In 1838, two capitalists from Philadelphia moved to southeastern Ohio and joined Thomas Ewing and Samuel Vinton in buying a nearby salt mining company from Resolved Fuller, and the settlement was named Chauncey for Elihu P. Chauncey. These early mines became an important part of Chauncey's history, and the extracted salt, and later coal, helped power the growing United States. In the late 1890s and into the early 20th century, coal mining boomed in Chauncey as part of the Hocking Valley coalfields. The Strike of 1932 brought labor disputes, explosions, fires, shootings, and the National Guard to town. The last mine closed permanently in 1952, and residents said an eerie silence followed. The area now occupied by Chauncey Community Park and the Baileys Trail System's Chauncey-Dover Trailhead was the site of the New York Coal Company mine, also known as the Baileys Coal Mine, Chauncey Coal Mine, and Mine 25 or 255. Its large tipple stood near this spot, and the coal shaft was nearby, with gob piles and other traces of the area's industrial past still visible in the landscape, including remains of historic mining buildings along the paved bike path connector.