Because the land that became Saltlick Township in 1823 was remote and rugged, the first European settlers did not arrive until 1814, eleven years after Ohio achieved statehood. Shawnee was platted in 1872 by a single investor who bought the surface land from the other investors in the Newark, Straitsville, Coal, Coke and Iron Company after the Newark, Somerset and Straitsville railroad pierced the steep hillsides through the Bristol Tunnel several miles north of town. That railroad made it possible to extract and transport to Lake Erie markets the rich bituminous coal found in unusually thick seams below the surface. Early mines around Shawnee included the XX Mine, the Card and Upson Mine, the Furnace Mine, the Shawnee Valley Mine, and the Goslin and Barbour Mine. Several large blast furnaces were also built here to produce pig iron, helping supply the nation's growing demand for iron. The mines and furnaces became the economic engine of the new town and provided work for many miners who came during the boom era, which lasted until the turn of the century. Clay mining then helped keep Shawnee important beyond its early coal prosperity. By 1906, four brick factories had become the primary force in the economy. The Ohio Mining and Manufacturing Company, established in 1896, eventually operated two brick plants later sold to the Claycraft Company. The Columbus Face Brick Company opened in 1898 just south of town and was later succeeded by the Ironclay Brick Company, more commonly known as Rock Run. The Shawnee Flash Brick Company, known locally as the Fiddle Factory, was operating by 1906. Rock Run's orange-colored fire-clay structural brick appears in many buildings along West Main Street built during the period 1900-15, including the Tecumseh Theater. Only Claycraft survived well into the 20th century, shipping brick throughout North America until the early 1970's.