Dayton Daily Journal - June 19, 1889
Frog Heaven
[transcription of article]
For the readers of the JOURNAL who are not aware of the location and business facilities of this place, the following is given: Frog Heaven is in the southwestern corner of Madison township, including four sections of land, forming a two mile square tract of very fine country. We have two schools. The old academy is to be supervised the coming term by Mr. Henry Murr, and the new institute will be presided over by Mr. Robert Small. Then we have a successful agricultural implement firm, composed of Mssrs. Mahlon Emrick and Geo. W. Teeter. Also a miller and feed grinder, Mr. Uriah W. Garber, proprietor; a pork dealer, Mr. Aaron Lentz; a blacksmith, Samuel Teeter, and a successful horse jockey, Mr. J. D. Seim. We have a minister, Rev. J. C. Bright, and a line of gentlemen too numerous to mention.
It is said by some of the old farmers of this vicinity that the wheat was greatly injured by frost.
[signed] Shorty
June 18, 1889
The Neglected Grave of A Forgotten Genius - William Maxwell
Dayton Daily News Magazine - November 19, 1922, Page 3
The Neglected Grave of A Forgotten Genius
By Howard Burba
[transcription of article]
Next time the monument-building germ creeps into the system of Buckeye state residents and an epidemic of shaft-rearing breaks out, it is hoped that some sort of marker will be placed over a certain neglected, weed-grown little mound down in Beaver creek tp., Greene county.
It has been there for more than one hundred years, that long-forgotten, windowless home of a real genius, though lost sight of through the passing years and but recently discovered by sheer accident or through a fate that seeks to keep alive the memory of a most remarkable man.
Over in Beaver creek tp., but a short distance from the little settlement of Alpha, and not far from the Dayton-Xenia pike is the grave of William Maxwell, the man who printed the first newspaper in the northwest territory and who published the first book printed west of the Alleghanies [sic]. A simple slab of stone, totally devoid of carving or lettered character and not to be dignified by the word "monument," marks his burial place. No mourners come to place upon it blossoms bespeaking their love and affection; off there alone and by the present generation almost wholly forgotten, he sleeps on through the ages, "unwept, unhonored and unsung."
Volumes have been written about the founding of the first newspaper in the middle west, the old "Centinel Of the Northwest Territory," but historians generally have devoted little time and space to its founder, William Maxwell. As a result it is doubtful if one person out of a thousand in this section knows that Maxwell, retiring from newspaper work at an advanced age, purchased a tract of land in Greene county--at that time part of Hamilton county--and spending his later years there, died and was buried on a little knoll overlooking his own fertile acres.
Numerous times since his death in 1809 the original tract has changed hands. For many years Maxwell's grave was not lost sight of. But as time went on, and residents of the community passed from earth, as landmarks gave way to modern improvements, as property lines were shifted and landed [sic] titles changed, the little mound settled to a natural level, and eventually was lost sight of altogether. Some few years ago, however, distant relatives made a search for it, and were rewarded. The crude stone placed at the head of the mound by those sturdy pioneers who officiated at the obsequies had weathered the elements for more than one hundred years, and stood as a silent sentinel over a spot that should be sacred to all those who appreciate the power of the printed word.
Having served faithfully as a soldier in the revolutionary war, Maxwell celebrated the recognition of our independence by packing a little old Ramage printing press and two or three cases of type into a bundle that could have been carried on a push cart. He had a smattering knowledge of printing, which he gained in New York. But where he secured the press and type, and what purpose the equipment had served before it came into his hands, no one appears to have learned. Turning his face to the west, he managed to get his press and type as far as Pittsburg. There it was an easy matter to procure passage down the Ohio.
Cincinnati at that time had a population of about 200. But pioneers were steadily coming in from the east, and Maxwell was quick to perceive that here eventually would be a prosperous trading point and an important spot on the map of the new west. Attempts to establish the exact date of his arrival at Cincinnati have been futile, but it is believed to have been around 1793, since the initial copy of his paper was published in November of that year.
"The Centinel of The Northwest Territory" was a three-column, four-page sheet, nine by twelve inches in size. Some weeks were spent by Maxwell in interesting the community in his venture and in securing a subscription list. And then the hand of fate descended upon him quite heavily--he lost the original subscription list and had to depend upon the "signers" to come to his office and renew their faith in the institution.
No better idea of Maxwell's hopes and ambitions can be gained than through a reading of his salutary, appearing in the first column, first page of "The Centinel." In this he said:
[blockquote]"The Printer of the Centinel of the Northwestern Territory, To the Public:
"Having arrived at Cincinnati, he has applied himself to that which has been the principal object of his removal to this country, the publication of a newspaper. This country is in its infancy, and the inhabitants are daily exposed to an enemy who no content with taking away the lives of men in the field, have swept away whole families, and burnt their habitations. We are well aware that the want of regular and certain trade down the Mississippi deprives this country in great measure of money at the present time. These are discouragements, nevertheless I am led to believe that the people of this country are disposed to promote science, and have the fullest assurance that the Press, from its known utility, will receive proper encouragement. An on my part am content with small gains, at the present, flattering myself that from attention to business, I shall preserve the good wishes of those who have already countenanced me in this undertaking, and secure the friendship of subsequent population. It is to be hoped that the Centinel will prove of great utility to the people of this country, not only to inform them of what is going on east of the Atlantic in arms, and in arts of peace--but what more particularly concerns us, the different transactions of the states in the Union, and especially of our own territory, at so great a distance from the seat of the general government. It is a particular grievance, that the people have not been acquainted with the proceedings of the legislature of the Union, in which they are as much interested as any part of the United States. It is expected that the Centinel will in a great measure remedy this misfortune.
The editor therefore rests his success on the merits of the publication. I hope therefore, all men of public spirit will consider the undertaking as a proper object of attention, and not consult merely their own personal interests, but the interest of the public and the coming time."
It was a man's-size job Maxwell cut out for himself down there in the wilderness along the Ohio river. As he ways, money wasn't very plentiful, but print paper and ink cost something then, just as it does today. Advertising was pretty much of an unknown quantity in the days when "The Centinel" flung its pennant to the breeze. Merchandising was on a very small scale, and such stores as were established drifted along without the firm, strong guiding hand of printers' ink. And yet the file of "The Centinel" during its first year shows that its publisher was quite often rewarded by someone progressive enough to place his trade message in cold type.
One of the very first issues in fact, contained a revenue-producer in the shape of a paid reader from Stuart Ricky, pioneer school teacher. He secured space enough to carry the following announcement:
"THE SUBSCRIBER intends to open school on Wednesday, the 16th inst. in the house lately in possession of John Paul, nearly opposite to Dr. McClure's in Sycamore st., where he proposes to educate youth in reading, writing, arithmetic, bookkeeping, geometry, trigonometry, mensuration of surfaces and solids, dialing, guaging [sic], surveying, navigation and algebra. No more than 30 scholars will be admitted, and the terms of admittance may be known by applying to the Public's very humble Servt. STUART RICKY.
N.B.--None need apply but such as allow of moderate correction to be used in said school when necessity requires it."
From the day the first copy of the Centinel appeared, on Nov. 9, 1793, to the same date a year later, not a week passed but it came regularly from the little old Ramage press. Historians have declared its publication was spasmodic, but in that they err. It was regularly published form ore than a year, and then more or less regularly until 1796, when Maxwell, who had in the meantime been appointed postmaster at Cincinnati, disposed of his subscription list and equipment to Edmund Freeman. The latter published the paper under the name of Freeman's Journal until about 1800 when it suspended publication, Freeman moving to Chillicothe, the newly-made seat of government of the northwest territory.
