HUFFMAN AVENUE and TORRENCE STREET are named for Torrence Huffman, real estate developer and owner of Huffman Prairie where the Wright Brothers flew and tested their airplanes.
Torrence was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Woodland Cemetery Association from May 1903 until his death on January 6, 1928. He also served as its treasurer from 1890 to 1896. He was a graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio and served as one of their trustees and chairman of the finance committee. He was one of the original organizers of the Fourth National Bank and first served as its vice-president for five years and then president for twenty five years until the bank merged with the Dayton Savings and Trust Company. In 1916, he became financially involved with the Buckeye Iron & Brass Works serving as its director and principal owner until his death in 1928. He was also a director at the Dayton Railway Company as well as the Dayton State Hospital. 
Torrence Huffman was born in Dayton, Ohio on March 20, 1855 and died on January 6, 1928. He was married to Annie Beckel, daughter of Daniel and Susannah (Harshman) Beckel. Torrence and Annie had four children: Susannah, William, Geraldine and Charlotte. The entire family is buried in Section 52 Lot 1167 in Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum.
Woodland Cemetery, founded in 1841, is one of the nation’s oldest rural garden cemeteries and a unique cultural, botanical and educational resource in the heart of Dayton, Ohio. Visit the cemetery and arboretum and take one of the many tours Woodland offers free of charge. Most of Dayton’s aviation heroes, inventors and business barons are buried at Woodland.
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is located at 118 Woodland Avenue off of Brown Street near the University of Dayton Campus. The Woodland Office is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday 8 am to 12 pm. The Cemetery and Arboretum are open daily from 8 am to 6 pm and until 7 pm during Daylight Saving Time. The Mausoleum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, call 937-228-3221 or visit the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum website.
The annual Dayton Air Show took off in 1975, but air shows and flying exhibitions in Dayton go back 100 years to the Wright Company’s exhibition team, which trained at Huffman Prairie and made its flying debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in June 1910.
Mr. Gaffney is a former Dayton Daily News aviation writer, publisher of AviationDayton.com, and author of Dayton Air Show: A Photographic Celebration, which features photos by Dayton Daily News photographer Ty Greenlees.