The history of Minerva is rich as the agricultural valley in which it is located. The first deed for land was granted to Issac Craig in 1813, for 123 acres. This land was purchased by John Whitacre in 1818 and is regarded as the founder of Minerva. Mr. Whitacre a surveyor by occupation settled in Columbiana County where he discovered the fall in the Little Sandy Creek later to become part of the Sandy Beaver Canal. With the idea of a water powered mill in mind he purchases the acreage from Mr. Craig and built a log mill that same year. The town was named after John Whitacre's niece, Minerva Ann Taylor. The log cabin where Minerva Ann was born still stands not far from where his mill once stood.

The first school house was built in 1846. With the passage of the Sandy Beaver Canal in the 1840's the railroad system found its way through Minerva. By 1868 when the Pennsylvania railroad came to town the Pennock Brothers Willard and Issac manufactured and patented the first steel railway car in the United States.

Minerva is also the birth place of Charles E. Wilson, Secretary of Defense under President Eisenhower. President William McKinley also frequented the Minerva Area while visiting his summer home located a few miles east of Minerva locally known as the McKinley Farm.

Today Minerva offers an outstanding quality of life and an excellent place to raise a family, work, or to retire to.