Maxwell had an able assistant in his wife, Nancy Robins Maxwell, a typical pioneer heroine. Born in Virginia, she went with her parents to Graves Creek, West Virginia, in 1760, and there grew to womanhood. Her father was killed and scalped by Indians and with her mother she made a miraculous escape to Fort Henry. Afterwards she went to Cincinnati to live with friends, and there met and married Maxwell. She aided him in his work, and it is said became quite proficient in the printing art. Maxwell, in addition to publishing the Centinel, found time to write a book, which he published under the name of "Maxwell's Code." The binding was done by his wife, in true pioneer style, the sewing on the volumes being done with waxed ends, tipped with bristles. This was the first book printed within the limits of the northwest territory.
In 1799 Maxwell and his wife removed to Dayton, a military post of considerable note at that time. Here she remained while he assisted some discharged soldiers in cutting a road through to Alpha, now located in Greene county. That pioneer road is now a part of the Dayton-Xenia pike, and Mrs. Maxwell was the first white woman to travel over it.
Though not actively engaged in newspaper work Maxell was always prominent in public affairs in the northwest territory. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the First General Assembly of Ohio, which convened in Chillicothe on March 1, 1803. The House Journal of that historic assemblage shows, too, that he was an active member of the body, that he served on a number of important committees, and that his voice was often raised in defense of movements he believed to be necessary to the peace and prosperity of this section.
A measure providing for the formation of Greene county received his hearty support, and he was elected one of its associate judges by the legislature on April 1, 1803. Ten days later he could have been found at the home of Owen Davis, on Beaver creek, organizing the first court held in the county. On Dec. 7 of the same year he resigned the judgeship and was selected as sheriff of the newly formed county. In this capacity he served until 1807.
Organization of a state militia was under way during these years, and here again he was active. He was rewarded for his work along this line by being made a major.
Every community meeting found William Maxwell present, and every movement for the public good numbered him among its leaders. He devoted his time to cattle raising, and along this line he was very successful. His farm was one of the richest in the Beaver creek section and nicely adapted for the culture of wheat and corn, while affording virgin pastures such as few other sections in the entire country could boast.
Prosperous, as prosperity went in those days; strong in the love of his own family and enjoying the respect and esteem of the hundreds of settlers in whose interests he labored long and faithfully, William Maxwell passed his declining years happily and pleasantly. In 1809 he sank to rest, and over in a quiet, shaded spot on the farm he loved, his body was given back to the dust from whence it came. His children grew to be influential residents of the northwest territory, and today his descendants many of whom still reside in this section of the state, are among our most substantial residents.
But time still works vast changes, and these changes have caused posterity to overlook the fact that it was William Maxwell who carried the printed word where bloodshed and barbarity ran rampant, where knowledge consisted chiefly in one's ability to save his own scalp. Time has leveled the little mound under which he rests, and no monument marks the spot. Yet the giant perfecting presses which daily send forth their mass of printed sheets, and which have made of the old northwest territory the garden spot of the world, are in a large way monuments to his life and deeds.
For they have sprung from the little old Ramage press William Maxwell carried across the Alleghanies [sic], and established at Cincinnati as the first and only one in a vast, yet wonderful wilderness.
Let's Go on A Little Visit to "Dayton View" (1st article in a series of 5)
Dayton Daily News - Sunday, July 19, 1925 - Section 2, Page 16
Let's Go On A Little Visit To Dayton View
by Howard Burba
[transcription of article]
(Editor's Note: While at no time has the city of Dayton laid claim in a "boom" and does not court one. It can be truthfully said that during the past few years her growth has been phenomenal. Yet none, possibly, have been so slow to realize this as Dayton citizens. Those who enjoy motoring into every section of the city and its suburbs, however, quickly realize the great transformation that has come about, and know from actual observation that activities far greater than the average resident suspects are under way. It is with a view to acquainting those who have not had an opportunity to watch and study Dayton's remarkable growth that this, the first of a series of similar articles, has been prepared.)
Coming in on a train from the south a short time ago a lady passenger in one of the Pullman's, a stranger to the middle west, gazed from the car window as the train sped past the modern factory buildings in Moraine City, the plant of the Dayton Power and Light Co., and on across the Miami river toward the union station. As the train came to a halt she leaned toward the aisle of the car and addressing a passenger who was gathering his baggage preparatory to alighting, inquired:
"What city is this?"
"This is Dayton, Ohio," was the polite answer.
"Oh, is this Dayton?" she exclaimed, seemingly both glad and surprised. "I have heard so much about Dayton. I think it is the only town that I've never heard knocked."
Someone has said that success quite often grows out of failure. Those who know the history and development of that part of the city of Dayton indicted on maps as "Dayton View" realize the truthfulness of this statement. For it was the failure of one of the greatest projects ever planned by local citizens that lead to the successful development of this magnificent residential section of the city. It was the collapse of this carefully-laid scheme, of which we shall soon write in detail, that caused that part of the city in which the greatest building activity is now in progress to receive an impetus that has never halted and that is, on the contrary, growing in magnitude every working day of the year.
As far back as 1806, when Dayton showed on the map as little more than "a wide place in the road," an ambitious Presbyterian minister, Rev. James Welsh, south to establish a rival town and one which he claimed, would be more ideally located than the original site, especially so since the Miami river had an age-old habit of growing out of its banks at most unexpected and inopportune times. With David Reid, Elizabeth Parker and William George he secured grants to Sections 27 and 28, extending from what is now N. Main st., west to Wolf Creek.
He established a settlement near the present site of Riverview park, and gave it the name of "North Dayton." He constructed a ferry between the foot of First st. and the present end of Salem av., and advertised to all the world that all that section lying north and west of the river would find it far more convenient to trade, since they would be saved the necessity of crossing the stream. But in 1827, the pastor heard the "call" of a congregation that, we have reason to believe, was a little better off financially, than the one he was serving, as he removed from the neighborhood.
In the [illegible word] year shortly before he removed to other parts, he filed papers to have that plat vacated and sold his land to S. W. Davies and Thomas D. Carneal. With the building of the Bridge st (Monument av.) bridge in 1819 another attempt was made to establish a town west of the river. Accordingly it was laid out at the end of the bridge, and christened "Pearson." Two years later this plan failed, the plat was vacated, and the same year, 1821, the lands passed the heirs of Joseph Pierce sr., and James Steele.
The latter sold to his brother, Samuel, a part interest. Samuel Steele's contribution to his home town was the erection of a dam across the Miami river at a point just south of the present Island park, and from this, by means of a hydraulic canal of circular shape, and now traversed by the Great Miami Boulevard, he secured power for the operation of several early industrial plants. One of these, known in early Dayton history as the old Stilwell-Bierce mill, was located on the present site of McKinley park, and enjoyed a wide reputation as the largest plant in the middle west producing turbine water wheels. Samuel Steele met death in a saw mill which he operated on this site in 1839.
In 1845, P. P. Lowe platted some land between Salem av., and Easton st., which took the name of "Holt's Gardens," and of which Holt st was about the center. Two years later John Steele opened a plat of several lots north of the present Riverside drive and extending east and west from what is now Central av. He gave it the name of "Dayton View," which obtains to this day.
In the spring of 1869 William A. Barnet and J. O. Arnold wiped out this plat by extending it still farther east and west, and to the north almost as far as the present intersection of Grand and Salem avs. It is recorded that a high rim extended along the river at the southern boundary of the new "Dayton View," and that lands back of it were swampy and apparently of little worth. It was necessary to dig huge ditches to drain these areas, and while that particular development was in progress one prominent member of the enterprise withdrew with the declaration that "Dayton View" would never be a success since a poor man couldn't afford to live over there and a rich man wouldn't.
