I just found a great web-site that has tons of information about Dayton History. The site, called Dayton History Books Online, is somewhat misnamed because it contains a wealth of material — articles, pictures, videos — in addition to books. I’m very impressed with the quality of its content. This site has been going since 2004. I can’t believe it’s taken me five years to find it.
In the short time I spent on the site, I read about the following:
- An experimental high school, Moraine Park School, that started in 1918 and lasted into the 1920’s. The site posts original documents written by students and teachers of the school telling of the schools progressive philosophy — no grades, project based learning, etc.
- The Hewitt Soap Company, a long time Dayton company that started in 1897 at 333 Linden Ave and went out of business in 2004. The site says, “It once employed over 400 employees, and spread around its profits into the Dayton area, donating to many charitable causes largely unnoticed, the unspoken effect of the Hewitt Soap Co upon the Dayton area has been immense, its silent passing leaving a vacuum within the social and economic sectors of the local community.”
- John Patterson’s work at NCR, as published in a Forbes Magazine article in 1918. The title of the article is, “How the National Cash Register Company’s Founder Makes Workers Happy and Efficient”
- An interesting diary entry telling what Dayton was like in 1840 — written by Michael Ohmer in 1901.
There is a ton of interesting material on this site and I plan to return often. There is an extensive message forum that has good discussions about specific questions about Dayton history.
Here is what the site says about itself: “Curt Dalton, a local author who has written several books about Dayton’s history, saw a need to make books and other materials about Dayton available to children and the general public. He knew that the material had to be in a format that could easily be read and searched, to enable visitors to use the information in homework and personal projects. What better way than through the world wide web?
“On October 24, 2004 ‘Dayton History Books Online’ opened with a list of twenty books and booklets that could be read, searched and printed out. As of February 1, 2009 there are 327 books/booklets/articles available online, consisting of 13,329 pages of text, with more added every month. A new feature, called Dayton Speaks, has 47 audio oral histories that can be listened to online. We also celebrate having over 1.8 million hits on the site! Though the site is really only a hobby of Curt’s that’s gotten out of hand, through the collaboration of local libraries, universities, archives, businesses and individuals, he hopes to make accessible online as many historical publications about Dayton as he possibly can. You can contact him at cdalton@woh.rr.com if you have any questions.”
Here is a 1930’s video showing the famous roller coaster at Lakeside Park:
There’s an interesting forum there, too.