In the early history of the town, the mill played a very important part. It was the driving force that helped to start the town.
The area had been surveyed by 1840, but the first settler on record in the area of the future town was a Nathan Haight. Coming from New York State in 1851, he filed on forty acres adjacent to and including a mill site on the Buffalo River. The tract was part of a U.S. governmental reserve set aside for veterans of the Mexican War.
In exploring along the stream where it bows to the north, Mr. Haight beheld a spot where the water fell on two large stones. It was called Manhattan Falls.
In 1858, it became the property of William BRUCE, an emigrant from Scotland, who entered a half section of land. He immediately began erecting the first flour mill in this part of the country. He built a frame house on top of the hill, a short distance southeast of the mill site and lived there while building the mill. When that was finished he built a stone house in addition to the frame one. Today it is the residence of Marland Schott on Market Street. In the spring of a859, the family moved into the stone house and used the frame building for a general store. Wm. Weeks Sr., a stone mason, with some help, built the mill and stone house. Issac Branch did the carpenter work and Mr. Lennox Sr. assisted. Alexander Rick, known as Sandy Rick, helped in making and installing the flour making machinery. Jacob Clark was the mill-wright. They started grinding soon after the harvest in 1859, and John Morris Phillips brought the first wheat to be ground into flour. The stone mill was located just north of the old railroad station.

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