But the wisdom of men like Pierce and Barnet and Arnold prevailed, with the result that the foundation of a beautiful residence suburb was deeply planted, and Dayton View grew with the city. The Oakwood street car system was extended across the river and out Salem av., to a point just a short distance north of Lexington av. At the time this line was placed in operation there was little save farming lands beyond its terminus. Not many years elapsed, however, until there was a sufficient number of home-owners on beyond the carline to make an extension of the line desirable. Mr. Clarles Clegg was offered the sum of $10,000 by those residents to extend the line. He refused. How a competing line, entering Dayton View by way of Forest av. burrowed its way through the Pierce Woods, over Neal av. and out Five Oaks and emerged a square north of the Oakwood line, shutting it off forever from territory that would have greatly enriched its earnings, is too well known for repetition here.
Practically all of the land from the end of the Oakwood car line west to the Philadelphia road and north along the pike leading to the village of Salem, as far out as the present line of Fountain and Cornell avs., was known as the Harries farm. And it was the proposed development of this farm and subsequent incidents that forms the romance and the real start of Dayton View.
Along about 1902, E. S. Lorenz conceived the idea of bringing Otterbein university from Westervile to Dayton. He visioned a great "university settlement," with the college as the magnet, and composed of hundreds of beautiful homes set upon the rolling Harries acres, far above the commercial district.
Mr. Lorenz's plan met with the approval of a number of Otterbein graduates, men like Dr. W. R. Funk, Rev. Dr. Huber, the late E. L. S [illegible word] and others. It was agreed that the profits from all operations for a stipulated number of years should go to the university. He quickly secured the cooperation of the United Brethren denomination in this section, organized The College Park Improvement Co., platted the lands, leaving a generous and beautiful site for Otterbein university--and then went after the prize.
The enterprise was a failure insofar as securing a transfer of the big educational institution was concerned, but an overwhelming success from the standpoint of residential development. For a good many years after the plan fell through the stockholders, discouraged, remained inactive and refused to promote their interests further than shifting their holdings from time to time among themselves. Many withdrew their money and permitted their lots to revert to the company. A few held on, unshaken in the belief of their leader, E. S. Lorenz, that time would reveal the wisdom of the purchase. Dayton View began to push on out beyond the old Oakwood car barn. That part of the Harries' farm on which Grace M. E. church now stands, and to the west and south, was in demand, and building activities took a spurt that is to this day historic. New streets were made, and what had but a few years before been a paper plat was transformed into an actual development.
Men who hung on to their College Park investments realized profits that even the high-powered realtor of southern Florida would not today turn his back upon. I am personally acquainted with one man who, after much urging invested $2000 in College Park realty. And to my own knowledge he has already sold off $22,000 worth of it and still has remaining five lots for which he has been offered $5000 each. All from his original investment of $2000.
The extension of the Dayton Street Railway company's line on out Salem av., and the building of the "Green Line" north on Broadway and west on Lexington av. to still another new addition, "Vernon Place," started a campaign of home building in Dayton View that has known no cessation. Sensing the trend of development still another large holding company was formed, The Upper Dayton View Realty Co., now under the direct management of W. A. Keyes. This organization secured farms adjoining the old Harries' estate, totalling some 266 acres. Into their hands passed the old "Hat" Long farm and the Gabriel Durst farm.
It may be written here that tragedy, along with failure, has marked the development of Dayton View. Within a few days after they had received a comfortable fortune for the farm upon which they had toiled for long years, Gabriel Durst and his good wife were found lying dead on Salem av., at a point near Grace M. E. church. They were walking over to the city one night to visit friends when, presumably, they were struck by an automobile. The exact manner in which they met death has never been determined.
The old Simon-Mumma farm was also secured by the Upper Dayton View Co., a tract that had been conveyed to Andrew McCalla by President James Monroe in 1811, and which had subsequently passed into the hands of Hannah Flickerger and then on to the Mumma's. The old Harriet Long property, another grant from President Madison, in the year 1810, was among those taken over to complete the proposed development. On these lands was laid out Mr. Auburn, and still later Upper Dayton View.
Drive out Salem av. any evening to Grace M. E. church, turn on W. Harvard blvd. and drive into the wonderful suburb that has really been developed within the memory of any high school pupil in Dayton. Or go through Vernon Place, at the extreme western end of Lexington av., glimpse the scores of beautiful homes erected there within the past two or three years. Pass on to Philadelphia dr.--now paved from Wolf creek entirely through to the Salem pike just south of Ft. McKinley. On each side are new sub-divisions, College Park, Cornell Heights, Upper Dayton View, Chadwick Heights--and not dozens but hundreds of homes erected within the past four years, and no less than fifty now under construction.
Pass back down Salem av. from Philadelphia dr. and turn east on Catalpa dr. Pause for a view out across the city and far into the green hills of Oakwood on the south. Then marvel at square after square of new and modern homes, practically all occupied, on streets that did not exist, even on paper, as recently as six years ago. Here Grant Nicholas has developed as through by magic.
Bear south on one of these new streets into what was within the past four years corn fields and apple orchards, and deep ravines and water-washed hillsides. You are on paved streets in Marathon Hills, a magnificent new sub-division opened less than three years ago by Dr. C. H. Breidenback, George W. Mearick, and their associates.
Note the type of houses being built. There is a price range of from $6000 to $60,000 in the newer Dayton View, yet regardless of cost, each and every one is "Home." Each and every one, built within a half dozen years, is serving to bring scores of others--the whole refuting any statement by anyone at anytime that Dayton is standing still.
In Upper Dayton View alone 300 our of 570 lots have been sold since it was opened four years ago. The Nicholas, Mearick, Breidenback and Herzstam holdings, while not so extensive, show development fully as rapid. In fact, if you were in Dayton View only last summer, go back now and you will marvel at the transformation that has come about in so short a time. But it has not ended here. On vacant lots widely scattered and not included in any special development, new homes have been completed within the past twelve months, or they are no under construction. In fact, instead of halting at the Oakwood car barn, as Dayton halted less than 20 years ago, it is today built almost solidly to Fort McKinley, it extends in an unbroken line of improved residence sites, new homes, and paved streets, the entire distance from Salem av. to Philadelphia dr.--and on beyond and east across to the Covington pike.
This is not written with a view to disposing of realty in Dayton View. If it does that, then it must be to someone's interest other than the writer's. The magical development of this section of your city, however, is entitled to recognition, not only at the hands of your newspaper but to your own personal recognition. But no one can bring you to realize, through word or picture, the actual progress that has been made in Dayton View within the past five or six years. You must go into it, into all parts of it, you must visualize for yourself the vast transformation that my feeble words cannot convey.
And when you have done this you will be rewarded with a deeper feeling of pride in Dayton than you have yet possessed. Any you will be, too, in position to stand squarely before the man who says that Dayton is lagging and tell him that he lies.
If Residents of "Mexico" Could See It Now (3rd article in a series of 5)
Dayton Daily News - Sunday, August 2, 1925 - Section 2, Page 16
If Residents of "Mexico" Could See It Now!
by Howard Burba
[transcription of article]
(Editor's Note: All of that vast part of Dayton lying west of the Miami and south of Wolf Creek was originally known as "Mexico." Still later it assumed the dignity of a "railroad stop" and appeared on early time tables as "Miami City." Today it is charted as the West Side, and could easily stand as a city within itself. This vital part of Dayton has grown at a remarkable pace within the past few years, and it is the purpose of this, the third of a series of articles on the growth of Dayton to picture that growth to those who, unfortunately, have not taken the opportunity to make a personal investigation.)
There was wild excitement at the old ball park that afternoon--Jerry Lynch had just hit a home run into Prof. Brooks' watermelon patch--and there wasn't a member of either team brave enough to follow up the ball. They knew the wrath of the colored gentleman who owned that celebrated watermelon patch.
