The town of Dittmer, like most other towns, was a reality long before the community gained an official designation.
The Dittmer family, originally from Hanover, Germany, came to the west Jefferson County area as part of a swell of German immigration in the late 1840s.
In the 1850s the family owned a general store, meaning the community was already large enough to support that type of enterprise. There was a blacksmith shop, too.
The store was on what is now known as Dittmer Road near where Dittmer Bible Church is located today.
Most towns mark their beginnings by the establishment of a post office with the town’s name. That happened in this case, too, but not until 1870, when “Dittmer’s Store” Post Office opened inside the store.
“Evidently, when Mr. Dittmer sent his application to Washington to become the postmaster, he gave the name of the town as Dittmer’s Store,” wrote Robert Crean in his book, “Photographs, Documents and History of Byrnesville, Cedar Hill, Dittmer, Local and Scheve.”
“In most cases, whoever owned or leased the store business also took over the post office duties,” Crean wrote.
It might have been a mistake or maybe a master stroke at marketing. In any case, it wasn’t until 1899 that the word “Store” was removed from the post office name and it became only “Dittmer.”
In 1889 the population of Dittmer’s Store was listed as 75, and it received mail three times a week.
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