Dayton Ohio: Encyclopedia - Dayton Ohio

Dayton, Ohio

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Dayton is a city in southwestern Ohio, United States with a population of 166,179 (2000). It is the county seat and largest city of Montgomery County. The Greater Dayton area or Dayton metropolitan area encompasses a number of contiguous communities outside Dayton city proper, including Vandalia, Trotwood, Kettering, Centerville and Beavercreek, with a population of 848,153 (2000). Dayton is situated within the Miami Valley region of Ohio, just north of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

Dayton plays host to significant industrial, aerospace, and research activity, and is known for the many technical innovations and inventions developed there. The city was the home of the Wright Brothers, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and entrepreneur John H. Patterson. Dayton is nicknamed the Gem City, and is also sometimes known as the "Birthplace of Aviation."

Dayton Sister Cities International supports efforts for business and cultural development in Augsburg, Germany; Oiso, Japan; Monrovia, Liberia; Holon, Isreal and Bosnia. Last August Thomas Kraemer and Jenet Mullins attended the International Sister Cities conference in Spokane, Wa.

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Dayton Ohio - Name and history

Dayton was founded on April 1, 1796 by a small group of US settlers seven years before the admission of Ohio to the Union in 1803. The town was incorporated in 1805 and given its name after Jonathan Dayton, a captain in the American Revolutionary War and signer of the U.S. Constitution. Dayton was the home of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright who funded their aviation endeavors with the proceeds of a successful bicycle shop in Dayton. It was also the home of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and of John H. Patterson 1, who founded a successful cash register business in Dayton, National Cash Register Corporation, or NCR, which eventually diversified and was corporation of great importance in the United States during the mid- to late-20th century.

In 1797, Daniel C. Cooper laid out the Mad River Road, the first overland connection between Cincinnati, Ohio and Dayton. This opened up the "Mad River Country" at Dayton and the upper Miami Valley to settlement.

The Miami and Erie Canal built in the 1830s connected the Dayton commerce from Lake Erie via the Great Miami River and served as the principal route of transportation for western Ohio until the 1850s.

The catastrophic Great Dayton Flood of March 1913 severely affected much of the city, and stimulated the growth of suburban communities outside central Dayton in areas lying further from the Miami River and on higher ground; the Miami Conservancy District was established in 1914 as a result. The flood remains an event of note in popular memory and local histories.

Dayton Ohio - Nicknames

Dayton's primary nickname is the "Gem City". The origin of the name is no longer clear; it appears to stem either from a well-known racehorse named "Gem" that hailed from Dayton, or from descriptions of the city likening it to a gem. The most likely origin appears to be an 1840s article in a Cincinnati newspaper that reads

The nickname "Birthplace of Aviation" is also frequently seen due to Dayton being the hometown of the Wright Brothers, and the fact that they developed the principles of aerodynamics, designed and built their planes at Huffman Prairie before and after their first flight in North Carolina.

Dayton Ohio - Notable facts

The city has a rich heritage of inventions and innovations, with more patents per capita than any other city in the nation. Some of these inventions include the stepladder, microfiche, cellophane tape, pop top beverage cans, the movie projector, space food, parking meters, the airplane supercharger, the automobile self-starter, gas masks, and the parachute.

Dayton has received the All-America City Award three times.

The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton on August 19, 1934.

Dayton Ohio - Political structure

In 1913, Dayton became the first city in the United States to adopt the council-manager system of city government. In this system, the mayor is merely the chairperson of the city commission and has one vote on the commission just like the other commissioners. The commission chooses a city manager, who holds administrative authority over the city government.

As of November 2004:

• Dayton City Commission:
  • Mayor Rhine L. McLin (D)
  • Dean A. Lovelace (D)
  • Richard A. Zimmer (D)
  • Joey D. Williams (D)
  • Matt Joseph (D)
• City Manager: James T. Dinneen

• Clerk of Courts: Mark Owens (D)

Dayton Municipal Court

• Presiding Judge John S. Pickrel (D)
• Administrative Judge James F. Cannon (D)
• Judges:
  • Daniel G. Gehres (D)
  • Bill C. Littlejohn
  • Carl S. Henderson (D)

Dayton City Schools Board of Education

• Gail A. Littlejohn, president
• L. Anthony Hill, vice president
• Clayton R. Luckie III, parlimentarian
• Ann Marie Gallin
• E. Doniece Gatliff
• Yvonne V. Isaacs
• Tracy L. Rusch

• List of mayors of Dayton, Ohio
• List of City Commissioners of Dayton, Ohio
• Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio
• Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio (Primary Election)
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission (Primary Election)
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Judge
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Clerk

Dayton Ohio - Urban design and architecture

Unlike many Midwestern cities of its age, Dayton has very broad and straight downtown streets (generally two full lanes in each direction), facilitating access to the downtown even after the automobile became popular. The main reason for the broad streets was that Dayton was a marketing and shipping center from its beginning: streets were broad to enable wagons drawn by teams of three to four pairs of oxen to turn around. In addition, some of today's streets were once barge canals flanked by draw-paths.

