Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is a city in southwestern
Ohio,
United States with a population of 166,179 (2000). It is the county seat and largest city of
Montgomery County. The
Greater Dayton area or
Dayton metropolitan area encompasses a number of contiguous communities outside Dayton city proper, including
Vandalia,
Trotwood,
Kettering,
Centerville and
Beavercreek, with a population of 848,153 (2000). Dayton is situated within the
Miami Valley region of Ohio, just north of the
Cincinnati metropolitan area.
Dayton plays host to significant
industrial,
aerospace, and
research activity and is known for the many technical innovations and inventions developed there. The city was the home of the
Wright Brothers, poet
Paul Laurence Dunbar, and entrepreneur
John H. Patterson. Dayton is nicknamed the
Gem City, and is also sometimes referred to as the "Birthplace of Aviation."
Dayton Sister Cities International supports efforts for business and cultural development in
Augsburg, Germany;
Belgrade, Serbia;
Oiso, Japan;
Monrovia, Liberia;
Holon, Israel and
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dayton was founded on
April 1,
1796 by a small group of
US settlers seven years before the admission of Ohio to the
Union in 1803. The town was incorporated in 1805 and given its name after
Jonathan Dayton, a captain in the
American Revolutionary War and signer of the
U.S. Constitution. Dayton was the home of
aviation pioneers
Wilbur and
Orville Wright who funded their aviation endeavors with the proceeds of a successful bicycle shop in Dayton. It was also the home of the poet
Paul Laurence Dunbar and of
John H. Patterson 1, who founded a successful
cash register business in Dayton,
National Cash Register Corporation, or NCR, which eventually diversified and was corporation of great importance in the United States during the mid- to late-20th century.
In
1797,
Daniel C. Cooper laid out the
Mad River Road, the first overland connection between
Cincinnati, Ohio and Dayton. This opened up the "Mad River Country" at Dayton and the upper Miami Valley to settlement.
The
Miami and Erie Canal built in the 1830s connected the Dayton commerce from
Lake Erie via the Great Miami River and served as the principal route of transportation for western Ohio until the 1850s.
The catastrophic
Great Dayton Flood of March 1913 severely affected much of the city, stimulated the growth of suburban communities outside central Dayton in areas lying further from the Miami River and on higher ground, and led to the establishment of the
Miami Conservancy District in 1914. The flood remains an event of note in popular memory and local histories. The high waters damaged some of the Wright Brothers' glass plate photographic negatives of their glider flights at Kitty Hawk and power flights over Huffman Prairie near Dayton.
Nicknames
Dayton's primary nickname is the "Gem City". The origin of the name is no longer clear; it appears to stem either from a well-known
racehorse named "Gem" that hailed from Dayton, or from descriptions of the city likening it to a
gem. The most likely origin appears to be an 1840s article in a
Cincinnati newspaper which reads
In a small bend of the Great Miami River, with canals on the east and south, it can be fairly said, without infringing on the rights of others, that Dayton is the gem of all our interior towns. It possesses wealth, refinement, enterprise, and a beautiful country, beautifully developed.Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872â€"1906) later acknowledged the nickname in his poem, "Toast to Dayton", which contains this stanza:
She shall ever claim our duty,For she shinesâ€"the brightest gemThat has ever decked with beautyDear Ohio's diadem.The city was advertised as "The Gem City, the Cleanest City in America" in the 1950's, 60's and into the 70's. The phrase was often seen on public trash cans and other places throughout the city in the 1950's, 60's and into the 70's.
The nickname "Birthplace of Aviation" is also frequently seen due to Dayton being the hometown of the Wright Brothers. In their bicycle shop in Dayton, the Wrights developed the principles of aerodynamics, and designed and constructed a number of gliders and portions of their first airplane. After their first manned flights in
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wrights continued testing at nearby
Huffman Prairie. [
1]
Notable facts
The city has a rich heritage of inventions and innovations, with more patents per capita than any other city in the nation. Some of these inventions include the cash register, the stepladder,
microfiche, waterproof cellophane, pop top beverage cans, the movie projector, space food, parking meters, the aircraft
supercharger, the automobile self-starter, gas masks, and the parachute.
