Located at the edge of Dayton's Oregon District, the Belle of Dayton distillery has a fascinating history not only for its location, which has housed a wide range of tenants over the years, but also for the story of the Belle of Dayton brand which takes us all the way back … [Read more...] about Belle of Dayton: A Distillery with a Prohibition-Era Connection
Manufacturing
Barney and Smith Car Company: History of Dayton’s Early Industrial Power
Long before the Wright Brothers transformed flight and NCR became an industrial giant, another name defined Dayton's manufacturing might: Barney & Smith. From a modest railcar works founded in the mid-1800s, the company grew into one of the largest employers in Dayton … [Read more...] about Barney and Smith Car Company: History of Dayton’s Early Industrial Power
History of Frigidaire (and GM) in Dayton: Downtown, Moraine, and More
Among Dayton's major industrial powers of the late 19th and early 20th century, there are many interconnections. Delco, for one, has strong ties to NCR due to its formation by Edward Deeds and Charles Kettering who tinkered in their spare time while working at the cash … [Read more...] about History of Frigidaire (and GM) in Dayton: Downtown, Moraine, and More
History of MacGregor Golf in Dayton
It's no secret that Dayton was a manufacturing powerhouse in the early 1900s, but some may not know that the most dominant manufacturer of golf clubs for decades, MacGregor, operated right here in the Gem City. Golf was not the original business, however. (And a pivot to … [Read more...] about History of MacGregor Golf in Dayton
The Swaynie House and Building Substitution
In my book Lost Dayton I chronicle not only sites that have been demolished, but also historic landmarks that are still with us, albeit transformed into something completely different from their original use. But in just about all of those cases, today's historic … [Read more...] about The Swaynie House and Building Substitution