In 1879 John Jacob Krehbiel, his wife Anna Leisy Krehbiel, and their children came to Newton from Denmark, Iowa. With George L. Epps, he purchased the Angood Blacksmith Shop at 128 E. 6th, and in 1883 he bought the business and constructed a carriage factory. A skilled wagon maker and wheel-wright, he had practiced that trade during the Civil War for the Union Army. Krehbiel was a co-founder of Bethel College and served as president of its first board of directors for 20 years. He became a major philanthropist, giving liberal contributions to Bethel College and Bethel Deaconess Hospital. The family home stood east of the factory and was surrounded by the fence that now encloses the park. Krehbiel descendants and local citizens, under the leadership of the Newton Fine Arts Association, financed the park and restored the two original buildings and the iron fence.