A brief History of Potomac
The town was originally named Marysville after the wives of the two founders, John Smith and Isaac Meneley, who started businesses here circa 1840. On May 13, 1871, a post office was established in the town and was later renamed Potomac. The village current name was officially changed in 1905 to avoid confusion with Myersville, in Newell Township, near Bismarck. The name of “Potomac” came from the Civil War Army of the Potomac.
Potomac is known for its Artesian wells, and its local High School teams were known as the “Potomac Artesians” until area secondary school consolidation in the late 1980s. One of these wells spouted an eight-inch stream of water 32 feet into the air until the 1930s. Three wells presently operate in open areas, one located in the downtown area, another on the southeast edge of the community, and another in West Side Park, on the west edge of town area where Fourth of July celebrations were once held, locally referred to as “The Jubilee”, in conjunction with an annual Horse Show. In July 2016 Potomac will be involved with Balloons Over Vermilion and will launch a balloon from the Village Park over that weekend’s county wide celebration.
Old Photographs of Our Area
Early photographs of Potomac. Many of these can be found in the History of Potomac Book. (Copy at City Hall for viewing). Several were posted online by Curtis T. Sollars…
