Piqua ( PIK wə) is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States, along the Great Miami River. The population was 20,354 at the 2020 census. Located 27 miles (43 km) north of Dayton, it is part of the Dayton metropolitan area.
At a Glance
- County: Miami County
- State: Ohio
History of Piqua
The word ‘Piqua’ is believed to be derived from a Shawnee language phrase: Othath He Waugh Pe Qua, translated as "He has risen from the ashes," related to a legend of the people. It became associated with the Pekowi, one of the five divisions of the Shawnee people, who were eventually known as the Piqua.
In 1749, Fort Pickawillany was constructed by the British to protect their trading post at a Miami village of the same name. It was located at the confluence of Loramie Creek and the Great Miami River.
In 1752, Charles de Langlade, an Odawa war chief of partial French Canadian descent, attacked the fort. He led more than 240 Odawa and Ojibwe warriors allied with French forces against the British and the Miami village in the Battle of Pickawillany. The Miami chief and a British trader were killed in the conflict.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Piqua, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.