1797 –

The first settlement in the area was made by James and Joshua Ewing and were soon followed by the Mitchells, McCullough, Kirkpatrick, Robinsons, Reeds, Sagers, and others.

1800 –

The oldest burial ground in the township the Mitchell Graveyard, on the north bank of the Big Darby, was established. It was the site of an earlier Native American burial ground.

1803 –

The State of Ohio was founded. At that time, the area of Darby Township was part of Franklin County.

1805 –

George Sager and his grown family of eight children, some married, settled on the Darby below the eventual site of Unionville.

1811 –

Post Road was laid out along the southern edge of the township and was used to transport military stores from Franklinton, a small military post, to Fort Defiance on the Maumee River, and also served as the mail route between Worthington to Urbana. It is currently State Route 161.

Darby Creek on Post Road was the first post office established in the county.  The first postmaster was James Ewing.

1812/1813 –

The first school in Darby Township was taught at a private dwelling near the Mitchell Graveyard in Darby Township.

Sager Cemetery near what became Unionville Center was established.

1820 –

Union County was formed, consisting of three townships: Union, Darby, and Mill Creek.

The Union County Commissioners establish Darby Township, Union County.

1836  –

Noah Orr was born in the Sodom neighborhood (the area around SR 736 and Fladt Road, halfway between Plain City and Marysville.)  He grew to be well over seven feet tall.  T. Barnum recruited him to join his circus.  Colonel Orr had a quarter-sawn oak chair specially built for his great size that traveled with him.  His height (measured at the time of his death) was 7’8”, and 9’ when in costume.  He returned to Marysville where he died in 1882 and is buried in Oakdale Cemetery.  Noah Orr’s chair and a pair of his boots are on display at the Union County Historical Society Museum.

c1840 –

The first of several bridges was constructed near the Mitchell Cemetery, which became known as Bridgeport.  The locality consisted of a group of log houses, a blacksmith shop, and a wagon shop.  A log one-room school was established at the location.

1852 –

Charles Warren Fairbanks was born near Unionville.  He attended public school at Unionville, Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, and Cleveland Law College.  He was elected to the U. S. Senate from Indiana in 1896 and reelected in 1902.  He served as Vice President from 1905-1909 under President Theodore Roosevelt.  Fairbanks Local School District and Fairbanks, Alaska are his namesakes.

1853 –

The Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad opened from Plain City to Urbana crossing Darby Township in a southeast-to-northwest direction. From Penn Central, it became Conrail in 1976.  The tracks were removed in 1986.

1860 –

Loriston W. Fairbanks, father of Charles W. Fairbanks, and his neighbor Alex Robinson hollowed out a 10-foot walnut log and sunk it into the spring on the Fairbanks farm to confine its waters. Called the Fairbanks Spring, it was located on the north bank of the Big Darby near Unionville.  It was a popular gathering spot for picnics and the log was still visible over 100 years later.  The door and sidelights from the Fairbanks home were installed in 1964 for entry to the Union County Historical Society museum.  The museum also displays the banister from the home.

1861 –

Mary Hawn was laid to rest in Mitchell Cemetery.  The headstone inscription reads, “Mary Hawn born March 5, 1791, died June 21, 1861.  Born in a block house where Cincinnati now stands and was the first white female child born in Ohio.

1879 –

Unionville became Unionville Center after the citizens petitioned to have the village incorporated.

1885 –

Darby Township High School was built becoming the first high school in the township.

1898 –

The Post Office at Chuckery was established with Walter Bigelow serving as the first postmaster.

1904 –

Chuckery Special School District was established in the southwest portion of Darby Township and also incorporated portions of Union Township and Madison County.

1914 –

The Bridgeport Iron Bridge, often called the Streng Road Iron Bridge was built.  The 200-foot steel superstructure was constructed by the Central Concrete & Construction Company, Canton, Ohio, at a cost of $8,987.  The substructure abutments were constructed by John A. Maugans for $3,248.

1938 –

Chuckery-Darby Township School District was established consolidating the Darby Township School District and the Chuckery Special School District.

1960 –

Fairbanks School District created, merging the Chuckery-Darby, Union Local, and portions of Jerome-Millcreek districts into the new school district

1962 –

Fairbanks High School was built near the location of Bridgeport.