Losing a perfectly good baseball in this instance it precipitated a discussion that eventually called for a removal of the ball grounds from the old site at the west end of the present Fifth street bridge to one that later became incorporated into Fairview Park. Today Jerry Lynch and Policeman Tom McMahon and just a few others who made baseball history on that old West Side lot are left to recall when all that section at the end of the Fifth street bridge was commons. There are none here who remember when it was the heart of the hamlet of "Mexico," a rival of Dayton for a place on the map. But they've heard their grandfathers tell of the formation of a settlement west of the great Miami--so I'm going to tell you as they have told me.
Among the yellowest of musty papers in the archives of the Montgomery co. Court House you will find, under date of July 2, 1802, a land grant issued by the United States government to a section of territory in the northwestern part of the state of Virginia. This grant was made out to James Tatman, John Cox and Abel Crawford, and even before a new state had been carved out and called Ohio--the only state of the 48, by the way, that has never been officially admitted to the Union--the land had changed hands. Records show that on July 3, 1807, it was transferred to William King.
Tradition has it that King had been occupying the land as early as 1800. So, reading between the lines, one can but gather that Mr. King was what was commonly known in those days as a "squatter," and that he really came into possession of the land by right of eminent domain. At any rate--he secured title to a tract, then in Virginia--today familiarly called by all Daytonians "West Dayton."
Along about 1805 King, having sold small tracts from his holdings, established a ferry at the western end of what is now Fourth st. He constructed a broad, flat boat, capable of conveying an ordinary farm wagon across the stream. He attached a strong cable to upright posts set in each bank of the river, and as the boat was "poled" across a slip noose over this cable kept it from drifting and served to guide it on a straight course. A short way down the river, or about where the railroad bridge now spans it, the stream was considerably more shallow, and vehicles were able to "ford" it when the water was at a normal stage.
This "ford" enabled settlers living west of the river to get to and from the village of Dayton without difficulty, so a road was soon established on the west side of the river, a trail in those days but today known as the Germantown pike. Near the present site of the Kuhns factory the road forked, the right-hand branch leading off to a point about where Gettysburg av. now intersects the Eaton pike, at the north gate to the Soldiers' Home. After the Bridge street (Dayton View) bridge was erected, about 1819, still another trail was blazed, leading down along the west bank of the river to the present Williams st., and over to what is now Third st., thence on west to join the other highway.
About 1820 some lots were platted along the Germantown road, and a sub-division opened. It was given the name of "Greencastle," and lay principally around that part of the city now marking the intersection of Germantown st., with Greencastle and Summit sts. But it was not until 1840 that the trend of settlement on the West Side began to assume tangible form--and then it was toward Wolf creek.
The forties in Dayton might well be called the era of thick-headedness. It was in the early forties that the U.S. Government surveyed the first, and still the greatest, of transcontinental highways--the National Pike. That survey sent it eight miles north of Dayton. A plea was made to congress to change the route, to bring the pike far enough south to afford Dayton an east and west highway. But the plea was not marked by sufficient enthusiasm to bring about a change. Along about the same time a movement was started to construct a railroad between Cincinnati and Columbus, and Dayton citizens entered a protest. They argued that it couldn't do any more than injure the traffic of the canal and the stage coaches and besides, Dayton was getting along very well without any new-fangled method of transportation.
With the loss of the National pike and the railroad diverted to reach Columbus by way of Xenia and Springfield, an era of dirt-road building was inaugurated.
In 1845 Third st., was extended west of the river to tap the old Eaton-Richmond trail at the north gate of the Soldiers' Home, and on Feb. 24 of the same year H.S. Williams platted the town of "Mexico." It extended from what is now Williams st., eastward a couple of squares, and houses sprang up along both sides of Third st. By 1853 "Mexico" had grown to the west as far as the present side of the West End Malleable shops, and down to the river's edge on the east. Broadway was a principal thoroughfare in "Mexico," but it was then known as "Brown st."
Early in 1850, having long since realized that thick-headed tactics were blocking her progress, Dayton inaugurated a railroad-building campaign. And let it be said to the credit of the pioneers who were as quick to rectify an error as they were to make one, they out-distanced the nation in fast work. Within three years after the first railroad was in operation into Dayton she could boast six steam transportation lines.
One of the first of these was the Dayton & Western, later to be known as the Dayton & Union, and now operated as a part of the great Pennsylvania system. It crossed Third st., a little west of "Mexico," and afforded another opportunity for growth. "Mexico" was extended west on Third st., but when the railroad crossing was reached and a depot erected the transportation company preferred to do its own christening. So the railroad station was known as "Miami City."
All regular trains enroute to and from Dayton stopped at "Miami City." Today the site of the old depot is marked by a little watchman's shanty. But your grandfather can tell you when those not fortunate enough to possess a sidebar buggy or a phaeton took the train at "Miami City" for a day's shopping tour of Dayton. Not only did they consider themselves fortunate in having this means of transportation, but many actually counted it a blessing to be without a horse and buggy.
Dayton and Miami City had their traffic problems then, just as they have now. An old wooden, covered bridge had been erected across the river at Third st., and one of the chief farm products transported from the west side to the county seat was hay. Some days it seemed, according to pioneer residents, that hay wagons made up the bulk of eastbound traffic. And when a hay wagon entered that covered bridge all traffic ceased until it came out the other end. There was no czar in the form of a traffic cop to rule that part of the world. You didn't get through until the hay wagon emerged--and hay wagon drivers were immune to profanity.
During the war Miami City had its own postoffice. But in 1868 all that territory west of the river as far out as King st., was taken into the city of Dayton--and "Mexico" and "Miami City" became but memories.
The same year, to be exact, on Sept. 1, 1868, the National Military Home was opened on its present site. History tells you it was transferred from Columbus because of an unhealthy location near that city. "Al" Shartle, 73 years young, tells me it was brought here by the Republicans so they would have enough votes in this district to defeat Vallandingham for congress. I still have an abiding faith in "Al's" truthfulness. At any rate the Home came as a blessing to a struggling city that had given much of its best blood in behalf of the Union. From that moment the West Side became a vital, growing part of Dayton.-----
If you knew the West Side of early days when Sunday excursions arrived in Dayton from all parts of the state and carried the merrymakers over the old "dummy" railroad tracks directly into the Home grounds--drive over there and look at it now. If you knew West Dayton in later years, when there was little west of Western av., save pasture lands and cornfields--go in your car on excellent streets where cow-paths and corn rows once ran. If you knew West Dayton even as late as six brief years ago--take this afternoon to see it as it is today.
Pause at the most magnificent high school in all Ohio--the Roosevelt--and look at education's contribution to the New West Dayton. Then leave the old Eaton trail--now busy, bustling traffic jammed Third st., and drive north. Behold on Ardmore and Lorenz and Anna sts., running north and south, entire blocks of modern and beautiful homes erected within the past three years. Drive along Dakota st. extension, fast becoming a beautiful thoroughfare and eventually to lead, along with a half-dozen other streets, and on west as far as Gettysburg av.
Wind in and out on these streets--all smooth and well kept--up and down Charch, and Brooklyn, and Westwood, and Minerva and Walton sts., all now a vast grouping of attractive, comfortable homes, but two or three years ago in the heart of Westwood plat. Drive on along West Third st., on up the hill that affords the most magnificent vista of the downtown section and of Dayton View that can be had from any point. Look at homes built almost solidly along a street that six years ago was merely a highway that carried one from Third and Main to the Soldiers' home, three miles away. Notice house numbers in the "3000 block"--thirty squares from Main st.--two miles of homes on beyond long-forgotten "Miami City."
But don't pause here. Pass on out the Eaton pike to Residence Park, one of the city's newest, and soon to become one of her most attractive residential districts. See here home-building on a new and modern scale. Drive on to Crown Point, for Dayton has taken a far step toward the west. Here in happy homes live contented workers, more of the bone and sinew of a city that has never known a "slump."
