Tag Archives: Dayton history

Fun Dayton Facts

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Here are a few more interesting facts about Dayton!

  • Of the original purchasers of the land for Dayton, Jonathan Dayton’s name was chosen because it was considered the most pleasing name to grace the township.
  • Dayton’s first hanging took place on a gallows east of the river, where Sinclair Community College is now located. This fact is the basis for the storied hauntings of the campus.
  • Dayton’s flood of 1866 cost the city a quarter of a million dollars and left only the corn crops standing in its wake.
  • Dayton born Daniel Denison Bickham pitched for the Cincinnati Reds in 1886 for one game. He returned to Dayton when his father called him home because he felt baseball was “not a gentlemanly sport.”
  • Charles Bickham, Daniel’s brother, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1904 because he “crossed a fire-swept field, in close range of the enemy and bought a wounded soldier to a place of shelter.“
  • Father to Daniel and Charles Bickham, William Bickham, was Dayton’s leading newspaper editor. After the riot that burned the office of the Dayton Journal, Bickham arrived to revive the paper and return it to financial stability.
  • The Wright brothers built their first glider for about $15.

Olt Brewing Company

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Charles J. Olt, along with his three brothers, Frederick, Edward, and Oscar and their father John incorporated the Olt Brewing Company (later the Olt Brothers Brewing Company) in 1907. Charles served as the president of Olt Brewing Company for many years. Olt Brewing operated from 1907 until 1942, even staying in operation during Prohibition by distilling water and distributing dairy products.
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Sara had her first Author Talk!

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Troy-Miami County Public Library hosted Sara’s first Author Talk last night! We had a great audience who asked so many interesting questions. Thanks so much to every one who came out! If you’d like to purchase Sara’s book, see our Where to Buy page!

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Sara has a few more events scheduled (listed below), but you can also check our Events Calendar for more Author events coming up!

Book Sales & Signing
When:
Friday, August 6th, 6pm-9pm
Where:
Bonnett’s Book Store (in front)
502 East 5th Street
Dayton, OH 45402

Author Talk, Book Sales & Signing
When:
Thursday, September 2nd, 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Where:
Winters-Bellbrook Community Library
57 West Franklin Street
Bellbrook, OH 45305

Sara’s Author Talk

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Meet Dayton Unknown’s very own local author, Sara Kaushal, and learn more about her recently released book, Murder and Mayhem in Dayton and the Miami Valley next week on Thursday, July 22, at 6:30 PM.

Troy Miami County Public Library will be hosting. If you have not gotten her book yet, this is your chance to buy it! If you already have the book, come get it signed!

The Troy-Miami County Public Library is located at 419 West Main Street, Troy, Ohio 45373.

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Also, please wish a HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to Dayton Unknown’s other half, Bethany! Bethany is very important to Dayton Unknown and DU wouldn’t survive without her! Happiest of Birthdays to you!

Miscellaneous Dayton Facts

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It’s been a while since we shared some miscellaneous facts about Dayton, so here are a few!

  • The expression “You’re fired” dates back to John Henry Patterson, founder of NCR. Patterson was reported to have terminated an employee by having his desk taken outside and set on fire.
  • The name of the horse in the statue with John H. Patterson in Hills and Dales Park is Spinner.
  • The Ohio accent is the basis of the accent taught to newscasters – The Ohio accent is considered to be so bland that you don’t hear the accent, just the words.
  • The group Stars of Joy was the first local African American gospel group to air on WHIO TV.
  • Possum Run Creek got its name from the great number of possums being caught in the lowlands.
  • John H Patterson urged the city to build a road over the canal, and that’s how Patterson Boulevard got its name.
  • The Thomas Clegg house on the corner of First and Jefferson is Dayton’s oldest continuously occupied home. Downtown used to be a glamorous place for the rich to live in young Dayton, but the 1913 flood and increasing noise of streetcars and traffic made downtown living less appealing. The house was renovated in the early 2000s for condo use.
  • The Wright Brothers purchased Spruce from Requarth Lumber in Downtown Dayton for the second and third Wright flyers.

