Henry and Maria Dahlheimer and Valentine and Elizabeth Dahlheimer, with two children, homesteaded on this land and adjacent land in 1855. Henry and Valentine purchased the land from the U.S. government in September 1860. They served in the Civil War from September 5, 1864, to June 12, 1865, in Gen. Sherman's march to the sea. In 1872, Henry was elected treasurer of Dayton and served in that position for a number of years, when the population of Dayton was 698. During this time, he donated this site for a Dayton town hall. The building's first use at this site was the wedding dance of his son Joseph and Mary Lehn on November 20, 1883.