Smithfield, one of the oldest organized settlements in Delaware County, was platted by David Stout and William Duncan on March 12, 1830. Its position on White River was considered advantageous as a trading point, and it thrived in that role until the first railroad in the early 1850s diverted trade to Selma, a mile north. The site was first settled in the 1820s around a mill erected by Stout.