All around Lakeside Park, once a rural amusement place, will be found homes but recently erected, while on scores of streets branching off of Third as tiny arteries from a parent vein are newly opened tracts and blueprints are being made here for future structures. But one unbroken plat remains--old McCabe park. Here, in the years to come will be an asset of untold value to West Siders, and it would be wise to have it forever remain unplatted, a breathingplace for a section of the city that will, and in a remarkable short time, be solidly studded with homes.
The new home of The McCall Publishing Co., an addition to Dayton industries of which every citizen is justly proud, is but a stone's throw from this old wooded tract. Already the demand for homes within easy access of the McCall plant has become insistent. Another two years cannot help but see a marvelous transformation in this territory.
Turn your machine onto the Germantown pike and you will find it but an extension of Germantown st., almost to the top of the hill at the southern boundary of the Soldiers' Home grounds. Diverging here and there are streets opened within the past three years--and dozens of homes either finished and inhabited or fast nearing completion. In fact, Dayton can boast another solidly built thoroughfare to the west fully as long as Third st. and that is Germantown.
Within the next few weeks Fifth st., still another main artery of travel, carrying the traffic of the lower West Side and Edgemont, will have been paved and reopened. Already the work is completed from the river to a point west of the Pennsylvania railroad crossing, and much traffic heretofore passing along W. Third st. is being diverted. This street, one of the oldest on the West Side, has also seen considerable improvement within the past few years, though it has long been so compactly built as to permit of but little expansion.
You will find West Siders fully as enthusiastic and just as strong in civic pride as their attractive and well-kept homes indicate. You will find them strong in their belief that each succeeding year is going to find Dayton growing broader and stronger and better. You may be sure of an atmosphere of progressiveness, and you will find a spirit of "Do It For Dayton" predominating every foot of space that even within the memory of many now living was once rolling cornfields, pasture lands and the humble homes of sturdy pioneers whose foresight still serves as an example well worthy of present-day emulation.
When "Texas" Was Just Across Mad River (4th article in a series of 5)
Dayton Daily News - Sunday, August 9, 1925 - Section 2, Page 14
When Texas Was Just Across Mad River
by Howard Burba
[transcription of article]
(Editor's Note: For long years that part of Dayton originally known as "Texas," but now familiarly called "North Dayton," has been recognized as the industrial section of the city. But these vast industries have brought a home-making campaign that has been especially active within the past few years, and which still continues. It is with a view to emphasizing the residential growth and advantages of North Dayton that this, the fourth series of similar articles has been prepared.)
If a few of those old pioneers who looked after municipal affairs in this particular part of the Miami Valley along about the year 1800 could come back on earth for a visit now they would probably pause in the midst of their amazement to tell you that when North Dayton was laid out and settlement started a good hunting ground was spoiled.
For a number of years after the town of Dayton proper had been platted and streets made and houses erected and stores opened all the part of the present city lying east of the Miami and north of Mad rivers was virgin forest and "thickets" of underbrush and briar--and, if early records are to be depended upon fairly alive with deer. In fact, pioneer woodsmen and trappers for many miles around looked upon the territory at the junction of the Miami and Mad rivers as their hunting paradise. One old historian, commenting on the vast number of deer inhabiting the present site of North Dayton writes:
"Fire-hunting in those days was a favorite amusement. The deer came down to the river bank in the evening and sheltered themselves for the night under the bushes which grew along the shore. As soon as they were quiet, the hunters in pirogues paddled slowly up the stream, the steersman holding aloft a burning torch of dried hickory bark, by the light of which the deer were discovered and fired upon. If the shot was successful, the party landed, skinned the animal, hung the carcass upon a tree to be brought home in the morning, and then proceeded to hunt more game. Wolves and panthers, the persistent troublers of the settlers, were constantly shot and trapped in the low, marshy jungles around the mouth of Mad river. Skins of these animals were used for mats, clothing, blankets, etc., being tanned in the trough sunk into the ground, the bark for tanning purposes being easily procurable."
Mad river was pretty much of a stream in those days, its southern bank being the present route of E. Monument av. In fact, it was navigable for several miles above the town of Dayton, and grain grown by settlers 10 and 12 miles east was brought down on flatboats. One old pioneer, David Lowry, whose name occupies a conspicuous place in the early history of the Northwest Territory, operated a paying flatboat "line" from the mouth of Donnell's creek, on Mad river, down to the Miami, and on into Cincinnati. As early as 1800 he was sending to Cincinnati, and even on down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers as far as New Orleans, pork, venison hams, flour, pelts and whisky from this territory.
About where Taylor st. now intersects Monument av. was a "ford," the road leading to it having been laid out by Robert Edgar, a pioneer from Virginia. He was also among the first to plant the wilderness north of Mad river, erecting a home at the far side of the "ford" as soon as the road was constructed. Later a ferry was established near this point, and since the old Mad river road had been extended on out the present trail of Valley st. and settlers were fast coming into the territory around the present site of Brandt and Donnelsville, it did a flourishing business.
It is of interest in these days of modern transportation methods to ponder for a moment over the ferry rates paid by our pioneer residents--it enables one to understand why they often prayed for a low river stage so they could use the "fords." Seventy-five cents was the charge for ferrying a loaded wagon and team from one bank of Mad river to the other; empty wagon and team, 50 cents; two wheeled carriage, 37 1/2 cents; man and horse, 12 1/2 cents; persons on foot, 6 1/4 cents.
All of the ferries in this neighborhood prospered for many years at the rates, with the exception of the one across Mad river. It is reported that the stream had a habit of raising so rapidly following each heavy rain, and was even at normal times treacherous on account of cross-currents, that the operation of this ferry was considered dangerous business. So in 1814 Daniel Cooper secured a charter for the erection of a bridge across Mad river, the first across any river in this entire section of country. The charter was secured, but the proposition ended there. In January, 1816, a public meeting was held and it was decided to place a bridge at the Staunton ford road--a point about where Taylor st. now taps the river. But this plan also fell through, though the next year, in 1817, it was built by the county. It was not a covered bridge, and consisted of a single span 160 feet long. In 1828 it fell into the river, but was promptly rebuilt.
The opening of this bridge in 1817 brought many settlers to the north banks of Mad river. D. Z. Cooper had secured a tract along the north bank for a quarter of a mile above where it emptied into the Miami. Beyond Cooper's line the land was owned by John Cleve Short, and it was on the latter tract that the first platting was done, and recorded, in 1814. These town lots lay north of what is now Ohio st. The Harker plat, laid out in 1841, took in that part of the north bank now occupied by the Platt Iron Works buildings, and for several squares north of them.
In 1845 Shively and Trader opened more land, laid out several lots, and gave the entire new settlement the name of "Texas." In 1841, Henry Brown set up a rival hamlet, which he called "Palma," by platting that territory north of Valley st. and west of the canal. In 1856, Kenny & Sheets platted north of Ohio st. between Troy and Keowee and the same year William Huffman sold lots in this plat along Troy, Light, Dell and Valley sts. The name "Palma" was lost sight of, however, and everything north of Mad river was known as "Texas."
"Texas" grew and flourished. New settlers came from the north and east, and found the companionship of "Texas" citizens to their liking. Already a trail had been blazed north to Troy, now the route of Troy st. and the old Troy pike; another known as the Bellefontaine road has in later years been rechristened Brandt st. and the Brandt pike, while the original Mad river road to the east, for long years the favored route to Springfield, is today Valley st. and Valley Pike.
It was not until 1890 that this territory north of Mad river and east of the Miami shook off the name of "Texas" and became officially known to the map-makers as "North Dayton." "Texas" passed into history at about the same time that "Slidertown" disappeared and South Park came to replace it.
