Dutch Mills was originally called
Hermannsburg, named after its first documented settler, Johann H. Hermann, a
German immigrant and former student at the
University of Heidelberg. In the early 1850s, Johann Hermann and his brother, Karl F. Hermann acquired the property of the town, built a mill, laid out the lots, and acquired the rights to a
United States post office. The brothers operated the mill, a small store, and both served as Postmaster (Johann in 1856 and Karl in 1859). Multiple German families moved there, following the Hermanns. Hermannsburg was located at a dangerous crossroads between
The North and
The South during the
American Civil War.
Bushwackers from both sides of the conflict regularly pillaged the town and conditions worsened after the
Battle of Wilson's Creek. Renegade
Missouri Governor
Claiborne Jackson and his Confederate militia commandeered the Hermann home in Hermannsburg for the night while on their flight to
Texas. Because many German immigrants sided with the Union cause, Southern bushwhackers would often target them for robbery and even murder. In December 1862, the last 19 German immigrants who remained in the town, including the Hermann brothers and their families, fled Hermannsburg under the cover of night for the safety of the larger German community in
St. Louis. After the Civil War, the name of Hermannsburg was changed to Dutch Mills. The name change was likely intended as subtle insult, or perhaps a statement of indifference, by the
English descended residents who didn't care to differentiate between the Germans and the
Dutch. == Education ==