Murder & Mayhem in Dayton and the Miami Valley is Out!

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Sara’s book has been released by The History Press!wp-1624473617276.jpg

You can purchase from Sara directly at one of the upcoming author events (we’ll update you), or get the book at the following links:

Dr. Helen Octavia Dickens Henderson

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Even as a child, Helen Octavia Dickens knew she wanted to be a doctor even though she had many odds stacked against her as a black woman born in 1909. Helen’s father was born into slavery then raised by a Union Colonel from the age of nine. After obtaining his freedom, he named himself Charles Warren Dickens, after the famous author he once met. Helen Octavia Dickens was born in Dayton on February 21st, 1909.

Helen’s father Charles had dreams of becoming a lawyer, but when racial prejudice reared its ugly head, preventing his dream, he took a job as a janitor to support his family. He never lost hope in the future for his children and sent them to one of the few integrated schools in the area to get them the best education possible. Daisy Dickens, Helen’s mother, worked as a domestic servant until she married Charles. Despite Charles insisting his wife stay at home, he encouraged Helen to become a nurse. But Helen had different plans. If she could be a nurse, Helen reasoned, she could also be a doctor. “It was what I wanted to do and I didn’t see why I couldn’t do it.” she’d say.
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The Story of Natalie Clifford Barney

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In honor of Pride Month, we thought we would re-share the story of Daytonian Natalie Clifford Barney.

“I built a fire to welcome her
And my voice sighed
Aloud her name. To be with her
This night, I would have died…”

Natalie Clifford Barney was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1876, to an affluent family. By age twelve, Natalie knew she was a lesbian. Although society in the late 1800’s was very conservative, Natalie knew she would “Live openly, without hiding anything.”

Natalie developed an interest in the French language as a child. Her governess often read Jules Vern stores aloud to her in French, and she had to learn the language quickly to understand the stories.  In adulthood, Natalie was fluent in French, and published most of her work in French.
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Dayton viewed by New York 1878

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Howard Burba, a well known Dayton Daily News reporter in the early 1930s, wrote many stories centering not only around Dayton events, but Dayton itself. One of which was an article he found from the New York Daily Graphic, October 29, 1878. Quotes from this article describe Dayton as seen through the eyes of C. H. Miller, a New York journalist.

Here are some excerpts from the article he wrote:

    • “Dayton, the county seat of Montgomery Co., is universally conceded by visitors to be one of the most beautiful cities on the continent. And its surroundings are equally attractive. It is notable for its broad, clean, smooth avenues, its uniformly comfortable and numerous elegant residences, its admirable public school system and school houses, its handsome church architecture, its numerous and large manufacturing establishments and the general air of thrift and solid comfort which pervades the community. It is indisputably one of the most delightful of inland cities for a home, and as reliable in its established wealth and credit as any fortunate city in the Union. These are features which impress all strangers, and the well-contented people of Dayton are pardonable for the pride they take in their most enviable city.”

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This Day in History – November 6th, 1967

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Phil Donahue’s talk show premiered November 6, 1967 on WLWD-TV in Dayton. The first guest to appear on the show was atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

Considered to be a pioneer of the genre, Donahue’s show included controversial topics and had audience involved in the story, interacting with the host and guest and often asking questions.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Donahue moved to Dayton to host a phone-in radio show called Conversation Piece. This show aired from 1963 until the start of his show in 1967.

The Phil Donahue Show was later syndicated and went on to be the most watched syndicated talk show in 1980. The show won twenty Emmy awards and was inducted into the national Television Hall of Fame. The show ran in syndicate for twenty-six years, finally dipping in rates when other talk shows chose more inflammatory topics, while Donahue strayed away from the shock tactics. When the show ultimately went off the air in 1996, it had aired nearly 7,000 episodes in total.