During the 18th century, the Ohio Country saw warfare, waves of migration and displacement, and imposition of claims by rivaling colonial powers France and Britain.

The Shawnees had formed an alliance with the British and the Lenape, the Wyandot, and the Mingo, refugees from warfare and displacements elsewhere, and had been raiding into Kentucky with the aim of driving out American settlers.

[8] On August 8, 1780, Piqua was attacked by American soldiers under the command of General George Rogers Clark.

[9][10] Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief and warrior who later took part in the war of resistance against the U.S. and its expansionist settlement policy, lived in Piqua from 1777 until 1780.

[8] The Springfield area was officially ceded to the United States by the Shawnee and their indigenous allies under the Treaty of Greenville on 1795, six years before the city was founded.

[12][13] Early growth in Springfield was stimulated by federal construction of the National Road, which was extended to the city in 1838.

[13] Champion was manufactured by the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company, absorbed into International Harvester in 1902. International Harvester, a manufacturer of farm machinery and later trucks, became the leading local industry after 1856, when Springfield native William Whiteley invented a self-raking reaper and mower.

In 1877, P. P. Mast started Farm & Fireside magazine to promote the products of his agricultural equipment company.

Graham, then the superintendent of schools for Springfield Township in Clark County, established a "Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Club".

About 85 children, 10 to 15 years of age, attended the first meeting on January 15, 1902, in Springfield, in the basement of the Clark County Courthouse.

This was the start of what would soon be called the "4-H Club"; it expanded to become a nationwide organization at a time when agriculture was a mainstay of the economy in many regions.

Today, a historical marker exists at the Clark County courthouse, and the Library of Congress officially recognized the birthplace in 2023.

[17] On March 7, 1904, over a thousand white residents formed a lynch mob, stormed the jail, and removed prisoner Richard Dixon, a black man accused of killing police officer Charles B. Collis.

The rioters burned down much of the Levee, a predominantly black neighborhood located in a flood-prone area near the river.

In 1908, Westcott and his wife Orpha commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design their home at 1340 East High Street.

Crowell-Collier Publishing, a longtime pillar of local employment, closed its magazines in 1957 and sold its Springfield printing plant.

[25] The decline in manufacturing and other blue-collar industries in the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries hit Springfield especially hard.

[28] By the mid-2010s, city leaders began revitalization of the downtown area, including residential housing, a parking garage and demolition of decayed structures.

[29][30][31][32] New downtown structures built since 2000 include the Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital, Springfield Regional Medical Center, Mother Stewart's Brewing Company, and the Chiller Ice Arena.

[33] As of 2018, the economic recovery enjoyed by larger cities since the Great Recession had not included Springfield, despite efforts by local politicians and business organizations.

The vast majority later received temporary protected status, which allows them to work without the fear of deportation, due to the crisis in Haiti.

[38][39] Many were drawn by jobs with Springfield's growing manufacturing sector, which includes companies such as Topre, Silfex, and McGregor Metal.

In August 2023, tensions were aggravated when an improperly licensed Haitian driver crashed into a school bus, killing one child and injuring 23 others.

[40] In 2024, the city drew international attention over baseless claims about local Haitian immigrants, leading to dozens of bomb threats that forced school evacuations, government office closures, and other disruptions.

[44] On August 26, police received a report of Haitians stealing geese, for which neither law enforcement officials nor the Ohio Department of Natural Resources found any evidence or suspects.

[53][54][55] Over the following week, Trump repeated and embellished his lies,[56][57] adding a vow to mass-deport "migrants" from Springfield.

[58] Meanwhile, unknown perpetrators began making dozens of bomb threats to Springfield schools, city officials and employees, and municipal offices, forcing several days of evacuations, lockdowns, closures, and cancellations.

[67][68][69] After Donald Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, some Haitians expressed an interest in moving out of Springfield.

[88] Today, Springfield largely relies on healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, leisure, education, financial institutions, and retail for employment.

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