Dayton Eleventh Ward, 1875

This map comes from the Dayton Remembers collection at the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library.

 

See East Dayton buildings for other discussion.

Old Dayton houses on East Third Street

I've been driving East Third Street almost daily since the first classes at Wright State University in June. As I drive through, I wonder what the street must have looked like 100, 150, and 200 years ago.

I'm especially interested in the old angled house at the corner formed by Third Street and Springfield Pike. It looks like it has been there since before 1900. Perhaps much earlier than that.

I just found maps that are online with the Dayton Public Library, in their Dayton Remembers archive. First treasure: the 11th Ward plat maps from 1875.

While wandering around that neighborhood, 1875 map in hand, I realized that once the area was dominated by Dayton Hydraulic Company and was served by a canal system. A 1942 article by Charles F. Sullivan describes the canal operation to some degree. Judging by the age of the buildings that fill in the areas, the canal was filled in after 1900. Since then, the area developed as light manufacturing as the city of Dayton's housing surrounded it.