|
Welcome to a self-guided walking tour of the South Park Historic District in Dayton, Ohio.
This walking tour will highlight a few of the architectural and historical features of the South Park Historic District. South Park was designated an historic district by the city of Dayton in 1981 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The tour is intended to provide a leisurely walk through the neighborhood, allowing ample time to pause and appreciate the architecture, the streetscape, and the amenities of the area. We ask that you walk carefully, as streets and sidewalks can be uneven, and it’s important to observe the terrain while you appreciate the beauty and the architectural features of the area. We recommend that you allow 90 minutes to complete the tour. If you have any questions about one of Dayton’s most vibrant historic districts, please contact Historic South Park Inc. online at www.historicsouthpark.org. |
|
|
Listen here:
|
| ||
The district encompasses a 24-block area with more than 700 structures dating from the 1880s to the early twentieth century. The area is mainly residential in character with thriving commercial areas along the district’s perimeter. South Park is historically significant because of the variety of its architecture, which includes vernacular, cottage, and high style examples.
Park Street, as it was then known, was created in 1853 as a scenic boulevard in the countryside well outside of Dayton’s city center. Significant settlement of South Park waited nearly two more decades until the city spread southward around land held by merchant brothers, James and Johnson Perrine. Their heirs divided this land, roughly bounded by Hickory, Wayne, Oak and Morton, into housing lots in 1870. They named the development’s streets James, Johnson, Perrine, and Garrett, for a third brother. Lots in the Perrine plat were quickly purchased and houses built.
In 1884, John H. Patterson purchased James Ritty’s patents and created the National Cash Register Company. His factories flanked Main Street west of the University of Dayton. Patterson was said to have coined the term “South Park” which included the areas south of his manufacturing plants. This encompassed a large area including today’s Fairgrounds and Rubicon neighborhoods, and University of Dayton student housing.
Patterson’s concept of “corporate welfare” addressed the appearance of the neighborhoods that surrounded his company. He sponsored contests for the best home landscaping, and gardening clubs for neighborhood children who supposedly were vandalizing Patterson’s factories. He started with “Slidertown,” the area of shacks and shanties closet to his factories (beyond South Park’s current boundaries).
Patterson also hired the New York firm of Olmstead Brothers to design or redesign public spaces. It was the Olmstead Brothers who designed Park Drive’s lovely curving sidewalks and carefully placed focal points. Eventually South Park developed into a pleasant, garden-filled community where factory workers lived side-by-side with supervisors and Patterson’s right-hand men. Until the automobile enabled NCR workers to move further afield, the neighborhood continued to be associated with Patterson’s firm. Many company picnics and other functions took place on Park Drive Boulevard in the heart of the district.
The architecture of South Park includes examples of Second Empire, High Victorian Italianate, Queen Anne, Federal and Romanesque Revival in one and two story structures of brick and frame. South Park still preserves a sense of a close-knit neighborhood whose residents cooperate to maintain the many neighborhood parks which give the district its special flavor.
Your tour begins at the corner of Park Drive Boulevard and Wayne Avenue. ⋆
↓ Click this box with the arrow to see the details of each property.
Park Street, as it was then known, was created in 1853 as a scenic boulevard in the countryside well outside of Dayton’s city center. Significant settlement of South Park waited nearly two more decades until the city spread southward around land held by merchant brothers, James and Johnson Perrine. Their heirs divided this land, roughly bounded by Hickory, Wayne, Oak and Morton, into housing lots in 1870. They named the development’s streets James, Johnson, Perrine, and Garrett, for a third brother. Lots in the Perrine plat were quickly purchased and houses built.
In 1884, John H. Patterson purchased James Ritty’s patents and created the National Cash Register Company. His factories flanked Main Street west of the University of Dayton. Patterson was said to have coined the term “South Park” which included the areas south of his manufacturing plants. This encompassed a large area including today’s Fairgrounds and Rubicon neighborhoods, and University of Dayton student housing.
Patterson’s concept of “corporate welfare” addressed the appearance of the neighborhoods that surrounded his company. He sponsored contests for the best home landscaping, and gardening clubs for neighborhood children who supposedly were vandalizing Patterson’s factories. He started with “Slidertown,” the area of shacks and shanties closet to his factories (beyond South Park’s current boundaries).
Patterson also hired the New York firm of Olmstead Brothers to design or redesign public spaces. It was the Olmstead Brothers who designed Park Drive’s lovely curving sidewalks and carefully placed focal points. Eventually South Park developed into a pleasant, garden-filled community where factory workers lived side-by-side with supervisors and Patterson’s right-hand men. Until the automobile enabled NCR workers to move further afield, the neighborhood continued to be associated with Patterson’s firm. Many company picnics and other functions took place on Park Drive Boulevard in the heart of the district.
The architecture of South Park includes examples of Second Empire, High Victorian Italianate, Queen Anne, Federal and Romanesque Revival in one and two story structures of brick and frame. South Park still preserves a sense of a close-knit neighborhood whose residents cooperate to maintain the many neighborhood parks which give the district its special flavor.
Your tour begins at the corner of Park Drive Boulevard and Wayne Avenue. ⋆
↓ Click this box with the arrow to see the details of each property.