Grove City’s founder, William F. Breck, visited the area with an eye for farming. He bought 15.25 acres of the farm owned by Hugh Grant, Jr., son of the first settler in Jackson Township, then added 300 more acres west of Broadway intending to work the land. Breck’s original plan changed when he realized the potential for growth since Harrisburg Turnpike passed through the area to the state capital. Breck envisioned a new village complete with a school, church, stores, blacksmith and carpenter shops. Soon, Breck formed a commission with George Weygandt, William Sibray and Jeremiah Smith and platted the village on the east side of Broadway. By December of 1853, the newly formed (but not yet incorporated) village of Grove City had 50 residents. The town founders named the village for the remaining groves of trees left standing after their initial clearing.
Breck’s home was on the south side of Columbus Street (then Church Street) between what is now Arbutus Avenue and First Street. Just to the west of his home sat his combination office/general store near the corner of Broadway and Columbus Street. Within the next 10 years, Breck built the village’s first post office, brick yard and saw mill. In 1864, he was in the midst of building the Woodland Hotel at the corner of Broadway and Park Street (to be used as a combination home and overnight rest stop for travelers) when he, like Grant, was killed in a freak accident.