's "circle" on the high bank east of the Scioto River. It's streets radiated from an octagonal courthouse in the center of the circle.
Two communities existed near Circleville prior to its being laid out as the county seat. Jefferson and Livingston ceased to exist several years after Circleville was designated the seat of government in 1811. When the Ohio Canal reached Circleville, the shape of the town within the circle proved to be a hindrance, and in 1838 a group of enterprising businessmen began to "square the circle". Over the next 20 years the job was accomplished and all traces of the ancient earthworks disappeared.