The Village of Adamsville was first settled along Raccoon Creek in 1800 when Adam Rickabaugh, a Revolutionary War veteran, brought his family from Virginia to the valley he had seen while in service and applied to the federal government for the land with his war bounty. The deed was signed by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison. Adam built a grist mill on the creek, and it became the community's meeting place. The village soon included two grocery stores, a meat market, two blacksmith shops, and a livery, and it was plotted by Adam's sons, Adam Jr. and William. In 1805 Nehemiah Wood bought the grist mill from Adam Rickabaugh and later added a fulling mill and saw mill. Because of flooding, villagers began moving to higher ground when Rio Grande College was founded in 1876. Beginning in 1971 and continuing over the next fifteen years, the Adamsville Log Cabin Village was recreated in its original location along Raccoon Creek at Bob Evans Farms, then later moved to its present location during a dismantling and renovation project in 2011 and 2012 because of flooding and the ravages of time. As Adamsville grew, settlers applied for a post office, but because another Adamsville already existed in Muskingham County, Ohio, they had to choose a different name. During the 1846-48 war with Mexico, newspaper stories about fighting on the Rio Grande River inspired Sylvester Wood, son of Nehemiah Wood, to suggest the name Rio Grande, pronounced by villagers as Rye-O-Grand, and the Rio Grande post office was established in the Village of Adamsville on August 10, 1846.