Category Archives: Local History

Fairmont Firebird Symbol

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Most Kettering residents have a connection to Kettering Fairmont, whether it’s because they attended or they have children who do/did. For those they can easily remember the blue and white school colors and the beloved mascot, the firebird. For some residents, they can even remember Fairmont East and Fairmont West.

Fairmont was originally opened in September 1906 on Dorothy Lane just west of Far Hills. As the population of Van Buren Township grew, the four-room schoolhouse was quickly becoming too small. A replacement building just east of the original building became the temporary high school until the new building on Far Hills at Storms Avenue (where Van Buren Middle School is now) opened in 1929. The school colors were purple and white, and the mascot was a Dragon.
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The Tragic Life of Enos Doolittle and his Doolittle Tavern

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In 1820, Enos Doolittle arrived in Centerville, where he quickly rented a building and opened a dry goods store. Two years later, Enos married Bathsheba Robbins, the youngest daughter of one of Centerville’s founders, Benjamin Robbins.
In the same year, Enos started buying several lots of land, and in 1823 he eventually built a two-story stone building and opened the Doolittle Tavern where the current Town Hall stands. According to The History of Montgomery County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County from 1882, the Doolittle Tavern was known as the best place to stop west of the Allegheny Mountains. Continue reading →

Have you bought Sara’s Book yet?

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Have you bought Sara’s book yet?

Murder & Mayhem in Dayton and the Miami Valley came out last June, featuring many true crime stories in Dayton from the 1800s and early 1900s.

You can buy an autographed copy directly from Sara here!

Also stay tuned for a post soon with some teasing previews of the stories in the book!

Baby Foundling – “He’s Everybody’s Baby Now”

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On a cold January evening in 1944, a young girl was seen carrying a baby around the neighborhood of West Third Street. Moments later, loud cries attracted the attention of passerby Percy Dechamp to the doorway of 34 West Third Street. Upon investigation, Dechamp found a baby dressed warmly in a shirt, jacket, and kimono. He was wrapped in two blankets.

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Tonja Buford-Bailey

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Tonja Yvette Buford-Bailey was born December 13, 1970 in Dayton, to a mostly-single mother, and is one of seven children. At 8 years old, Tonja joined the track club at her elementary school and while attending Meadowdale High School, she became a four-time state hurdles champion.

Her successes led to three trips to the Olympics – Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, and Sydney in 2000. When Tonja made the team in 1992, she was just 21 and was the second youngest Olympian from the U.S. to be sent to Spain. Once the Dayton Daily News published an article about Tonja going to Barcelona, it was publicized that her mother wouldn’t be able to afford the trip to Spain. The article spurred Daytonians on to donate funds to pay for the trip, and Tonja’s mother was able to see Tonja compete.

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Edith Deeds

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Edith Deeds was born in Spring Valley in 1869, to Samuel and Mary Walton, and was the older sister of William Walton. In her early life, Edith studied music, painting, and languages at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Though her father Samuel was a Quaker, the family attended the First Baptist Church after moving to Dayton. It was there that Edith met Colonel Edward Deeds. Edith and Edward married on June 5, 1900. Throughout their marriage, Edith assisted her innovative husband and the infamous Barn Gang by performing office work and participating in the development of the automobile self-starter.
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Benjamin Archer

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In 1788, Benjamin Archer moved to Kentucky from New Jersey with his brothers-in-law, Aaron Nutt, Sr. and Benjamin Robbins. The three men struggled with the existence of slavery in Kentucky and after issues with land titles, they decided to leave Kentucky and move to Ohio. Archer, Robbins, and Nutt are considered to be the founders of Centerville.

Archer purchased over 500 acres of land near Clyo Road and Alex-Bell Road – which was originally outside of Centerville’s city limits. Archer came back to Ohio in 1798 to settle with his family.
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A Brief History of Spring Valley

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At the intersection of two busy trade routes, the village of Spring Valley was founded in 1844 by a Quaker father and son duo, Edward Walton, and Moses Walton (grandfather and great-grandfather of William Walton). The Cincinnati-Xenia Pike crossed the Little Miami Railroad, and with the many natural springs and Little Miami River, the location provided the perfect crossroads to build an agricultural market.

By 1860, Spring Valley had a hotel, tannery, two blacksmiths, two cabinetmakers, two physicians, two grocers, and a shoemaker, along with a wool mill and flour mill, started by prominent citizen, George Barrett. Moses Walton also partnered with George Barrett’s son, Isaac, to produce and distribute smoked meats, wool, and flax products nationally.
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Ida Weller

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Ida Evaline Albrecht (later Albright) was born in 1876 to farmer parents. Her father’s farm was located on the western side of State Route 48, where Bethany Lutheran Village now stands.

In 1893, At the age of 17, Ida graduated from the Washington Township High School on West Franklin Street. The building still stands today, and until recently, was the Las Piramides Mexican restaurant. Two years later at the age of 19, Ida earned her teaching certificate from Ohio Northern College and from 1895-1897, Ida taught at Schoolhouse Number 8, which was located at McEwen Road and State Route 725.
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William Walton

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While driving through Centerville, have you ever spotted a tiny sign – “Walton House Museum” and wondered what it was? So have we! As it turns out, this stone house was built in 1838 by Henry Reese, who bought the parcel of land from one of Centerville’s founders, Benjamin Robbins. Eventually, William Walton and his wife Miriam (known as Mary) bought the house in 1927.

William Walton was born April 1st, 1876 to Samuel and Mary Walton. William was the grandson and great-grandson of the founders of Spring Valley, Moses and Edward Walton. Also, William’s older sister Edith married Colonel Edward A. Deeds and later created the beloved Deeds Carillon Bells.

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