Centerville is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. A core suburb in Dayton metropolitan area, its population was 24,240 as of the 2020 census.
At a Glance
- Counties: Montgomery County and Greene County
- State: Ohio
History of Centerville
Following the signing of the Treaty of Greenville, which opened the Northwest Territory to settlement, Centerville was first surveyed in February 1796 by Aaron Nutt, Benjamin Archer, and Benjamin Robbins, three brothers in law who traveled from New Jersey through Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Their survey of land owned by John Cleves Symmes occurred two months prior to the establishment of Dayton. They each claimed land near the intersection of Main and Franklin Streets. Robbins and two of his brothers chose land in Centerville, with Robbins selecting 160 acres northwest of the town center due to the abundance of springs. Benjamin Robbins named the settlement after his hometown of Centreville, New Jersey, citing its location between two rivers and its proximity to several other communities.
In 1796, Dr. John Hole, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War who served under General Richard Montgomery, arrived in the region. He was the first physician in the area and is credited with naming Montgomery County in honor of the general. Dr. Hole settled northwest of present day Centerville, in the area that would become Washington Township, where he built a cabin for his family near Holes Creek.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Centerville, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.