Mad river continued to "act up," however, following every heavy rainfall, so in 1840, E. W. Davies and Alexander Grimes as trustees of the estate of D. Z. Cooper caused a survey to be made for a new channel for the river, from the old canal aqueduct over the river, straight west to the Great Miami. The work of excavating the channel was finished in 1842 at the cost of $5000--the first conservancy work ever to be attempted in the valley. Along about this time a new bridge at the Troy ford road was constructed. It stands today at the Keowee st. bridge, the main entrance to all the vast territory we know as "North Dayton."
At the southern approach to the Keowee st. bridge the city established a waterworks; adjacent to this came the Corbin Screw corporation's plant and the once gigantic Barney & Smith car works, the latter serving more than any one agency to popularize North Dayton as a residential district. Here the finest of railroad coaches were turned out for service in every state in the union, here at one time was the largest manufacturing plant between Pittsburgh and Chicago.
It has passed into history, this pioneer car plant, but posterity will hold it in memory, along with the old Platt Iron Works, for its valuable service in giving to Dayton a nation-wide reputation as a industrial city, and for being largely instrumental in populating the territory north of Mad river.
Railroad cars were made in Dayton before Dayton had a railroad. The first ones had to be transported overland or by canal boat to the rails upon which they were to be operated. But the manufacture of railroad cars quickly brought railroads, and as the Barney & Smith plant grew, so North Dayton developed. From this parent industrial seed sprang a field of flourishing factories that sent North Dayton boundary lines far to the north and east of the original site at the Staunton ford until today it covers all that vast territory that was once a paradise for the deer hunter and across which the nightly shrieks of panther and wildcat sent terror into the hearts of pioneers.-----
If you have labored under the impression that North Dayton has been content to stand still while suburbs all around her grew, you are due for an agreeable surprise. Turn the wheels of your car to the northeast and cross either the Keowee, Webster st. or Herman av. bridges. Drive first to McCook field, and note the recently-made streets from old Phillips bath house south and east, now solidly built with the homes of happy workers. Here, on the site of the McCook field garage, was once a "roadhouse," where outbound travelers paused to stock up with wet goods for a journey to the north; where inbound visitors had an opportunity to drink their own welcome to Dayton.
Today all of that has been obliterated and on out across the bridge which spans the Miami are to be found modern and splendid homes--away on out the new Troy pike to Ebenezer and beyond. Off to the right lies Ome Gardens, with its pretty homes set in a park of virgin oaks; on the left fast-growing Fieldstone Downs; adjoining these two several other sub-divisions are being graded, and new homes are going up.
Return to McCook field, drive back to any street leading east, and signal for a left turn. Within a few minutes you are on streets laid out and paved within the past six years and along which have been erected modest yet modern and comfortable residences. Reading Troy st., turn north and visualize the remarkable transformation that has come with the automobile. But a few brief years ago Leo st., was the end of everything in North Dayton. Today North Dayton is built for more than a mile to the north along the old Troy pike, a much-traveled thoroughfare, with two rapid-growing sub-divisions, Sylvanhurst and Avondale Place, bidding for carpenters to erect houses for which plans are already drawn.
Cross over to North Dayton's price--the Stuart Patterson Park--and feel a lightening of the heart as the joyous shout of happy children at play is wafted to your ears; walk through this beauty spot wherein romp the coming men and women of this substantial section. Note the solid row of pretty new homes along Baltimore st., which bounds it on the north; pause to view the attractive surroundings of scores of other homes erected along streets that were but corn rows no later than Armistice Day.
Drive across to Valley st. and try to picture it as you first knew it, a rambling rural pike that tied the county-seat of Clark co. with your home town. Look at it now, and look at the new thoroughfares leading off from it to the north and south--Stegman, Bellefontaine, Bickmore, America, St. Adelbert, Ludwig, Rannells and many others. Gaze out across the Mad river valley toward East Dayton, or down the river toward the heart of Dayton; note the healthful elevation of those homes and the inspiring beauty that stretches before them.
I'm not trying to "sell" North Dayton. It has already been sold a thousand times over in the hearts of Daytonians, and yet this part of it is just beginning to grow.
"What'll you take for your home," I asked a Valley st. resident as she busied herself about beautiful flower beds on the front lawn.
"Just try to buy it," she said with a smile, "and you'll find how much we love North Dayton."
Show your visitor into every part of the city; the hills and dales of the south; the vast valleys that stretch before the eyes from the west and north; the rolling hills and tree-bordered streets of the south and east sections--and then take him into one part that is almost as old as the original settlement. Let him see from whence comes much of the manufactured products that not only make Dayton famous, but that make all other parts of Dayton financially comfortable. Let him see the well-kept homes of the industrial workers of your city, each home bespeaking the civic pride of those it shelters.
Here, then, is the "Texas" of olden days and the "North Dayton" of the map-makers.
To you and to me, it stands as the bone and sinew of the best city that has yet been--a city whose fame from a home-loving standpoint can only be bounded on the north by the pole, on the south by the anartic circle, on the east by the rising sun and on the west by the day of judgment.
The Passing of "Buck Pasture" and "Slidertown" (5th article in a series of 5)
Dayton Daily News - Sunday, August 16, 1925 - Section 2, Page 14
The Passing of "Buck Pasture" and "Slidertown"
by Howard Burba
[transcription of article]
Well up on Mad river, where it has persistently refused for a century to remain tranquil long enough for the home-builder to reclaim hundreds of acres along its banks, workmen are engaged in the erection of a new and modern bridge. It is to replace an old structure which has long served to connect North Dayton with what is now familiarly called the "East End," and which bears all cross-river traffic east of the Keowee st. bridge.
There are in Dayton several thousand people who, even to this day, are ignorant of a passage across the river at this point, and yet as far back as the Civil War the highway now being linked by the new structure was an important one. It brought the outside world, from the north banks of Mad river to a flourishing town east of Dayton known as "Findlay." Travelers along the old Valley pike trail from Springfield could leave it at the Findlay road, cross the river to the town of Findlay, and then journey on down what is now East Third st. to the canal, where the town of Dayton had its wharf and hotel and center of industrial activity.
"Buck Pasture" in those early days was a name given to that part of Dayton lying east of Third st., between the present railroad crossing and Findlay st.--the latter thoroughfare being today what for long years was the Findlay road. "Buck Pasture" was a part of the holdings of D. Z. Cooper, and while he enriched himself considerably when he platted it in 1836 and sold the lots, embracing 37 acres, at almost ten times ore than he had originally expected to derive, his dream of shifting the original town of Dayton to "Buck Pasture" never materialized.
It may not be amiss just here to record that from the time George Newcom established his tavern on the site of the present Harbour apartments, Dayton stood sadly in need of a conservancy commission. About as regularly as the spring season made its appearance flood waters poured in from the Miami, Stillwater and Mad rivers, and pioneer settlers were forced to resort to flat-boats, pirogues and shanks' mare to save their lives. More than once lives alone were saved, since the flood waters came on so suddenly as to make the salvaging of property impossible. It is quite probable that the disastrous inundation of 1913 was held to a minimum loss of life through the fact that Daytonians inherited from their forefathers the art of "getting in the clear" when the Miami went on a rampage.
As early as 1805, when Dayton was still but "a wide place in the road," a disastrous flood swept over the village. It was then that Mr. Cooper proposed removing the entire town to a point east--including territory that later became known as "Buck Pasture"--and on the elevation around what is now the intersection of Springfield and Linden with Third st. But homes had been erected under difficulty, fords had been established and streets marked off by constant travel, so Mr. Cooper's plan fell upon deaf ears.
"Mexico" was thriving west of the river; "Texas" had been firmly established on the north bank of Mad river; "Findlay" was trying to catch a foothold away out east. So Mr. Cooper again set his surveyors to work and platted several hundred acres between the canal and Findlay st., and someone furnished the name "Oregon" to distinguish it from the various other sub-divisions fast being opened to settlement.
