Last weekend I was excited to participate in an experience called Holi-Dayton vacation, where I joined a group of local social media creators to tour local businesses and participate in some fun holiday activities around the downtown area.
As part of it we got to enjoy a delicious brunch at Lily’s in the Oregon District!
The section of East Fifth Street where the restaurant is now located is the site of one of the neighborhood’s wildest historical episodes.
Runaway Flatcars Destroy East Fifth Street Buildings
On May 14, 1918, two flatcars that had been hauling rail hurtled down Oakwood Ave and old Brown Street and eventually crashed at Fifth, destroying five businesses including the Cadillac Lunch Room. Fortunately no one was killed.
You can see the before and after images below with the two commercial buildings in the foreground remaining as reference points but the rest of the area unrecognizable.
Despite the destruction, this was not the event that caused the whole block to meet the wrecking ball, however.
Instead, the older buildings from the Lily’s site west to Patterson Boulevard were demolished a little over a decade later when the tracks were elevated in 1930.
The current buildings housing Lily’s were built soon after that.
The now vacant lot to Lily’s east was formerly a small residence turned commercial building that had to be demolished in 2023 due to neglect that left it at risk of collapse.
The building with the tower in the historic image is the former Central Engine House built at Fifth and Brown in 1885.
Historic photo is courtesy of Dayton Metro Library
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