• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Dayton Vistas

A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of the Gem City

Connect with Dayton Vistas

  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • Categories
    • Historical Dayton
    • New Developments
    • Dayton Culture
  • Article Archives
  • Catalog of Historic Dayton Buildings
  • My Dayton Book

A Trip from Dayton to Cincinnati (in 1818)

February 1, 2018 By Andrew Walsh 1 Comment


third street wooden toll bridge 1838
A wooden toll bridge at Third Street in Dayton. It would be replaced by a concrete steel bridge in 1903

The section of the Miami and Erie canal connecting Dayton and Cincinnati opened in 1829 and the railroads started to arrive in the 1850s.

But before then you could still travel between the Gem and Queen cities.

The details are described by Dayton biographer Charlotte Reeve Conover in her work Dayton, Ohio: An Intimate History, originally published in 1931.

As Conover describes, one of the visionary ideas of the early 1800s

was a weekly passenger and mail service between Cincinnati and Dayton … The roads were still bad but improving, as they always do under the inevitable demands of wheeled vehicles.

When passengers were exasperated to the proper pitch by the number of ribs they sacrificed to the jolting on the trip up from Cincinnati, the beginnings of the Dixie Highway were laid …

When enough passengers got wet crossing fords they demanded more and better bridges. In 1818 the first weekly coach service was started between Dayton, Franklin, Middletown and Hamilton and in 1819 the first bridge was built over the river at Stratford Avenue and Salem Avenue.

The roads were toll roads and the bridges were toll bridges. Tollhouses stood at equal distances which protected against violators of the law by leaning poles like a well-sweep across the road which the toll keeper could lower and raise at will.

In those years the journey to Cincinnati was a long one. Conover continues:

On Third Street in front of the courthouse (which in 1818 was a two story building flush with the sidewalk) was the starting and arriving place for the Cincinnati stages.

Twelve persons could be accommodated in each vehicle; three on the back seat, three on the front, three on smaller seats between the two and two beside the driver. At first there were no springs, later these were supplied.

Eight cents a mile was the fare and fourteen pounds the allowance per person for baggage. The Cincinnati coach left Dayton at five o’clock Friday morning and arrived at its destination late on Saturday evening, Friday night being spent at Hamilton.

Today we might complain about traffic on I-75, but at least we don’t have to leave at 5am, sit with eleven other people, pay tolls to cross bridges and make an overnight stop on our way.

Photo credit Dayton Metro Library

Related Posts:

  • street carnival dayton elephant canal
    Miami & Erie Canal History: When and Where was…
  • first train in dayton 1851
    Early Train History in Dayton: Union Station and More
  • first house ever built in dayton
    The First House Built in Dayton and Early Settlement History
  • dayton old courthouse
    All About Dayton Formation Limestone: A Key Historic…
Enjoying Dayton Vistas?
Take a look at Andrew's book Lost Dayton, Ohio. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for periodic updates of new articles.

Filed Under: Historical Dayton Tagged With: Canal, Charlotte Reeve Conover, Cincinnati, Early Settlement, Trains, Transportation

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bruce Windsor says

    October 16, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    You spoke of a journey from Dayton to Cincinnatt by canal boat and train but your photos are only about the portion
    Of the route in Dayton. Are there remaininh structures between the two cities or have these been lost to history? What obstacles were encountered along the way? Did they build any tunnels? Were parts of the canal route above ground level on bridges? Are there any surviving canal houses or locks? How many men worked on the pfoject? Were they native born, Irish of Chinese? There is so much more to know about this early achievement

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search the Dayton Vistas Archives

My book explores a diverse selection of retail, industrial, entertainment and residential sites from Dayton's disappearing legacy.
Read More

About Dayton Vistas

I'm Andrew Walsh, a writer and academic librarian. I research Dayton history, architecture, preservation, and urban redevelopment.

Read More

Get New Posts via Email


Latest Posts

historic view of east side of main street, downtown dayton

Urban Renewal and Lost Buildings at Main and 3rd

heritage coffeeshop university of dayton built 1903

Lesser-Known Historic Buildings of the University of Dayton

dayton masonic temple

Masonic Temple (Dayton Masonic Center) History

dayton commercial building during construction 1900s

The Commercial Building: Before and During Construction

deneau tower views

The Deneau Tower: History and Redevelopment

st. joseph hall rear university of dayton

Historic Buildings on the University of Dayton Campus

Browse Historic Dayton

newcom tavern daytonA Catalog of Historic Dayton Buildings (with years, pics, type, area, status, etc.)

Recent Comments

  • Andrew Walsh on The Decline of Downtown Retail post-1950: Suburbanization, Urban Renewal, and More
  • Therese on Sinclair Helps Bring Back Lost Park Feel in Former Robert Boulevard Area
  • Andrew Walsh on Odd Fellows (IOOF) Building History in Dayton
  • Matthew Thornton on The Decline of Downtown Retail post-1950: Suburbanization, Urban Renewal, and More

Articles By Topic

Architecture Banking Brown Street Churches Commercial Building Dayton Arcade Dayton Daily News Delco Demolition Downtown East Dayton Features Fidelity Building Fire Blocks District Great Flood of 1913 Haymarket Historic Homes House Histories Huffman Industrial Buildings John H Patterson NCR Old Dayton Maps Oregon District Paul Laurence Dunbar Preservation Rare Dayton Photos Restaurants Retail Rike's Sanborn Maps Santa Clara South Park Sports St. Anne's Hill Then and Now Twin Towers University of Dayton Urban Planning Urban Renewal Wayne Avenue West Dayton Windsor Companies Wright-Dunbar Wright Brothers

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro On Genesis Framework · Affiliate Disclosure and Privacy Policy · WordPress · Log in