Dayton has received the
All-America City Award three times.
The first All-American
Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton on
August 19,
1934.
The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner, is from Dayton in the
Marvel Comics universe. This was his original comic book version, and not necessarily his
tv show,
movie, or
Ultimate comic book version.
In 1913, Dayton became the first large city in the United States to adopt the
council-manager system of city government. In this system, the mayor is merely the chairperson of the city commission and has one vote on the commission just like the other commissioners. The commission chooses a city manager, who holds administrative authority over the city government.
As of January 2006:
;Dayton City Commission:
*
Mayor Rhine L. McLin (D)
*
Dean A. Lovelace (D)
*
Joey D. Williams (D)
*
Matt Joseph (D)
*
Nan Whaley (D)
*
City Manager: Office Vacant
*
Interim City Manager:
Rashad Young |
Civil War memorial in Dayton, Ohio. Electric trolley bus cables are visible in the photo. |
Dayton Municipal Court
*Clerk of Courts: Mark Owens (D)
*Presiding Judge John S. Pickrel (D)
*Administrative Judge James F. Cannon (D)
*Judges:
**Daniel G. Gehres (D)
**Bill C. Littlejohn
**Carl S. Henderson (D)
;Dayton Public Schools Board of Education
*Gail A. Littlejohn, president
*Yvonne V. Isaacs, vice president
*Clayton R. Luckie III, parliamentarian
*Joe Lacey
*Ann Marie Gallin
*Lelia Massoud
*Tracy L. Rusch*
List of mayors of Dayton, Ohio*
List of City Commissioners of Dayton, Ohio*
Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio*
Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio (Primary Election)*
Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission*
Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission (Primary Election)*
Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Judge*
Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court ClerkUrban design and architecture
Unlike many
Midwestern cities of its age, Dayton has very broad and straight downtown streets (generally two full lanes in each direction), facilitating access to the downtown even after the automobile became popular. The main reason for the broad streets was that Dayton was a marketing and shipping center from its beginning: streets were broad to enable wagons drawn by teams of three to four pairs of oxen to turn around. In addition, some of today's streets were once barge canals flanked by draw-paths.
A courthouse building was constructed in downtown Dayton in 1888 to supplement Dayton's original
Neoclassical courthouse, which still stands. This second, "new" courthouse has since been replaced with new facilities as well as a park.
Dayton's nine historic neighborhoods — Oregon, Wright-Dunbar, Dayton View, Grafton Hill, McPherson Town, Webster Station, Huffman, Saint Anne's Hill, and South Park — feature mostly single-family houses and mansions in the Neoclassical,
Jacobethan,
Tudor Revival,
English Gothic,
Chateauesque,
Craftsman,
Queen Anne,
Georgian Revival,
Colonial Revival,
Renaissance Revival,
Shingle,
Prairie,
Mission Revival,
Eastlake/Italianate,
American Foursquare, and
Federal styles of architecture.[
2]
The two tallest buildings in the Dayton skyline are the Kettering Tower and the
MeadWestvaco Tower. Kettering Tower was originally Winters Tower, the headquarters of
Winters Bank. The building was renamed after
Virginia Kettering when Winters was merged into
BankOne.
The
Dayton Agreement, a peace accord between the parties to the hostilities of the
conflict in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia, was negotiated in the Dayton area. From
November 1,
1995 to
November 21,
1995, negotiations took place at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.
Dayton is home to the
Dayton Art Institute, a museum of fine arts. The
National Museum of the United States Air Force is at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park commemorates the lives and achievements of Dayton natives, Orville and Wilbur Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park is located on the south end of Dayton. SunWatch is the location of a 12th century American Indian village that has been partially reconstructed and includes a museum where visitors can learn about the Indian history of the Miami Valley.
