[4] As one of the first settlements in Mason County, the community was initially settled around 1856, when five German families set up homesteads along Upper Willow Creek.

They were followed by German settlers from nearby Fredericksburg, who established themselves along Willow Creek for about ten miles in both directions.

At that time, Plehwe renamed the community Plehweville,[6] but the post office department requested a name change as its difficult spelling caused mail to be lost.

On December 23, 1920, Eli Dechart had taken over as store owner and postmaster and decided to rename the town Art after the last three letters of his name.

[7] Public Education in the community of Art is provided by the Mason Independent School District.