The first white settlers came to this area in 1799 and named their new village after their Pennsylvania governor, Mifflin.  By 1850 the population of Mifflin Township had grown to 1,095.  Two of the settlers then established rival villages known as Gahanna and Bridgeport.  John Clark founded Gahanna as a farming community and named it after Big Walnut Creek which the local Indians called the Gahanna River.  To the Delaware, Wyandotte, Ottowa and Chippewa Indians this meant "three into one."  Bridgeport, founded by Jessee Baugham, was located just north of Granville Street.  The two villages merged and became incorporated as the Village of Gahanna in March 1881.

The population of Gahanna at the turn of the century was approximately 200 and remained at that number until the war years.  After the was, when the post World War II boom reached the village in the 1950's, the population soared to about 1,000.  The 1960's brought additional growth and Gahanna became a city on September 27, 1970 with a population reaching 20,000 in the early 80's.  The population now stands at about 30,000 and it is expected to reach 50,000 by the year 2010.   Gahanna has been one of the fastest growing cities in Franklin County during the 60's and 70;s and is now recognized as the third largest suburb in the Central Ohio areas.