Summerfield was established in 1819 as Valley Creek and was renamed Summerfield in 1845 to honor the Methodist preacher John Summerfield. In 1829, the first academy in Dallas County was chartered in Valley Creek. In 1842, the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church opened the Methodist Centenary Institute, a coeducational institution chartered by the Alabama Legislature on January 2, 1841. At its peak, Summerfield was a very prosperous community of planters, doctors, merchants, ministers, and educators. Its historical core survived intact and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, with a historic district encompassing 56.12 acres. Much of the area of Valley Grande was land originally granted to Dr. George Phillips in 1821 by the federal government. One of the county's earliest roads crossed the area, and Phillips' log house also served as a stagecoach station. The log house was later replaced by a three-storied, pillared home called Grande View for its panoramic view, and Wilson's Raiders burned this home during the Civil War. As more people moved there in later years, the area became known as Valley Grande. The Town of Valley Grande was incorporated on February 3, 2003, and it encompasses the historic community of Summerfield as well as the Ocmulgee area.