Dayton is also home to a variety of performing arts venues. The
Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center at the corner of Second and Main, is the home performance venue of the
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Dayton Opera. In addition to Philharmonic and Opera performances, the Schuster Center hosts concerts, lectures, traveling Broadway shows, and is a popular spot for weddings and other events. The historic
Victoria Theatre, located at the corner of First and Main, hosts concerts, traveling
Broadway shows,
ballet, a summertime classic film series, and much more.
The Loft Theatre, also on Main Street, in the home of the
Human Race Theatre Company.
South of the city of Dayton is the
Fraze Pavilion which hosts many nationally and internationally known musicians for concerts, located in the community of
Kettering. Also south of downtown, on the banks of the
Great Miami River, is the
University of Dayton Arena, home venue for the
University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams and the location of various other events and concerts. North of Dayton is the
Hara Arena and the
Nutter Center, venues that frequently host sporting events and concerts. The Nutter Center is the home arena for athletics of
Wright State University and the
Dayton Bombers ECHL hockey team.
Fifth Third Field is the home of the
Dayton Dragons minor league baseball team. The Dragons have been popular within the Dayton community since moving from
Rockford, Illinois for the 2000 season.
From 1996 to 1998, Dayton hosted the
National Folk Festival.
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association annually hosts North America's largest
hamfest at
Hara Arena. Amateur radio operators are commonly referred to as "hams" with as many as 25,000 traveling from around the world to attend this convention.
Adult minor league/amateur sports
Dayton has a minor league baseball team, the
Dayton Dragons, and a minor league ice hockey team, the
Dayton Bombers. The city also has an
amateur women's
ice hockey team, the
Dayton Fangs, established in August 2005.
The Gem City Rollergirls, a women's
roller derby league, began forming in early 2006.
|
The sculpture Flyover (David Evans Black, 1996) on Main Street downtown. The sculpture tracks the path of the Wright Brothers first powered aircraft flight. |
The principal general-circulation daily newspaper in the region is the
Dayton Daily News, which is owned by
Cox Communications.
Christian Citizen USA (currently doing business as
Citizen USA), which claims to uphold "traditional values" and distances itself from secular media[
3], is a newspaper with circulation in greater Dayton and its surrounding suburban communities. The
Dayton City Paper is a free weekly circulation newspaper. The
Kettering-Oakwood Times is a weekly with circulation primarily in the south suburban communities.
Nationally syndicated morning talk show
The Daily Buzz originated from WBDT-TV, the Acme property in Miamisburg, Ohio before moving to its current home in Florida.
Television
The Dayton metro area's broadcast television stations are as follows:
*
WDTN, Channel 2 â€"
NBC, operated by
LIN TV*
WHIO-TV, Channel 7 â€"
CBS, operated by
Cox Communications*
WPTD, Channel 16 â€"
PBS, operated by
ThinkTV (formerly known as
Greater Dayton Public Television), which also operates
WPTO, assigned to
Oxford, Ohio*
WKEF, Channel 22 â€"
ABC, operated by
Sinclair Broadcasting*
WBDT, Channel 26 â€"
WB/
i, operated by
Acme Television*
WRGT, Channel 45 â€"
Fox, operated under a local marketing agreement by
Sinclair BroadcastingThe Dayton television market is ranked the #59
Nielsen DMA in the United States.
Radio
AM format
*WONE 980 â€" sports (Fox Sports) (plus a repeater, WIZE 1340, in
Springfield, Ohio)
*WDAO 1210 â€" black contemporary / soul music
*WHIO 1290 â€" news and talk (
Cox Communications-owned, Fox News Radio Affiliate)
*WING 1410 â€" sports (ESPN Radio)
FM format
*WDPR 88.1 â€" Dayton Public Radio, classical
*WCSU 88.9 â€" urban jazz and gospel
*WCDR 90.3 â€" Christian (based in nearby
Cedarville, Ohio)
*WYSO 91.3 â€"
National Public Radio (based in nearby
Yellow Springs, Ohio)
*WROU 92.1 â€" urban adult contemporary
*WGTZ 92.9 â€"
Top 40 pop (Z93)
*WFCJ 93.7 â€" Christian (WFCJ Inspiration!)
