Hezekiah Davis came to this area with his family in 1836 at age 10 and grew into an ambitious, hardworking man who, through industry and foresight, acquired more than 1400 acres mainly on the east side of what is now St. Rd. #5 through Shipshewana. As the population grew, he decided a town was needed and, believing transportation was critical to progress, paid $10,000 to bring a railroad to Davistown. He then built two large brick buildings on opposite corners of Main and Morton streets facing the depot, and businesses were drawn there, making Davistown the center supplying the needs of pioneering families. Abraham Summey came to the area in 1851 and by 1866 owned more than 500 acres on the west of what is now St. Rd. #5 in Shipshewana. As Davistown developed, he developed Summeytown on his property. The rival developments generated animosity and suspected vandalism on both sides for several years, but despite the bitter rivalry between the two prominent families, Eugene Davis and Alice Summey fell in love and married, and over time tensions eased between the two factions. In Jan., 1889 Davistown was platted as Shipshewana, a name chosen by Hezekiah's wife, Sarah Reynolds Davis, to honor a Potawatomi Indian chief who had befriended the early settlers. In the fall of that same year Summeytown became the First Summey Addition to Shipshewana, and gradually several Davis Additions, Summey Additions, and others were made, growing into Shipshewana as it is today.