Chrisholm, meaning home farm of Christian Augspurger, was established in 1830 by Christian Augspurger, leader of the Amish Mennonite settlement in Butler County, in an area chosen for its rich farmland and proximity to the Great Miami River. His son Samuel inherited the farm and lived there with his wife, Eliza Holly, and their seven children. After fire destroyed the original 1830 stone house, the large two-story farmhouse was built in 1874, and with its large bank barn on a stone foundation it typifies the stark simplicity and balanced building style of Amish Mennonite settlements in Ohio. Samuel Augspurger was an innovative entrepreneur who helped drive Woodsdale's industrial growth by directing construction of its first bridge over the Great Miami River, serving as director of three turnpikes, overseeing grist and saw mills, helping incorporate the paper company, and aiding establishment of the Woodsdale school and post office. Woodsdale, a hamlet one mile southwest that was never platted and was named after William Woods, president of the three-story brick paper mill built in 1867, also grew from two grist mills on the Great Miami River and from the Miami and Erie Canal. The mill was flanked by the company office and store and several workers' houses, and later enterprises included a stone quarry, ice cutting company, and grain elevator during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Woodsdale was also known for the Woodsdale Island Amusement Park and the LC&D Railroad depot; established in 1891 on an island between the Miami and Erie Canal and the Great Miami River, the park hosted picnics, political rallies, a large dance hall, and amusement rides including a swan boat until the great flood of 1913 completely destroyed it.