Mifflin was founded in 1816 and was first known as Petersburg before being renamed in 1827 to honor settlers from Mifflin Township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Stagecoaches were traveling its main thoroughfare between Wooster and Mansfield as early as 1810, stopping at a crossroad watering trough famed for “the best spring water in Ohio.” The village’s first jailhouse and that watering trough are associated with the grounds of St. Michael Lutheran Church, which was organized in 1835 and built its house of worship in 1890. In 1925, the trough was removed to make room for construction of the Lincoln Highway, built in 1928, and a Lincoln Highway “L” marker still stands in the village in its original location directing eastbound motorists. After Prohibition ended in 1933, three taverns came to the village, and with population growth and social activity tied to construction of the Charles Mill Dam in 1934, the need for a jail arose. In 2010, the watering trough and jailhouse were restored and relocated to this site, where they are maintained by the village of Mifflin. The area was also traveled in 1812 by John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, who warned settlers of Native American massacres of the Copus, Zimmer, and Ruffner families, whose monuments are located nearby. In 1897, Charles F. Kettering, later inventor of the automobile self-starter, served as Mifflin’s schoolmaster, and in 1904 he was instrumental in forming the Mifflin-Widowville Telephone Company.