Beginning in the 1830's and 1840's, the surrounding area saw a strong influx of German-speaking immigrants, including families named Engler, Longanbach, Otermat, and Smith, whose grueling daily labor was instrumental in developing the highly productive farmlands of today. Early landowners faced a landscape of forests and swampy wetlands, and many of them, now buried here, were charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church, which also stood on this land. Working together in faith and community, they cleared the land and dug ditches to drain the fields for their homes and farms, laying the foundation for nearby farms that continue to flourish.