Caledonia had its origin in a
blacksmith shop & a whisky distillery built near the big spring. Thomas Sloan fitting
up the former, & Ferges Sloan & Joshua Morrison the latter. After them came
Alexander Craighead, who put up the first store as early or perhaps earlier than 1817. His
store was a double cabin, one end being used for a dwelling. The first dwelling house, a
hewed-log house, was built by Robert Sloan. When Caledonia was platted in 1819 & the
lots offered for sale, it was announced that whoever purchased the first lot could name
the town. Alexander Craighead named it after Caledonia, Scotland. The land on which the
town is located was secured to Miles Goforth in 1804 by the Spanish Government. Goforth
taught the first school in Bellevue Valley in 1804. |
