A Walk Into The Past

We began our Spring walk at Carillon Historical Park. The park invites you to 

sample Dayton’s rich heritage of creativity and invention! Founded by

 Colonel Edward and Edith Deeds, the Park is situated on a beautiful 65-acre

 tact of land between the Great Miami River and a glacial moraine.

The Park immerses you in the region's history - from Dayton's founding

 in 1796 through two centuries of expansion, industrialism and innovation.

Learn about these revolutionary achievements while strolling through the

 Park's 25 historical buildings and interacting with the hundreds

 of artifacts in our exhibits.

Where else can you see the original 1905 Wright Flyer III, the world's first

practical airplane and National Historic Landmark, 

the 1835 B&O (Grasshopper)

 steam locomotive, and the first automobile self-starter?

The William Morris House - 1815 stone cottage built in what is now

 Centerville (a suburb of Dayton).

Newcom Tavern, also known as the "Old Cabin", is a historic structure in

 Dayton, Ohio. It was built in 1796 by Colonel George Newcom, 

one of the first settlers in Dayton. The Newcom Tavern, was

 the first structure in the Dayton area. 

The size of the cabin was doubled two years after it was built and it 

served as Dayton's first school, first church, courthouse, council chamber

 and store. It was best known as a crossroads tavern.

The Carillon...The park is named for the 151-foot-tall  Deeds Carillon. 

The carillon tower was built in 1942.

Today, with 57 bells, the carillon is Ohio’s largest.

Carillon Park refurbished the carillon in 1988, converting it 

from an electric keyboard controlled instrument to a traditional, 

baton-keyboard mechanical carillon. It is one of the gems of Dayton!

We then headed to Oakwood, just a stone's throw from Dayton, to walk around Hawthorne Hill.

Hawthorn Hill, the Oakwood mansion that Orville Wright called home for nearly 35 years,

The building itself has had a long and colorful history of hosting distinguished visitors. Charles A. Lindbergh,

 internationally acclaimed for his 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, was invited to visit in June of that

 year on his return flight home to St. Louis. During his visit with Orville, throngs of people gathered on the 

lawns of the house, hoping for an impromptu view of this newest American hero. The unruly crowd

 dispersed only after Lindbergh and Orville appeared together on the front portico balcony for a few short 

minutes. Several years later, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former Ohio Governor James

 Middleton Cox stopped at Hawthorn Hill to pick up Orville for a joint visit to Wright Field.

Even after Orville’s death in 1948, the mansion continued to welcome individuals from across the country 

and around the world. When efforts to find an individual to purchase the home failed, the executors of 

Orville’s estate listed the property on the real estate market. The National Cash Register Company, at the

 direction of executives Colonel Edward Deeds and Stanley Allyn, decided to purchase the property on the

 very day that the “For Sale” sign was placed in the yard. NCR meticulously cared for the home during its 

nearly 60 years of service as a corporate guest house. The company returned the property to the Wright

 family in 2006. Now the grand home is available for tours and open to anyone!

I hope you have enjoyed our little walk today and learned a bit about 
the history of my hometown!

Warmly,

Susie Q