Iberia was founded in 1827 and platted in 1832 by Frederick Meyers and Samuel Foster. The community most likely was named after the
Iberian Peninsula. On modern maps, the town is located at the junction of
State Route 309 and Morrow County Road 30. Iberia was once the home of Iberia College, later
Ohio Central College, a
Presbyterian Church affiliated institution of higher learning. Its most notable graduate was
Warren G. Harding, the 29th
President of the United States. Following the cessation of classes, the records and alumni of Ohio Central College were assumed by
Muskingum College of
New Concord, Ohio. The first president of Iberia College was the Rev. George A. Gordon, an
abolitionist and local Presbyterian minister who refused a presidential pardon granted by
Abraham Lincoln. The minister had been convicted for violating the
Fugitive Slave Law. He died in 1868 and was buried in Iberia Cemetery. His actions were but a part of the operations of the
Underground Railroad, along which Iberia was a significant host to several "stations". Iberia's greatest period of growth occurred at the turn of the 20th century when the community served as a farm community center. For a short period in the 1920s, the town was located along the "Marion" spur of the
Lincoln Highway. == Geography ==