Exploring Dayton Ohio

10/06/2026

One last look at what’s left of the Ohmer building.

10/04/2026

Susie said the home was extremely run-down. The outside of the house was overgrown. The upstairs bathroom had no running water, and there were no showers in the house, just a clawfoot tub. Andy had to replumb and replace the electrical throughout the home. Some of the ceilings had even fallen through, but Andy knows how fix things.

09/14/2026

I’ve lived in Dayton for over a decade, and I’m still finding new streets, new views, and little pieces of the city I’ve somehow never noticed before.

09/06/2026

Located on Conover Street along Wolf Creek sits the Holy Name Church and School.

Holy Name was established in 1907 as Dayton’s first Hungarian Catholic parish. The church was completed in 1909, and the school began in the church basement that same year before moving into its own building in the 1910s.

The school remained in operation for more than 40 years before closing in the early 1960s. The parish closed in 1974.

Historical photo: National Park Service, c. 1921.

09/01/2026

The Fidelity Building, located at Fifth and Main, was built in 1919.

The building was originally designed as a medical office building, with doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals occupying much of the space. It was expanded in 1929 and again in 1930, and continued to serve as a medical building for decades before later becoming home to local radio station WROU-FM.

The building has sat vacant since 2009. There have been several plans over the years to redevelop it, including a proposed renovation into apartments with commercial space on the ground floor. Hopefully, one of those plans will eventually bring new life to this historic building.

08/26/2026

A view of downtown Dayton at dusk 🌆

08/25/2026

Following his graduation from Denison University and a short course in electrical engineering at Cornell, Deeds joined the Thresher Electrical Company in Dayton in 1897. Within a year and a half, he had advanced from draftsman to superintendent and chief engineer. In 1899, he moved to the National Cash Register Company, where he soon became the chief engineer. John H. Patterson made him General Manager in 1903, and after a twelve year association with that company, he was named President and General Manager.

Colonel Deeds in 1904, brought Charles F. Kettering into the National Cash Register Company to electrify the company’s cash registers. When the task was completed, they became close friends, often getting together in Deed’s barn with other N.C.R. engineers to work on new ideas. When Kettering invented the self starter for automobiles, Deeds, Kettering and the “Barn Gang,” formed a company that Deeds coined DELCO, to manufacture their product. Deeds and Kettering also formed the Dayton Research Laboratories, which was sold to General Motors in 1920. The Miami Conservancy District and the work it accomplished was “uniquely a product of the Deed’s genius.” His industrial contributions to the city were supplemented by gifts of the Conservancy Headquarters building and the Engineer’s Club.

Colonel Deeds founded Carillon Historical Park in 1940. Mrs. Edith Deeds
had seen a carillon in Belgium and wanted Dayton to have one. Deed’s engaged
Reinhard, Hofmeister and Walquist of New York City to design a structure that
would expose the 40 bells. After a two year construction period, Mrs. Deeds
played the first concert on Easter Sunday in 1942.

Col. Edward A. Deeds passed away on July 1, 1960 at the age of 86. The Deeds Mausoleum is located in Section 121 Lot 2. It was designed by Frederick, Jr. and John Olmsted of Brookline, Mass.

08/23/2026

The remnants of Salem Mall.

Salem Mall opened in 1966 as the Dayton area’s first fully enclosed mall. It closed in 2005, and demolition began the following year. The former Sears building is the last remaining structure from the original complex.

Trotwood is now working toward redeveloping the building as part of a mixed-use project.

08/22/2026

😢

Demolition of the facade of the Ohmer Garage started yesterday. Added to Ohio's Most Endangered list, this Terra Cotta Parking Garage replaced the Ohmer family's original woodworking shop that once surrounded the Victoria Theatre. That prior building once housed Dayton's Museum of Natural History which ultimately became Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. This building was one of the oldest parking garages in the city, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Historic District.

Removal of the garage will allow for water intrusion issues at the Victoria to be remediation and allow larger sets to come into the Theatre.

A 3D LIDAR scan of the building was completed, and we had hoped the facade or portions of it would be salvaged, but we were told it would be cost prohibative.