John Sprinkle arrived in Newburgh in the spring of 1803. He floated down the Ohio River on a flat boat and arrived in Newburgh 13 years before Indiana entered the Union as the 19th state. He is considered to be the first Caucasian settler in Warrick County.

On August 1, 1818, Sprinkle surveyed land and laid off a town of 102 lots. The streets were Washington, Jefferson, Market, Madison, and Monroe running north and south. Water, Jennings, Main, and Posey streets ran east and west. Newburgh was originally called Sprinklesburgh after John, although at the same time it was often called Mount Prospect as well.

Sprinkle was a blacksmith, the first not only of Newburgh but of Warrick County as well. His shop stood on “Methodist Hill” near where the Riverwalk Condominiums now stand.

Sources

• History of Warrick, Spencer, and Perry Counties, Indiana. Chicago: Goodspeed Bros. & Co., 1885.