North Main and Forest is a major intersection for the Riverdale neighborhood of Dayton. Development reached this part of Main Street around the middle of the 19th century, and Forest Ave was originally known as Tates Mill Road and likely dates to the early 1800s as a shortcut to the old Dayton View covered bridge.
In 1888, Riverdale received a boost with the opening of the White Line Street Railway Co, Dayton’s first electric streetcar line which ran from the Soldiers’ Home to Germantown Street, then to Washington Street before traveling up Main to Forest.
At that time, this part of Main Street was “almost out in the country,” but more streets were quickly platted and development boomed. Riverdale also became known as “one of Dayton’s playgrounds,” as it featured two amusement parks, Fairview Park and White City.
The area has gone through some radical changes since then, but two of its most prominent commercial buildings survive and today await new life.
A previous article of ours profiled Fire station #7 on Xenia Ave, and here at North Main and Forest we find another excellent example of an early fire house.
Built in 1899, Dayton Fire House #14 features mission/Spanish revival-style architecture designed by prominent firm Peters, Burns & Pretzinger. It was “the last fire house in Dayton to use horse drawn equipment which ceased in 1917.”
The structure was added to the national register of historic places in 1980 but today is vacant.
The intersection’s other major surviving structure is one of the most iconic in Dayton: “an imposing flat-iron commercial building with the corner articulated by a tower.” Many have called it Dayton’s own version of New York City’s legendary triangular Flatiron Building.
The building was constructed in 1896 for Charles F. Smith after a prolonged legal proceeding between Smith and the city. In 1895, Smith and his wife filed a quit-claim deed for the property, which was described as a “certain tract of land at the junction of Main and Forest” in the form of “a triangular strip.” The following year, there are records of Smith vs. the City of Dayton where “further collection of assessments were enjoyed.” Whatever the details of the case, Smith eventually took control of the land and constructed this beautiful structure which quickly became the signature image of Riverdale (sometimes known as Middle Riverdale).
Smith used the building as an investment property, and also operated a number of businesses of his own including a saloon and grocery. Ever industrious, Smith was even listed as a sewer contractor at the same address in 1913 and won a contract for installing several thousand feet of sanitary sewers in Riverdale.
Confectioners were also a mainstay in the Flatiron Building. In 1910 one could find the Riverdale Confectionery, which also offered up cigars. A few years later the building housed the Leo Eggers Confectionery. In 1930, the confectionery business changed hands from Joseph Woeste to Orville Riggs.
In subsequent decades Riverdale as a whole began to decline. By the late 1980s, the building was occupied by a wood carver. Later it was abandoned like its neighbor across the street the fire station.
Today we are seeing a boom in investment in certain parts of Dayton including Webster Station and the Oregon District. But Riverdale is an area that isn’t getting much attention and continues to struggle with high vacancy rates.
There are efforts underway, however. A new North Main Street Corridor Plan was adopted by the City Plan Board and City Commission in late 2018, and it focuses on several strategic priorities including Crime and Safety, Housing and Blight, Traffic and Pedestrian Safety, and Architecture and Preservation. The area in question includes Riverdale as well as Santa Clara, Upper Riverdale, Five Oaks, and other neighborhoods. There was a public meeting relating to the plan on Oct. 16, 2019.
We’ll have to wait and see if positive momentum builds for this area of Dayton. Hopefully a few years down the road we’ll see businesses once again occupying these landmark commercial properties.
Works Cited
The Dayton Fire Department by Charles F. Sullivan, 1942
Dayton Herald Jan 11, 1895
Dayton Herald Dec 24, 1896
Middle Riverdale (D8N), UrbanOhio
Leave a Reply