The state legislature organized Cannon Township as “Churchtown” in 1846, and at the first town meeting in 1848 it was renamed Cannon after Cannonsburg, the largest village. The earliest land claims dated from 1835, and families began settling there permanently in 1839. Zebulon Rood purchased 240 acres of land in 1840 and built Cannon’s first house, a log structure, and he also cut the first road, making it possible to transport goods across Bear Creek. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the production of wheat, wool, corn, apples, and other fruits supported the economy. This building served as the township hall from 1890 until 1987, when it became the Cannon Historical Museum.