By far the largest single addition made to Dayton was included in the Findlay plat, made by the heirs of Gen. James B. Findlay n 1854. It consisted of about 1000 acres, 120 of which lay north of Mad river and the remainder south of the river. It embraced the original site of "Findlay," and continued under the name for several years. Much of the land was later platted by William P. Huffman, and embraces that part of the city now known as the "Huffman Hill" district.
In 1854 Highland was plated on the hills to the east, and two years later Oakland was laid out. Today both of these are included in a plat that was made still later under the name of "Mt. Anthony." Very early in the history of the city the Edgar and VanCleve families threw in large realty holdings, and there came as a result all of that part of the city now centered around Wayne av. and Wyoming st. As late as 1889 an important plat was opened, quickly sold and quickly built up. It is today known as Ohmer Park, in honor of a pioneer family of which many descendants still survive.
The year 1889 is not recalled in Dayton history as the one in which Ohmer Park alone was established, however. It is even more significant, since it was in that year that natural gas was first piped into the city of Dayton, and it was in the same year that the first ice factory to be established here started operations and forever furnished citizens of this section protection from capricious weather conditions. It also marked the opening of paving on a part of Fifth st.--the first street ever to be paved in the history of Dayton.
While she had a canal, and was enjoying a flourishing business by reason thereof, Dayton awakened along about 1850, to the fact that in encouraging the old Cincinnati, Springfield and Sandusky railroad--a line she lost through a lack of foresightedness--Springfield and Xenia were outstripping her industrially. Settlers were hanging up their hats where the spirit of progress appeared more deeprooted. So a committee of citizens quickly called a mass meeting and subscribed $150,000 worth of stock for building a connection between Dayton and the main line at Xenia. With $20,000 subscribed by Springfield interests, the road was started, tracks being laid from both towns toward a central point. Before the connection had been made, however, an old Baldwin engine was dismantled, at Xenia, brought to Dayton, set up at the Webster st. crossing, and operated over this end of the tracks. The line was completed on Jan. 15, 1851, and two days later, an excursion from Springfield reached Dayton. The same week a regular schedule was established. From that date on the future of Dayton was assured, and the fact that the road ran through the eastern and southeastern part of the city had much to do with the development of those sections.
Factories began to spring up along the railroad, and today southeast Dayton numbers some of the largest and most substantial industrial plants to be found in the middle west. These, too, served to bring about a rapid, residential growth, workmen employed in them preferring to have their homes nearby. The building of the Dayton State hospital converted Wayne av. into a main tributary, and opened up a new gateway to Xenia, Wilmington, and other towns to the southeast.
Within the past few years there has been a steady trend in home building to the east and southeast. In fact, a survey of but a few weeks ago shows there have been constructed in this section alone within the past six years almost one thousand homes. The war brought the need of a great flying field in this part of the United States; and when activities were started at what is now know to the world as Wright Field, Dayton began pushing her home-building in that direction. Today Springfield st. is built almost to the Montgomery-Greene co. line at the site of the Huffman dam. Third st. and Fifth st. and Huffman av. have gone on over and beyond what but a few short years ago were seemingly impregnable hills. Today hundreds of homes are to be found on this commanding eminence, new sub-divisions have been platted and improved and hundreds of lots sold, while the city has improved streets throughout that section that bring it into close touch with the downtown district.
We have in this series had occasion to trace the frequent removals of the old Dayton ball park, showing how the march of progress set it from the western end of the Fifth st. bridge far out North Main st.; how the demand for more and more homes finally necessitated its removal, along with Fairview park, that another magnificent residential district might be opened. From Fairview it was transferred to the high elevation at the outskirts of the city on the Xenia pike, and christened "Highland Park." But, destroyed by fire, and with a gradual decrease in public patronage, the old park finally passed into history. Today Highland Park is the site of scores of newly-built homes. In some instances enterprising home-builders have erected houses along both sides of entire city blocks--and nowhere in Dayton is the scene of construction activity more animated than here. The Dayton Street Railway pushed its line on to the east along the Xenia pike in an endeavor to keep abreast of the building program, and today one reaches over perfectly paved streets and the Xenia pike or by trolley one of the fastest-growing sub-divisions ever to be platted in the city--Hearthstone.
Along Overlook av., at the western edge of Hearthstone, one travels south into still another addition of which all Dayton is proud--Belmont. Here but a few years ago apple and peach orchards were in profusion. George Nauerthal [name slightly illegible] sensing the home-building spirit that had seized upon his fellow-men, mapped out a model village. It was platted along the old Smithville road, with Overlook av. intersecting as a north and south highway. Here was established a sub-station of the Dayton and Xenia traction line, groceries, general stores, garages, in fact, every convenience and necessity. Today, Belmont boasts her own fire department, excellent schools, water, gas, electric light and power and within a few months perfectly paved thoroughfares. She touches elbows closely with the city proper at Arbor av. and the east boundary of the State hospital property, and is a vital and valuable part of the city, though lying just outside the corporation line.
Leading off from Wyoming st., north and south, from Wayne av. east, many new streets have been opened within the past six years, extending north to intersect with Fifth and Huffman and south to the corporate limits, and these, too, are today with few exceptions, solidly built with homes. Ohmer Park offers only an occasional building site, so rapidly has it been developed.
No other section has grown more rapidly, or more substantially than that part of Dayton known as South Park. For years this territory was embraced in "Slidertown." The late John H. Patterson, from the moment he laid the first brick of what was destined to be the nation's greatest industrial plant, had an abhorrence of that name. And when morning after morning workmen visited the infant plant to find windows smashed and other depredations committed by the boys of "Slidertown" it became apparent to Mr. Patterson that here was an excellent opportunity for some strenuous home mission work. He knew boys, and knew that at heart they are not bad. They had to have something to occupy their time, and mischief appeared to be the easiest thing to get into.
He reasoned that if these youthful citizens of "Slidertown" had an opportunity to engage in worthwhile play they would quickly forsake their destructive tendencies, and in this deduction he was eminently correct. He laid out small gardens and offered cash prizes to the boy and girl raising the best flowers and the best vegetables. He went still farther and offered liberal prizes in gold each year to "Slidertown" families displaying the most beautiful front lawns and back yards. He even had his own landscape gardeners assist him in planting trees and vines and shrubbery, and in wiping out unsightly spots. Very soon rivalry in home beautification became keen, and appearance of surroundings took front rank in the ambitions of those who resided in that section of the city.
Then one day the old name of "Slidertown" disappeared, and there came instead beautiful "South Park," in keeping with the progress of the great factory that gave employment to thousands of residents of that territory. To this day the work of home beautification in South Park is religiously maintained, and the fame of its lawns and gardens has been carried into every state by the medium of stereopticon pictures and National Cash Register lecturers.
Far more than one quarter of the city of Dayton lies within that territory embraced between Third st. from Main east and Main st. from Third south. And growth from a home-building standpoint has probably been on a greater scale, over a period of ten or twelve years, than in any other part of the city. In fact, to the resident of West Dayton, of Dayton View or of North Dayton, visiting East Dayton, Belmont and South Park is now almost the same as a trip to another city. It has grown beyond the knowledge of the average Daytonian, and its future growth is evidenced on all sides.
There has never been a "boom" in this particular section of the city; there has never been an inflated price on realty; there has been no year but property was worth more than it was worth the year that preceded it.
There is still vast room for expansion out E. third st., out Huffman av., down along the Xenia and Wilmington pikes.
An that expansion is now under way, and bids fair to continue so long as Dayton's future outlook is as bright as it is at this time.
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Dayton Daily News - June 30, 1985, The Magazine, Pages 7-10
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
How The Past Was Paved
by Adele Koehnen
[transcription of article]
In the late 1700's, several pioneer families built log cabins along the banks of the Miami River, where they had landed in riverboats. The first street at that site was appropriately dubbed Water Street. At the same time, Colonel George Newcom and his party came by land from Cincinnati and built the first tavern there. It is now preserved at Carillon Park.
