The history of Arlington Heights started with William Dunton in 1836. He first settled in the area of Arlington Heights. He then built the first house located in the open prairie. In 1853, William Dunton sold a piece of land for $350 to Wisconsin to build railroad. The railroad was finished within a year and today it stretches from Chicago to the Village of Dunton. As the area expanded, the townspeople built stores, hotels, a meat market, a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a church, a shoe store, a hardware store, a furniture store, a school, and many farms. In 1855, the first Post Office was opened in William Dunton's house with his wife, Asa Dunton. She was the Postmaster. A Methodist church was built in Arlington Heights with a budget of only $2,000. In the same year, a Universalist Church began, however, in 1867 the Lutheran Church bought the Universalist Church building. During 1870, the Lutheran School Board bought land and built a 4-room brick school. To the south of the school, William Dunton donated a tract of land to the school to use as a playground. Asa Dunton, his wife, died that same year. In 1880, the village population was 995. William Dunton died in 1896.
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