*WDKF 94.5 â€" Top 40 rhythmic pop (Channel 945)
*WZLR 95.3 â€" classic hits (95.3 The Eagle)
*WDPT 95.7 â€" 1980s (95.7 The Point)
*WUDR 98.1 - College Radio (University of Dayton/also at 99.5 to serve campus)
*WHKO 99.1 â€" modern country (K99.1FM)
*WLQT 99.9 â€" soft adult contemporary (Lite 99.9)
*
WDHT 102.9 â€" Urban (Hot 102.9)
*WXEG 103.9 â€" modern rock (The X)
*
WTUE 104.7 â€" classic rock
*
WDSJ 106.5 â€" smooth jazz (Smooth Jazz 106.5)
*WWSU 106.9 â€" college radio (Wright State University)
*WMMX 107.7 â€" contemporary music (Mix 107.7)
Some Cincinnati and other southwest Ohio radio and television stations can be received in parts of Dayton, as well.
The
Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA) operates public bus routes in the Dayton metro area. In addition to routes covered by traditional
diesel-powered buses, RTA has a number of
electric trolley bus routes. In continuous operation since 1888, Dayton's is the longest-running of the five remaining trolley bus systems in the U.S.
Air transportation is available via the
James M. Cox Dayton International Airport, located in nearby
Vandalia, just north of Dayton proper.
Liberty Cab (in operation since 1929),
Checker Cab and
Airport Checker Cab all provide
taxicab service throughout the Dayton metro area.
Dayton is home to two major universities: the
University of Dayton, a private,
Catholic institution founded in 1850 by the
Marianist order, and the public
Wright State University, which became a state university in 1967. Wright State University has the only medical school in the Dayton area. The University of Dayton has the only
American Bar Association (ABA) approved
law school in the Dayton area,
UDSLDayton is also home to one of the country's leading
community colleges,
Sinclair Community College (founded as a YMCA college in 1887), located in central downtown Dayton. Miami Jacobs College is another
junior college in Dayton.
Actors
*Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson
*Dorian Harewood, actor
*Allison Janney, actress
*Gordon Jump, actor
*Chad Lowe, actor
*Rob Lowe, actor
*Gary Sandy, actor
*Martin Sheen, actor
*Jonathan Winters, actor/comedian
;Artists
*Michael Bashaw, artist
*Bing Davis, artist
*David L. Smith, watercolorist
;Astronauts
*Charles Bassett
;Athletes
*Will Allen, NFL safety
*Roger Clemens, baseball player
*Marco Coleman, NFL defensive tackle
*Ron Harper, basketball player
*Darrell Jackson, NFL wide receiver
*Dave Krynzel, baseball player
*Ron Lyle, boxer
*Edwin C. Moses, Olympic athlete, track and field
*Peerless Price, NFL wide receiver
*Mike Schmidt, baseball player
*Todd Hollandsworth, baseball player
*Chris Spradlin, pro wrestler better known as Chris Hero
*Dan Wilkinson, NFL defensive tackle
*Tamika Williams, basketball player in the WNBA
*Mike Nugent, NFL Kicker
*A.J. Hawk, NFL Linebacker
*Nick Mangold, NFL Offensive Lineman
;Authors
*Erma Bombeck, nationally-known columnist and author
*Paul Laurence Dunbar, noted early African-American poet
*Joe Eszterhas, screenwriter of Showgirls, Basic Instinct
*Cathy Guisewite, national cartoonist
* Mike Jackson, author, TV personality, veterans advocate
*James D. McCaffrey, computer scientist and author
*Mike Peters, nationally-syndicated opinion cartoonist
*Tim Waggoner, horror and fantasy writer.