Water Street was changed to Monument Avenue when in 1884 an 85-foot-tall monument honoring the Civil War veterans was erected at the intersection at Main Street. By 1948 it blocked the flow of automobile traffic to and from the Main Street Bridge and it became necessary to move the monument to Riverview Park overlooking the city.
Colonel Israel Ludlow and his friend, Daniel C. Cooper, laid out the town in 1794 and named it Dayton after General Jonathan Dayton, a fellow continental Army officer. Ludlow was satisfied to have a street named for him. A park adjacent to the library was named for Cooper, who was responsible for Dayton's wide streets..."wide enough for a coach and eight horses to turn around."
St. Clair Street was named for General Arthur St. Clair, who served in the French and Indian Wars and was later appointed governor of the Northwest Territory in 1787 by President George Washington. General James Wilkinson fought with Mad Anthony Wayne and was later court-martialed as a co-conspirator of Aaron Burr.
Since St. Clair, Wilkinson and Ludlow streets were named for the owners of the land, was Jefferson Street named after President Thomas Jefferson? Only as a compromise was it named for the president, since proprietors of the land were Federalists.
Why the numerically named east and west streets were chosen may have been for clarity or simply from lack of imagination. Hazelnut bushes obscured everything but First and Second streets to the south. A narrow wagon road was cut out of the whole length of Main Street to Water Street leading across a wooden bridge over the Mad River, nearly opposite what is now Webster Street, leading north to towns called Livingston, Stauton and Piqua. This road and the Cincinnati Road coming into Main Street from the south were the only roads for many years. Of course, they were not paved as they are today, and were almost impassable when the weather was inclement. The horses' feet would become stuck in mud holes and consequently travelers were often delayed for hours.
The War of 1812 brought troops through Main Street and this road was at least kept in tolerable condition. Perry Street was named after Commodore Oliver H. Perry of the War of 1812 fame. Years before it was on the town's maps as Cherry Lane because of Cherry trees lining the street.
Floods plagued the early settlers in 1805 and again in 1814..."a canoe could be floated at the intersection of Main and St. Clair...only two dry spots in the whole city." Dayton really developed in commerce and population when the canal from Cincinnati was open for navigation in January 1829. Today, Patterson Boulevard marks the route of that canal.
Hardly a man or woman is alive who remembers the old, old streets of Dayton: Lodwick, Blind, Joe, Dock, Hope, Ophelia, Roe, Newcom, Spratt and Zizzag...long gone as victims of progress. The first city directory published by James Odell, Jr., in 1850 lists them as important streets, offshoots of the east, west numbered tributaries then extended to Six Street.
The desire to cross the Miami River to the north resulted in the construction of a covered wooden bridge in 1817. It washed away in 1852. Another covered bridge, a toll bridge, took its place in 1856 and pedestrians paid two cents; wagons, six and one-half cents, and a man and horse, nine cents.
This bridge extended to a road stretching to the southwest crossing Wolf Creek and continuing to old Eaton Road in the neighborhood of now Germantown Street. This served as an outlet for travel from west and south as well as north.
In 1895, the bridge did not go to now Salem Avenue, instead it continued west along now Riverview Avenue until it reached Broadway, then turned north and ran to the old town of Salem. When Dayton View was opened, Salem Avenue was constructed and for years it was known as the New Salem Pike.
J. O. Arnold built a lovely home in Dayton View and was instrumental in developing the new area. He was known as the father of Dayton View. Arnold Place was named for him. He penned a scrapbook in which he told of the Old Ford, a point in the Miami River which contained a solid gravel bottom. Buffalo, deer, bear, small game and Indians found the Old Ford a quick crossing to the other bank of the river.
This also could be considered an early road or passageway since three great highways diverged from this point: One up Wolf Creek Valley to Ft. Greenville; the other two toward Covington, Ft. Recovery and Celina. These highways with their lateral branches formed a network of roads over highlands and hillsides because lowlands were usually impassable.
Wolf Creek Road was named after the treacherous creek. Arnold stated in his scrapbook, "When a goodwife would start on horseback to town with her basket of maple sugar, eggs, and wild honey, anxiety would be felt since thunderstorms were frequent. The Wolf Creek, aptly named, would be high and many times her horse would have to swim the creek."
Out of the old trails in Dayton View came winding, tree-bordered boulevards lined with beautiful majestic houses. The streets were named Forest, Grand, and Superior to capture the elegance. A college atmosphere resulted with the establishment of Bonebrake Seminary, now United Theological Seminary. Builders took the seminary's lead and named the new streets University, Oxford, Cambridge, Campus, Amherst, Yale, Otterbein, Earlham, Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Bryn Mawr and Princeton.
In other directions Dayton streets were named for a variety of reasons. Gettysburg Avenue received its name because of the cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg, which was located in a round-house near the Soldiers Home.
The name of Hoover Avenue had nothing to do with President Hoover but rather with the Hoover Plat that developed around 1917. Two names that had a bearing on the naming were Oliver P. Hoover and Samuel Hoover. Western Avenue just happened to be the city's western corporation line.
The eighth stop out of Dayton on the old interurban line operated by the Dayton and Troy Electric Railway became Stop Eight Road.
McCook Avenue naturally received its name from McCook Field, a U.S. Signal Corp venture for research and experimentation beginning in 1917. The 254-acre land tract had been owned by General Anson McCook. The family boasted 15 commissioned officers in the United States military.
A group of New York Shakers named Watervliet, who lived and practiced their cult in the Belmont area at the turn of the century, gave that avenue its name.
Two important streets were named for early Daytonians who were manufacturers and visionaries. In 1812 William Huffman came to Dayton from New Jersey and became a merchant and speculator in real estate. He built the first stone residence in Dayton at the corner of Third and Jefferson streets. Jonathan Harshman arrived in Montgomery County from Maryland in 1806 at the age of 24. He purchased 40 acres of land, which is now Mad River Township.
The development of Dayton's southern boundary got its start with Daniel C. Cooper's 1,000 acre hog farm in 1799. On this land he also built a distillery and a sawmill and later a corn cracker, north of the present Oakwood corporation line. He sold it to Colonel Robert Patterson, a Revolutionary War soldier and Indian fighter, who operated a grist mill, a cloth processing mill and a sawmill. It was all destroyed by fire in 1815.
Today, Stonemill and Sawmill Roads take their names from Cooper's and Patterson's ventures. Patterson built his family's homestead, a two-story brick house and named it Rubicon, now on the National Register of Historic Places. A street adjacent to the house took the name of the homestead.
Brown Street, dedicated in 1848, was named after Thomas Brown, who moved from Lebanon to Xenia in 1825 and to Dayton in 1828. He was a member of the first Dayton Board of Education and also served in the Ohio Assembly. He was a director of the state prison from 1848 to 1851. His occupation, however, was as a brick maker and contractor and in those capacities he was responsible for many homes in the Oregon District.
It took longer for this area south of Main Street to reach its potential for people and business even though the National Cash Register Company and the Montgomery County Fairgrounds drew the populace for work and pleasure. People did not consider making their homes so far from the center of town. Except for a horse and buggy ride to enjoy the pure, native wines at Kramer Pleasure Gardens, now the site of the Dayton Country Club, the dense woodlands were thought of as country in the early 1900s. Kramer Road was named for this social center.
Plats did spring up and men like Adam Schantz, John Shroyer and Gabriel B. Harman rightfully deserved to have streets named for them since they saw the future in "the bluffs" as it was known before it became Oakwood. Harman planted trees along the early streets and built his home on then Lebanon Turnpike, now the site of Oakwood High School.
Other men of vision went still farther south to Van Buren Township, Washington Township and Centerville. Contractors named the streets in their developments after their wives or daughters.