The founding of the town of Millstadt dates back to 1836 when Simon Stookey was having a barn built a short distance north of present day Millstadt. Joseph Abend and Henry Randleman were helping him and it was proposed to Randleman that a piece of his land in Section 9 would make a most eligible town site. Abend proposed the name “Centerville” for the new town since it was seven miles from Belleville, seven miles from Columbia, and seven miles from Pittsburg Lake. Henry agreed, and the town of Centerville was platted and surveyed on 13 March 1837. It originally consisted of only 40 lots.

That was the part of town bounded roughly by Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe streets. Some of the earliest purchasers of lots were: John & George Briesacher on 4 Sept. 1837; George Henckler on 28 Aug. 1838; and Evan Baird on 26 Nov. 1839. Later additions to the town were made as the existing lots were sold out. Although the village name was officially spelled as “Centerville” in the records of the Recorder of Deeds of St. Clair County, the German settlers usually used the European spelling of “Centreville”.