Vandalia, Ohio

Vandalia, Ohio owes its name to a road that did not go where it was supposed to. Benjamin Wilhelm, a Pennsylvania settler, arrived in eighteen thirty-eight and built a home and a general store along the National Road, the great federal highway pushing west. Wilhelm had been heading for Vandalia, Illinois, the then-capital of Illinois and the road's intended western terminus.

He stopped here instead, and named his new crossroads after the destination he never reached. One story adds another layer: for a time, it looked like the National Road might end right here in Ohio rather than extending further west, so residents borrowed the Illinois name in anticipation. The village was incorporated on February seventh, eighteen forty-eight, with Wilhelm himself as its first mayor.