Glendale started out as a small settlement called "Stumptown", because of an economy based on logging. After the arrival of the railroad in 1881, the town was named "Julia" in honor of the wife of Sol Abraham, a prominent local citizen and platter of the town site. After a dispute between Abraham and a railroad agent, the town was renamed Glendale in August of 1883.
A major fire in the early-mid 1900s destroyed much of the town, which was rebuilt. There are very few buildings still standing that are more than a century old. The business district was destroyed again by a fire on July 11, 1928 The Presbyterian church on Main Street is one of the few buildings left from before the fire