The 15 feet (4.6 m) wide road was cut from the southernmost to the northernmost lines of the township, the effort consisting of clearing underbrush and small trees, leaving 'many obstacles in the shape of large timber.'

In 1832, two 1,200 acres (490 ha) land grants in Union County were received by William Pelham and Charles Blagrove of Virginia.

Blagrove put her legal affairs in the hands of Delaware attorney George Bomford, who sold the land to Philip Plummer.

Vernon, but he had been impressed with Union County's tree growth and rich soil.

Together they found that the level ground and distance from Marysville, the county seat, would make that location desirable for a city.

[6] The town of Richwood was laid out August 8,9,10 [7] 1832 by Philip, his brother Thomas and Union County Surveyor Levi Phelps, who aided the project, and whose office recorded the first boundary lines for the new town.

[6] The first building in Richwood was a one-room log cabin occupied by John P. Brookins and his family.

[6] In 1834 Richwood got its first established business, a grocery store opened by Burdick & Calloway.

[8] The Methodist Episcopal Church was formally organized on October 17, 1835, by Reverend William Frazell, who served as an itinerant minister.

[6] As of 1877, the town contained one newspaper, two banks, three churches, one brick school-house, and several stores and factories.

The Richwood-North Union Public Library (RNUPL) was founded in 1915 and is a member of the Serving Every Ohioan Consortium.