While many of the streets in our area are named after important people to Dayton, some simply refer to geographic terms. Let’s look at a few examples of both.

• Alex-Bell Road: the route connects Alexandersville to Bellbrook.
• Patterson Road and Boulevard: All are named after either John H. Patterson, the founder of NCR, or his grandfather Colonel Robert Patterson.




• Dorothy Lane: According to local stories, John H. Patterson had a daughter named Dorothy, who loved to ride her horse up and down the street. Patterson affectionately called the street, “Dorothy’s Lane.” After some research, we found that John H. Patterson did in fact have a daughter named Dorothy, but also a wife named Dorothy.
  

  
  View of Dorothy Lane from the Ridgeway Road bridge.

• Far Hills Avenue: The best way to sum this up is with the quote, “When the early settlers in the small town of Dayton looked to the south, they saw a series of hills about 3 miles from them, and they called these hills, ‘The Far Hills.’” – History of Van Buren Township and Kettering.
• Wayne Avenue: Named after “Mad” Anthony Wayne. Although, he did not help to settle Dayton, his defeat of the Indian Confederacy in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 made settlement of the land possible.
• Shroyer Road and Braddock Road: Named after early settlers and businessmen, John Shroyer and Ralph Braddock.
• Edwin C. Moses Boulevard: Edwin C. Moses was an Olympic Gold Medalist in Track in the 1976 and 1984 games.
• Steven Whalen Boulevard: William Steven Whalen was a Dayton police officer killed in the line of duty on March 22, 1991.
• James H. McGee: Formerly Western Ave, the street’s name was changed in 1988 to honor this former politician and Civil Rights activist. He was also the first African-American (and longest-tenured) mayor of Dayton.

Have a street name you’d like to know the story behind? Or know of an interesting one we missed? Let us know!