Anna

• Lois LenskiPerson · 1893-1974

How Anna began

Anna sits astride the boundary of Franklin and Turtle Creek townships in Shelby County. Early pioneers John W. Carey, Josiah Greene, and John Munch arrived from Dayton in 1833, but the village itself was not platted until 1868 (sources differ on the exact year), when it was surveyed by John and Fletcher Thirkield and renamed Anna from Carey's Station, for J. W. Carey's daughter according to the village website (Wikipedia says for Anna Thirkield); it incorporated in 1877. Anna is best known for sitting near the epicenter of the largest earthquake ever recorded in Ohio, a magnitude 5.4 shock on March 9, 1937, which left the town's school a total loss and damaged its churches and town hall; Wikipedia lists the nickname 'Earthquake Capital of Ohio' for the area.

Settled 1833 (John W. Carey, Josiah Greene, John Munch), platted 1858 (Carey's Station, by J. W. Carey); surveyed 1867 by John L. and Fletcher Thirkield (Wikipedia: platted 1868), incorporated June 26, 1877, by J. W. Carey; surveyed by John and Fletcher Thirkield.

Where the name comes from

Renamed from Carey's Station to Anna in the 1860s, in honor of J. W. Carey's daughter according to the village website; Wikipedia says the village was named for Anna Thirkield.

Before the town

No Native American village or site specific to present-day Anna is documented in the sources checked, though Wikipedia reports that, according to the Native Americans, Tecumseh tried to start his alliances at Anna, most Shawnee and Miami refused, and he supposedly put a curse on the land that it would be ever plagued with the trembling of the earth -- a story that is oral tradition rather than a documented historical event.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1833 — John W. Carey, Josiah Greene, and John Munch arrive from Dayton and settle in the area that becomes Anna.
2. 1858 — J. W. Carey first lays out the village, which is known as Carey's Station on the railroad.
3. 1861 — The first sawmill in Anna is built, starting a development boom in the 1860s that brings new houses, the Black Bull Inn and the Billing insurance agency, with grain and lumber the village's major industries.
4. 1867 — John L. and Fletcher Thirkield survey the village in Section 28, Town 7 South, Range 6 East, and Carey's Station is renamed Anna in honor of Carey's daughter.
5. 1868 — Anna is platted, according to Wikipedia, and named for Anna Thirkield.
6. 1875 — Wikipedia counts at least 40 earthquakes in the Shelby County area since 1875.
7. 1877 — Anna is incorporated by petition on June 26.
8. 1880 — The census counts 266 residents, nearly doubling to 527 by 1890.
9. 1937-03-02 — A weaker earthquake strikes the Anna area, a week before the main shock.
10. 1937-03-09 — A magnitude 5.4 earthquake, the largest recorded in Ohio, strikes at Anna with damage at intensity VIII and is felt as far away as Chicago and Toronto; the Lutheran and Methodist churches are heavily damaged, the school is a total loss and has to be rebuilt, and the town hall's upper story is condemned.
11. 1960 — The census counts 701 residents, up from 554 in 1950, and the village passes 1,000 by 1980 (1,038).
12. 2010 — The census counts 1,567 residents, the village's peak; it falls to 1,470 by 2020.

Stories

The earthquake capital of Ohio

On March 9, 1937, a week after a weaker earthquake on March 2, the ground at Anna shook with a magnitude 5.4 earthquake, the largest recorded in Ohio. Damage reached intensity VIII on the Mercalli scale, and the shock was felt as far away as Chicago and Toronto. The Lutheran and Methodist churches were heavily damaged, and the Lutheran church later put metal braces in its attic to protect it from future earthquakes. The school became a total loss and had to be rebuilt, and the town hall was so badly damaged that its upper story was condemned and has not been used since. Wikipedia counts at least 40 earthquakes in the Shelby County area since 1875. Local lore, which Wikipedia attributes to the Native Americans, says Tecumseh tried to start his alliances at Anna, that most Shawnee and Miami refused, and that he put a curse on the land that it would be ever plagued with the trembling of the earth.

Carey's Station becomes Anna

Anna began with three men from Dayton in 1833, John W. Carey, Josiah Greene and John Munch. Carey bought some 1,000 acres west of the line of the present Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and in 1858 he first laid out a village beside the track, known as Carey's Station. The Thirkield surveyors, John L. and Fletcher, platted it formally in 1867, and the station took the name Anna in honor of Carey's daughter. The first sawmill went up in 1861, and grain and lumber became the major industries; the boom of the 1860s brought houses, the Black Bull Inn and an insurance agency. The village was incorporated by petition on June 26, 1877, and by 1880 it had 266 residents. Its present fame comes not from that history but from the ground below it: the largest earthquake in Ohio history, on March 9, 1937, which destroyed the school and cracked the town hall, was centered here.

Photographs

Local history sources: archive.org · villageofannaoh.com · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Every historic place in Shelby County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Anna Village81% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Mccartyville Well Association16% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Kettlersville Well Association3% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (3)

Public libraries (1)

Police stations (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-10-09

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

Cite this page