Laid out in 1822, Edinburg was the first town in Johnson County. In 1976 it was known as the Black Walnut Veneer Capital of the World. Alexander Thompson and Louis Bishop were proprietors of the town, with additions soon made by Isaac Collier, William Hunt, and John Campbell. The site of the first store in the county dated to 1822. The first death in the county was in 1820, Lucy Barnett Townsend. The famous pioneer Thompson Mill on Blue River dated to 1826. In 1845 the Madison-Indianapolis R.R. was completed to Edinburg, and the town became a leading grain and pork market of central Indiana. Edinburg was the original home of Pennant syrup by Union Starch. The popular hymn, "Bringing in the Sheaves," was written by evangelist Knowles Shaw while in Edinburg.