In 1868, William Milton Prier owned 520 acres of land that would become Appleton City. When the railroad came through the area in 1870, he sold most of his holdings for land development but kept this site in Block 36, Lots 1-14, which was his home and the highest point in St. Clair County, Missouri. In 1889, Prier sold the land to William H. and Anna Dunn, faithful members of the First Christian Church. The Academy Boys called it the "Hilltop House," and Anna held many church gatherings in their home. At their deaths, Anna left the surrounding lots and the home to serve as a parsonage for the church. The wishing well pulley bucket foundation became a local landmark from the town's very early days, when high school students from the south walked across the lot to drink water from the well. The property continues as the First Christian Church parsonage, home for the church minister.