A courthouse building was constructed in downtown Dayton in 1888 to supplement Dayton's original Grecian-style courthouse, which still stands. This second, "new" courthouse has since been replaced with new facilities as well as a park.

Dayton Ohio - Dayton Agreement

The Dayton Agreement, a peace accord between the parties to the hostilities of the conflict in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia, was negotiated in the Dayton area. From November 1, 1995 to November 21, 1995, negotiations took place at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.

Dayton Ohio - Cultural and Recreational Activities

Dayton is home to the Dayton Art Institute, a museum of fine arts. The National Museum of the United States Air Force is at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park commemorates the lives and achievements of Dayton natives, Orville and Wilbur Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar.

SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park is located on the south end of Dayton. SunWatch is the location of a 12th century American Indian village that has been partially reconstructed and includes a museum where visitors can learn about the Indian history of the Miami Valley.

Dayton is also home to the Schuster Center for the performing arts and the Victoria Theater which specialize in hosting concerts, traveling Broadway shows, and ballet, completed in 2004. The Schuster Center is also the home performance venue of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra.

South of the city of Dayton is the Fraze Pavilion which hosts many nationally and internationally known musicians for concerts, located in the community of Kettering. Also south of downtown, on the banks of the Great Miami River, is the University of Dayton Arena, home venue for the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams and the location of various other events and concerts. North of Dayton is the Hara Arena and the Nutter Center, venues that frequently host sporting events and concerts. The Nutter Center is the home arena for athletics of Wright State University and the Dayton Bombers ECHL hockey team.

Fifth Third Field is the home of the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball team.

From 1996 to 1998, Dayton hosted the National Folk Festival.

Dayton Ohio - Adult Amateur Sports

Dayton has an adult amateur women's ice hockey team, the Dayton Fangs. The Fangs are a new edition to the Dayton area and accept both new and experienced players. They are under consideration to join the Pennsylvania-Ohio Women's Hockey Association(POWHA), an adult level amateur travel women's ice hockey league, in 2006-2007.

Dayton Ohio - Media

The principal general-circulation daily newspaper in the region is the Dayton Daily News, which is owned by Cox Communications.

Christian Citizen USA (dba Citizen USA) [www.citizenusa.us] is a politically conservative newspaper with circulation in the greater Dayton and suburban commuities with over 20 years of publication. The majority owners and publishers are Pendra Lee and Rick Snyder.

Dayton Ohio - Television

The local broadcast television stations are:

• WDTN, Channel 2, NBC, operated by Lin TV
• WHIO-TV, Channel 7, CBS,operated by Cox Communications
• WPTD, Channel 16, PBS, operated by ThinkTV (formerly known as Greater Dayton Public Television), which also operates WPTO, assigned to Oxford, Ohio
• WKEF, Channel 22, ABC operated by Sinclair Broadcasting
• WBDT, Channel 26, WB/Pax operated by Acme Television
• WRGT, Channel 45, Fox, operated under a local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcasting

Dayton Ohio - Radio

• WONE 980 Sports/Talk
• WIZE 1340 Sports/Talk
• WDAO 1210 Black contemporary/soul music
• WHIO 1290 Full service radio-talk shows

• WDPR 88.1 Dayton Public Radio (Classical)
• WCSU 88.9 Urban Jazz and Gospel.
• WYSO 91.3 National Public Radio (Yellow Springs)
• WROU 92.1 Urban Contemporary
• WGTZ 92.9 Top 40 Pop
• WFCJ 93.7 Christian/Inspirational
• WDKF 94.5 Top 40 Rhythmic Pop
• WMOJ 94.9 Adult urban contemporary (Cincinnati)
• WZLR 95.3 Classic Rock
• WDPT 95.7 80s
• WOXR 97.7 Nostalgia/Oldies (1940's to 1960's) - need a good antenna
• WHKO 99.1 Modern Country
• WUDR 99.5 University Of Dayton Radio
• WLQT 99.9 Soft adult contemporary music
• WDHT 102.9 Urban
• WXEG 103.9 Modern Rock
• WTUE 104.7 Classic Rock
• WDSJ 106.5 Urban jazz
• WWSU 106.9 Wright State University Radio
• WMMX 107.7 Contemporary music

Dayton Ohio - Transportation

Dayton is one of only six remaining U.S. cities with electric trolley bus service, which has been operating continuously since 1888, making it the longest running electric trolley service in the U.S. The trolley service is a part of the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority or RTA.

Air travel is served by the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport, located in Vandalia.

