On the banks of the White River in Cass Township, a community was laid out in 1822 by settlers from Newberry, South Carolina.  The village was known as Slinkard’s Mill until it was platted in 1820 and renamed Newberry.  It remained a trading post for years before booming when the plans for the Wabash & Erie Canal were announced.  In 1849, contracts were let for building the canal and by 1851, the canal was finished in spite of flooding and poor working conditions.  A wooden dam was built across the White River at Newberry to form a slackwater pool so canal boats could enter the river from the canal, go up or down, and re-enter the canal on the other side of the dam.  In June of 1851, the first canal boat surfaced and canal shipping made the town very prosperous from 1848 to 1858.

Provided by Mildred “Milly” (Coleman) Uland