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Walking Tours of Dayton’s Historic Neighborhoods 

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A series of self-guided walking tours in the 10 historically-zoned district areas in Dayton are now available courtesy of Preservation Dayton, Inc. The walking tours highlight architectural and historical features of each area.

“Each tour highlights the unique architectural heritage of the area and the citizens who helped Dayton thrive through the centuries,” said Monica Snow, the organization’s president. “The leisurely designed walks allow ample time to pause and appreciate the architecture, the streetscape, and the amenities of each area.”

The Daniel G. Fitch House, a Greek Revival home on South Williams Street in the Wright-Dunbar Historic District, was built around 1856 and is one of Dayton’s oldest homes. Photo courtesy of Andy Snow.

Made possible by a $3,500 grant from the City of Dayton, 12 volunteers devoted more than 400 hours to create the web-based tours.  PDI developed the first printed tour guides in 1994 with a grant from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District.

This Victorian Italianate home on Linden Avenue in the Huffman Historic District was built for Charles P. Huffman, founder of the Huffy Bicycle Company. Photo courtesy of Andy Snow.

Easy downloadable audio and print formats with photos and Google maps are provided online at https://www.preservationdayton.com/walking_tours.html. Free tours are available for the following historic neighborhoods: Dayton View, Five Oaks Squirrel Forest, Grafton Hill, Huffman, McPherson Town, Paul Laurence Dunbar, South Park, St. Anne’s Hill, West Third Street and Wright-Dunbar Village.

Russell H. Bates, a partner in D.L. Bates and Brothers, a manufacturing company, built this home on Grand Avenue in the Dayton View Historic District around 1900. At the time this Free Classic Queen Anne cost $10,048.21. Photo courtesy of Andy Snow.

Originally founded in 1983 as the Dayton Area Coalition of Historic Neighborhoods, Preservation Dayton is a non-profit corporation that promotes the restoration, renovation, and rehabilitation of historic structures and settings as economically viable activities and enhancements to the public welfare.

This Colonial Revival house on Belmonte Park in the Grafton Hill Historic District was built in 1931 for Judge T.A. Ferreding. The stone wall came from an early 1800s barn on the family homestead, the site of the former Salem Mall. Photo courtesy of Andy Snow.

 

Contributions to PDI’s Endangered Property Fund can be made online at preservationdayton.com/endangered or by check made payable to Preservation Dayton, Inc. Fund #8630 and mailed to Preservation Dayton, P.O. Box 3614 Dayton, OH 45401.

 

History & Halloween combine at Huffman’s Spooky Tour

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If you’ve ever driven or taken a stroll down Linden Avenue in the Huffman Historic District, you may have been struck by the beauty of the tunnel of oak and linden trees that create a continuous canopy overhead. Or perhaps you were too distracted by the stately collection of Queen Anne, Italianate, and Eastlake Victorian homes. Especially in the fall, there’s a certain magic in the air in Huffman when jack-o-lanterns grace front porch steps and the leaves of the tree canopy transition to autumn colors.

This October 12th and 13th, that magic will be alive and well when the Huffman Historic Neighborhood Association puts on their biannual, guided home tour, “The Spirit of Huffman.” The Spirit of Huffman home tour’s tagline is, “Where Halloween and History Collide,” and, indeed it’s true, when the outing offers tour goers a visual feast of Halloween decorations and entertainment dispersed among the Victorian homes.

Participants of the home tour will be guided through the neighborhood, established in the 1860s through the 1890s  by William P. Huffman, stopping to tour nine unique homes: one totally renovated house, a home bought through auction, homes renovated through Rehabarama, one home that housed the neighborhood post office, and two houses that were doctor’s offices. They will encounter an extensive collection of Halloween decorations, marble mantles, one-of-a-kind woodwork, bay windows, original hitching posts for horses, original carriage houses, carpenter’s lace, fretwork, corbels, towers,  and curved-glass windows. Along the way, they’ll take note of Dayton’s first brick school house, two beautiful Victorian churches with active congregations, and an old market that is looking at a second life. They’ll hear about the importance of the community’s connection to the country’s largest manufacturer of bicycles.

Each time The Spirit of Huffman Tour is presented, visitors are entertained. In addition to being a tour of today’s homes, this is an energized evening walk through time.  Expect to meet up with Huffman residents of a century ago who are scheduled to make an historic return engagement this year – just in time to make the past live again.  Visitors are advised: It is likely you will be transported beyond the Victorian architecture you are coming to see. Come prepared for several “Close Encounters of the Huffman Kind” as they pull back the curtain on time, revealing William Huffman’s new dream for a diverse community of bankers, laborers, shopkeepers, and street vendors at a moment when it is all so exciting and new.  When you come, be sure to listen carefully. The winds of change are rustling through the prairie grasses outside the city. It is 1870 and thanks to one man’s vision, Huffman Prairie is about to transform into the vibrant “Inner East” of Dayton.

Tickets are on sale now! To learn more about the Spirit of Huffman Tour please visit their website at www.SpiritofHuffman.com, or contact spiritofhuffmanhometour@gmail.com

A special thank you to sponsors DK Effects, LinkDayton, Blackbox Improv, Dayton Most Metro, St. Anne the Tart, Gem City Podcast and our great neighborhood of volunteers helping to keep the Spirit of Huffman alive.

How to Go?

When: October 12 and 13, 2018

Where: Huffman Historic District – 19 Linden Avenue, Dayton, OH 45403

Tickets: $18

buy online here

Note: This tour is not recommended for children under the age of 12.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?

Once you arrive for the tour signs and guides will help to find parking.

What can I bring into the event?

This event is rain or shine. Please come prepared with umbrellas and/or ponchos in the event of rain. We will have flashlights to share but are limited. Feel free to bring your own.