Ground transportation to and from the airport is available through Airport Checker Cab.

Liberty Cab began serving Dayton citizens in 1929 and continues to operate today as part of Miami Liberty Cab Company.

Dayton Ohio - Education

Dayton is home to two major universities: the University of Dayton, a private, Catholic institution founded in 1850 by the Marianist order, and the public Wright State University, which became a state university in 1967. The University of Dayton has the only American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school in the Dayton area, UDSL

Dayton is also home to one of the country's leading community colleges, Sinclair Community College (founded as a YMCA college in 1887), located in central downtown Dayton. Miami Jacobs College is a another junior college in Dayton.

Dayton Ohio - Notable Natives

• Erma Bombeck, Nationally-known columnist and author
• The Breeders, Rock group
• Stevie Brock, Pop Singer
• Nancy Cartwright, Voice of Bart Simpson
• Roger Clemens, Baseball player
• Marco Coleman, NFL defensive tackle
• James Middleton Cox, Congressman, Ohio governor, 1920 Democratic presidential candidate, founder of Cox Enterprises
• Kim Deal, Rock musician, member of Pixies and The Breeders.
• Edward A. Deeds, engineer, inventor, industrialist
• Rick Derringer, Rock musician
• Phil Donahue, Talk show host
• Paul Laurence Dunbar, Noted early African-American poet
• Mel Epstein, Film producer
• Joe Eszterhas, Screenwriter - Showgirls, Basic Instinct
• Guided by Voices, Rock Group
• Cathy Guisewite, National Cartoonist
• Chris Handley, Musician
• Dorian Harewood, Actor
• Ron Harper, Baseketball Player
• Hawthorne Heights, Emo Group
• Darrell Jackson, NFL Wide Receiver
• Allison Janney, Actress
• Gordon Jump, Actor
• Charles Kettering, Inventor - Automobile Self-Starter
• Lakeside, Funk Group
• Chad Lowe, Actor
• Rob Lowe, Actor
• Edwin C. Moses, Olympic Athlete, Track and Field
• Ohio Players, Funk Group
• John H. Patterson, Founder - National Cash Register
• Mike Peters, Nationally-syndicated opinion cartoonist
• Robert Pollard, Rock musican
• Peerless Price, NFL wide receiver
• Kim Richey Singer/Songwriter
• James Ritty, Inventor - Cash Register
• Gary Sandy, Actor
• Mike Schmidt, Baseball Player
• Mike Jackson, Author, TV personality, veterans advocate
• Martin Sheen, Actor
• Slaves, Funk Group
• David Sparks Singer/Songwriter/Writer/Artist/Publisher/Philosopher
• Roger Troutman and Zapp, Musicians/Producers
• Dan 'Big Daddy' Wilkinson, NFL Defensive Tackle
• Tamika Williams, Basketball player in the WNBA
• Jonathan Winters, Actor/Comedian
• Wright Brothers, Inventors - Airplane

Dayton Ohio - Geography

Dayton is located at 39°45'46" North, 84°11'48" West (39.762708, -84.196665)^GR1. The city sits in the Miami River Valley, north of Cincinnati, well south of Toledo, south-west of Columbus, and east of Richmond, Indiana, in the southwest quadrant of the state. Most official and government designations place it in west-central Ohio (a term which colloquially often refers to Lima, Ohio). It is at the confluence of the Great Miami River, the Stillwater and Mad rivers, and Wolf Creek.

Following the flood of 1913, the Miami Conservancy District was established in 1914 to build dams and levees and to dredge and straighten channels to control flooding of the Miami and surrounding rivers.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 146.7 km² (56.6 mi²). 144.5 km² (55.8 mi²) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.55% water.

Dayton Ohio - Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are 166,179 people, 67,409 households, and 37,614 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,150.3/km² (2,979.4/mi²). There are 77,321 housing units at an average density of 535.2/km² (1,386.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 53.40% White, 43.10%% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. 1.58% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Dayton Ohio - Households

There are 67,409 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% are married couples living together, 20.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% are non-families. 36.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 3.04.

Dayton Ohio - Age structure and gender ratio

The age structure of Dayton's popluation is:

• under 18 years: 25.1%
• 18 to 24 years: 14.2%
• 25 to 44 year: 29.0%
• 45 to 64 years: 19.6%
• 65 years of age or older: 12.0%

The median age is 32 years.

For every 100 females there are 93.1 males, while for every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.6 males.

Dayton Ohio - Income

The median income for a household in the city is $27,423, and the median income for a family is $34,978. Males have a median income of $30,816 versus $24,937 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,547. 23.0% of the population and 18.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 32.0% of those under the age of 18 and 15.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Dayton Ohio - Points of interest

• Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
• National Museum of the United States Air Force
• Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Dayton Ohio", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki