The road traveled from Cincinnati, the Old Pinckney Road it was called locally due to its proximity to Pinckney Pond, which was in the area just south of the expressway and north of Valley Road. This was literally a wagon trail along what was believed to have been an Indian route to the Ohio River.

Before the road laws were legislated and improvements began, the Pinckney Road, or Trail, was the first path accessible to the pioneers from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) to Bellbrook. It ran from the Queen City to Lebanon, passed through Bellbrook on Main Street, proceeded north toward Alpha and passed by Pinckney Pond, in which the road was supposedly so named.

A local story from the Beavercreek Historical Society's 'Beavercreek Chronicles':

One night, John and Samuel Morningstar went out on Pinckney pond in a canoe with their guns and a large torch. Proceeding slowly along the banks, they suddenly came upon a large buck standing at the edge of the water. The blinding light of the torch seemed to petrify the animal with fright and the sudden appearance of such large game gave the boys a genuine attack of what is known among hunters as ‘buckague’. The boys recovered and shot the deer. It bounded directly into the boat, capsized the hunters, and a long struggle took place in the water which finally ended when the boys succeeded in dispatching the deer.

1961 Description of Trebein - Trebein formerly known as Pinkneyville, Frost Station and Beaver Station is two miles nearer Xenia. Pinkney Road running from Cincinnati through Bellbrook, through Trebein, through Oldtown and into Xenia was a very busy thoroughfare in the 1800’s, bringing supplies to and from Cincinnati.  William Maxwell, first printer and publisher in the Northwest Territory lived near Trebein and is believed to be buried about a mile southwest of Trebein on a knoll just back of his cabin.

Present Day - Trebein was another cross-road town on the rail line between Alpha and Xenia. A series of mills were built, the first by Adam Emory. Jonathan Snyder built a distillery in 1841 and found the production of whiskey to be quite profitable. Corn grown during the time was intended to feed livestock and truly wasn’t eaten in kernel form. Excess was distilled into whiskey and used to supplement income.

Later named for another businessman, F.C. Trebein, the small town offered a mill, a larger distillery and a fertilizer factory. A few homes and the remnants of some industrial sites still remain. Until the mid-1990’s the area was still known for its one-lane bridge over the Little Miami River.