The River Walk begins at the northeast corner of Main Street and Monument Avenue, where you will see an 8×8 brick medallion in the pavement. This medallion announces that Dayton is the “Innovation Capital of the World,” due to the fact that Dayton has had more inventions per capita than any other city in the United States.
Besides the seven main Invention Stations, the bricks commemorate several other inventions and innovations:
- cellophane
- digital watches
- Freon
- the cracking of the Enigma Code in WWII
If you’re interested in walking around the Dayton Inventors River Walk to get a little bit of excerise, check out our post, Exercise Dayton: Riverscape Inventors Walk. We have also hosted a Photo Walk at the Inventors Walk!
Happy 224th Birthday, Dayton!
As our favorite Dayton historian, Charlotte Reeve Conover put it in the beloved book The Story of Dayton:
“The boat party was the first to arrive. Rounding the curve in the river, where for so many years since then it has been flowing under the Dayton View Bridge, the pioneers perceived before their eyes the swift current of Mad River emptying itself into the main channel, just as it had been described, and saying to each other (so we may imagine), ‘Yes this must be the place,’ they tied the pirogue to a tree at the head of St, Clair Street and led by Mrs. Thompson, all clambered ashore.
At that moment, DAYTON came on the map!”
Happy birthday, Dayton!

Footprints in the cement at Founder’s Point at Riverscape Metropark to remember the first settlers of Dayton.
Dayton Sights: Summer Days
Please enjoy!