;Entertainers
*Phil Donahue, talk show host
*Mel Epstein, film producer
;Entrepreneurs
*John H. Patterson, founder of National Cash Register
*Edward A. Deeds, engineer, inventor, industrialist
*Charles Kettering, inventor of the automobile self-starter
*James Ritty, inventor of the cash register
*Wright Brothers, inventors of the airplane
;Musicians
*Johnnie Wilder, Jr., founder and lead singer, and Keith Wilder, founder, Heatwave, R&B group
*Kim Deal, rock musician, member of Pixies and The Breeders with sister Kelley Deal
*Guided by Voices, rock group, and singer Robert Pollard
*Roger Troutman and Zapp, musicians/producers
*Ohio Players, funk group
*Lakeside, funk group
*Slave, funk group
*The Sun, funk group
*Dayton, funk/R&B group
*Faze-O, funk group
*Brainiac, rock group, and singer John Schmersal, who went on to form Enon
*Tommy James, rock musician and singer of "Mony Mony"
*Hawthorne Heights, emo group
*Stevie Brock, pop singer
*Dead Poetic, rock group
*Rick Derringer, rock musician
*Kim Richey singer/songwriter
*Sandy Bashaw, singer, guitarist, composer
*The Quintessentials, a cappella group
;Politicians
*James Middleton Cox, Congressman, Ohio governor, 1920 Democratic presidential candidate, founder of Cox Enterprises
;Other
* Ahad Israfil, gunshot victimDayton is located at (39.762708, -84.196665). The city sits in the
Miami River Valley, north of
Cincinnati, well south of
Toledo, south-west of
Columbus, and east of
Richmond,
Indiana, in the southwest quadrant of the state. Most official and government designations place it in
west-central Ohio (a term which colloquially often refers to
Lima, Ohio). It is at the confluence of the
Great Miami River, the
Stillwater and
Mad rivers, and
Wolf Creek. Area natives seldom use the phrase 'greater Dayton". They affectionately refer to the region as the Miami Valley, which is meant to mean all areas between the cities of
Sidney and
Middletown (north and south), and
Springfield to the
Indiana border (east west).
Following the flood of 1913, the
Miami Conservancy District was established in 1914 to build
dams and
levees and to
dredge and straighten channels to control flooding of the Miami and surrounding rivers.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 146.7
km² (56.6
mi²). 144.5 km² (55.8 mi²) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it (1.55%) is water.
Note: the following demographic information applies only to the city of Dayton proper. For other Dayton-area communities, see their respective articles.As of the
census of 2000, there were 166,179 people, 67,409 households, and 37,614 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,150.3/km² (2,979.4/mi²). There were 77,321 housing units at an average density of 535.2/km² (1,386.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.40%
White, 43.10%%
Black or
African American, 0.30%
Native American, 0.65%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 0.70% from
other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. 1.58% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
Households
There were 67,409 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% were
married couples living together, 20.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.04.
Age structure and gender ratio
The age structure of Dayton's population is:
*under 18 years: 25.1%
*18 to 24 years: 14.2%
*25 to 44 year: 29.0%
*45 to 64 years: 19.6%
*65 years of age or older: 12.0%The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males, while For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
Income
The median income for a household in the city was $27,423, and the median income for a family was $34,978. Males had a median income of $30,816 versus $24,937 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $15,547. About 18.2% of families and 23.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 32.0% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.
*
Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark*
Woodland Cemetery and ArboretumMuseums
*
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery*
Carillon Historical Park*
Dayton Art Institute*
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park*
Dayton International Peace Museum*
Montgomery County Historical Society*
National Museum of the United States Air Force*
SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park*
Americas Packard MuseumDayton has five
sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
*
Augsburg,
Germany*
Holon,
Israel*
Monrovia,
Liberia*
Oiso,
Japan*
Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina*
Official city website*
Dayton Daily News*
Dayton Metro Library*
Dayton History Books Online*
Dayton Public Schools*
Greater Dayton RTA Bus Lines*
History of NCR*
Visitors' information (from Wright State University)
*
What Dreams We Have, The Wright Brothers and Their Hometown of Dayton, OH*
WXEG-FM Radio Station Website
