Category Archives: Dayton Fun Facts

Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948)

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In honor of what would be Orville’s 146th birthday, here are some facts about the younger Wright Brother:

  • Orville was a snazzy dresser – Orville wore well-tailored suits, wingtips, and “snappy argyle socks.”

  • Orville loved playing the mandolin. In fact, he played it so often that it drove his sister Katherine to say, “He sits around and picks that thing until I can hardly stay in the house the point of madness.”

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Dayton Unknown Spotlight: Laurana Wong

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Back in October, we hosted the Dayton Unknown Fall Scavenger Hunt at Wegerzyn Gardens. It was a beautiful fall day, and we had some great submissions from our participants. We awarded two prizes, one of which is a feature story here on the blog. Our winner of this prize is Laurana Wong – an incredibly fascinating character.
We came up with fifteen questions we thought would truly showcase Laurana’s personality and told her that she could pick and choose which questions to answer. In true Laurana form, she decided to answer all of them! We hope you enjoy learning about her as much as we did!

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Dayton Firsts Part 12

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  • First Telegraph Message – Received in Dayton on September 17, 1847.
  • First United Brethren Church – The first United Brethren church in Dayton was organized in 1847, in a small room in the Oregon Engine House. Their first church building was erected in 1852, at Sixth Street and Logan Street, later being purchased by the city and converted into a city prison.
  • First Gas Company – Chartered February 4, 1848, by Daniel Beckel, Peter Voorhees, Daniel Stout, I.F. Howells, David Winter, J.D. Loomis, J.D. Phillips, Valentine Winters, John Mills and Daniel W. Weelock.
  • First Hebrew congregation – The first Hebrew congregation was organized in 1850. They met in the old Dayton Bank building until 1863, when they purchased the old Baptist house of worship.

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Miamisburg Mound

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Located at 900 Mound Street, Miamisburg Mound pre-dates Dayton – but it is very important to Dayton History. Here are some facts:

  • The Mound is actually a burial mound, and it is one of the largest conical mounds in North America, and is the largest conical mound in Ohio.

  • The Mound is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

  • Mounds like this served as cemeteries, and may have also marked boundary lines for tribal territories.

  • The Mound is 65 feet tall. It was originally 68 feet tall, before an excavation attempt in 1869.

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The History of Sinclair College

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“Find the need and endeavor to meet it.” – David Ainslie Sinclair

Although his tombstone in Woodland simply states “Secretary of the YMCA”, David Sinclair did much more for Dayton and its residents.

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Dayton Fun Facts

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Time for another round of small, but interesting facts we’ve found in our research!

  • Dayton is the 6th largest city in Ohio.
  • There are a few former Indian burial grounds: one at the corner of Water Street (now Monument Avenue) and Beckel Street (Beckel Street still currently exists in part, but no longer intersects with Monument Avenue), one on the Fairgrounds Hill, one on a knoll in Woodland Cemetery, one at the north end of the Dayton View Bridge, and one at the west end of the Third Street Bridge.
  • James S. Trent – for whom Trent Arena at Fairmont High School is named – was a superintendent and educator.
  • The Dayton Dragons, farm team for the Cincinnati Reds, have played ball downtown since 2000, and recently set the national professional sports record for consecutive sellout home games.

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David’s Cemetery Notable Burials

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Located at the corner of David Road and Mad River Road in Kettering, David’s Cemetery has many notable burials:

  • Harry Schwab – Dayton golfer, won Senior P.G.A., died July 25th, 1976
  • Hadley Watts – former Superintendent of Centerville Schools, died August 9th, 1969
  • Richard E. Kelchner – founder of Kelchner Excavating Company, died July 15th, 2002
  • Clark Haines – founder of NCR Band in 1973, died 6/23/2001

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    Dayton Firsts Part 11

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    • First Odd Fellows Lodge – The first lodge of Odd Fellowship in Dayton was known as Montgomery Lodge No. 5, and was instituted on May 3, 1833.
    • First Museum – A committee met at the courthouse on September 16, 1837, to organize a “zoological museum.” A room was secured at the head of the canal basin but the project was abandoned shortly after.
    • First City Charter – On March 27, 1841, by a special act of the legislature, Dayton emerged from the classification of a town to that of a city.

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    The Escape of John Wilkes Booth

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    This story is only indirectly connected to Dayton, but too fascinating not to share!

    In 1924, Whitney Bolton, editor of the Dayton Daily News, wrote an article telling of the escape of John Wilkes Booth, after interviewing reporter John Young. At age seven, Young had attended the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre with his father. It was a night Young would never forget.

    Near the end of the second act, a shot rang out and a man crashed to the stage, brandished a long knife, yelled, “Sic semper tyrannis!” and ran away, a significant limp in his step.

    Years later, Young interviewed James Kelley, a man who had been a member of the Richmond Theatre Company with John Wilkes Booth. Booth and Kelley had shared a dressing room and the services of a young dressing valet named Henry.

    When the war started, Booth became passionate for the South, at first enthusiastically, then slowly becoming sullen and angry. The change in his mood caused John Wilkes Booth to be fired from his acting job. Booth left for Washington, and took Henry with him. He left behind a number of play manuscripts with scribbled notes in his handwriting. Kelley kept the manuscripts.

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    Dayton Firsts Part 10

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    Time for some more firsts!

    • First Canal boat – The first canal boat built in Dayton was christened the Alpha and was launched on Saturday, August 16, 1828, at 2 p.m. The first canal boat to arrive in Dayton with the formal opening of the canal was the General Brown. It arrived at the landing near the present site of the main branch of the Dayton Metro Library on January 26, 1829.
    • First Mayor – In 1829 a new charter went into effect in Dayton. Under it, the chief executive of the city became referred to as the Mayor, instead of the President of Council. Under the new charter John Folkerth was made the first Mayor of Dayton.

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