Original European settlement of the area occurred in 1839 on the north side of the English River north of Wellman. A gristmill began operation in 1842, and the community of Wassonville was surveyed and platted in 1848. The Wassonville ferry served a major territorial road from Iowa City to Oskaloosa and the western frontier. A roadhouse had been constructed by 1850 and population grew to 300. Wassonville residents discouraged by frequent flood damage from the English River established the replacement village of Dayton on higher ground south of Wassonville in 1855. Dayton was the main trading point of the area from about 1860 to 1880, and the name was changed to Daytonville by the United States Post Office in 1878.