In 1814, the first public structure in what later became Dale County was erected one mile east at the confluence of the East and West Choctawhatchee Rivers. Called the Block House, it was built of logs by a contingent of Jackson’s Army and, though not fortified, provided shelter for militia and settlers driven into it by fear of Indians. At the site of a ferry across the river, it was later occupied as a store and served as a Post Office from 1833 to 1841, with John Whitehurst as the first postmaster. The Block House became the center of a settlement that included ferry operator Thomas Obadiah Dick and John Beverett, who purchased the site in 1836. In 1823, Robert D. Harris of the Spatz Land Office, headquarters of the Conecuh Land District, surveyed the area. In 1824, Elisha Matthews taught school in the home of William Mills for ten dollars per month and board. In 1827, local merchant Seaborn Ledbetter launched a pole boat named the Choctawhatchee Hornet, and nearby John Huccaby operated the first grist mill.