The village of Smithfield sprung up near a mill that David Stout erected on the White River around 1828¹. First platted in 1830 by David Stout and William Duncan as “Smith Field²,” the town thrived until the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway came³. The arrival of the railroad diverted commerce a mile and a half north to Selma, and Smithfield withered to the residential community it remains as today.