Wabash is the first electrically lighted city in the world, which was inaugurated on March 31, 1880. Wabash used a new type of carbon arc light invented by Charles Brush in 1870. On March 31, 1880, four 3,000-candle power lamps were suspended from the top of the courthouse. Two telegraph wires ran from the lamps to the courthouse basement, where they were connected to a generator powered by a 12-horsepower steam engine to provide power
It is also home to the historic Eagles Theatre, Paradise Spring Treaty Grounds (1826), and the Wabash and Erie Canal.
The town of Wabash was platted in the spring of 1834 by Col. Hugh Hanna and Col. David Burr.
The name Wabash derives from a Miami-Illinois term for "water over white stones.". The Wabash post office has been in operation since 1839.
The Miami name reflected the clarity of the river in Huntington County, Indiana where the river bottom is limestone.
