St Anne’s Hill has its origins in the eastern out lots of Dayton.  The history of the ownership of the out lots is unclear to me after their initial platting, but apparently portions of them where used as farmland.  Perhaps the properties where also held in speculation. 

 

Based on the online capsule history of the neighborhood part of the out lots north of what is now 5th where owned by a French-Swiss immigrant, Eugene Dutoit, while the lots south where owned by William Bomberger and others. 

 

 

The out lots where two deep, separated by lanes.  These lanes became 5th and Richard Streets

 

 

Out lot boundaries clearly drove the street and block pattern in St Anne’s Hill, perhaps more evident here than in other parts of East Dayton and the Oregon.

 

 

St Anne’s Hill was platted in town lots based starting in the 1840s, during Dayton’s canal era boom, with a second era of platting in the 1850s.  The final large plats where in the 1860s, and the last plats, on McLain Street, in the 1880’s.  There where 20 recorded plats up through1869.  Some of the platters where local notables and early pioneers (such as the Broadwell plat, entered by Ephraim Broadwell, town marshall and early pioneer)

 

 

The original plats have a distinctive plot plan, with the pattern of three alleys resulting in mid block intersections.  Some of the alleys where named (such as Phoenix Lane between High and LaBelle streets)

 

 

 

Growth of St Anne’s Hill via plat sequence:

 

The initial plats in the eastern out lots were the Oregon, Haymarket, and Frenchtown areas.  First plats in St Anne’s Hill proper are along 5th street, then called Lodwick Street. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Platting went on hiatus until the 1850’s, when large plats where made of the eastern side of the neighborhood.  The distinctive three alley block module was discarded at this time.  The pattern and timing of platting seems to indicate a larger boundary for the neighborhood than the official historic district boundary, extending further east to the section line marking the end of the out lots,  and south of Richard Street to Xenia Avenue.

 

 

 

 

 

The 1860s saw the platting of what remained of the Dutoit farm…

 

 

 

Land ownership in St Anne’s Hill, based on the plat history.  Apparently St Anne’s Hill was originally called Smith’s Hill, after one of the large landowners, or Bacon’s Hill, after his wife’s surname. The 1840s Odell’s City Directory lists people living on Smith’s Hill, without street address.

 

 

 

 

The extent and boundaries of the Dutoit farm is not known to me.  The timing and location of platting seems to suggest some possible boundaries. 

 

 

 

However, this passage from the Preservation Dayton website offers a clue:

 

“Dutoit was an important early Dayton settler who owned a 111 acre farm along what is now Dutoit street. He had a degree in botanical studies f from the University of Geneva, and experimented with new varieties of plants at his farmhouse. His apple orchards caused the hill along Dutoit Street to be nicknamed "Vinegar Hill" in the late 1830s. Dutoit sold off portions of his land but retained a sizable chunk until his death.”

 

An outlot was around 10.45 acres.  At 111 acres Dutoit would have owned at least 10 outlots, between  3rd and 5th.  The retained portion is prossibly what was subdivided in the 1860s.  As Dutoit was French-Swiss one wonders as to his connection with the “Frenchtown” settlement off East 3rd Street, in the vicinity of his farm.

 

A historical question for this area is whether or not the platters south of 5th where the original landowners, and to what extent the out lots where held in speculation.  Perhaps some form of title search on sample properties would reveal the original owners and boundaries of landholding in the neighborhood.

 

By 1869 the urban fabric of houses and other buildings was filling in the platted areas….

 

 

 

 

 

 

…..and St Anne’s Hill was evident as a built-up cluster on the edge of the city.

 

 

 

Some views of St Anne’s Hill from the  J.T. Palmatary view of the 1850s, showing its appearance as distinctive area outside the main body of the city, and the large houses on the hill itself.  Select modern features are labeled for reference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hill of St Anne’s Hill

 

Geologically, the hill is the edge of the flood plain of the Miami and Mad Rivers.

 

The Bomberger plat of the 1840s recognized the special nature of the hill by platting this area as larger lots.  The Palmatary view confirms that apparently somewhat larger homes where located on the brow of the hill.  All of these original hill houses save the Steamboat House have been razed.

 

 

 

Based on the 1869 map and the Palamatary view this house appears to have the L-shaped I-house form found in the regional rural architecture (two comparisons from Dayton and another from Red Lion)

 

 

 

 

Sanborn map coverage of this area starts in 1869, and permits a time-series analyses of the urban fabric on what is left of the hill.

 

 

Original lot lines and side lanes in red

 

 

Increasing density and subdivision between 1887 and 1897

 

 

 

The L-shaped farmhouse was razed and property along McClain Street was subdivided in 1885, and large houses where built on the street.

 

 

Between 1898 and 1918 the neighborhood increases in density, but also houses start to be razed for Bomberger Park.

 

 

View of Bomberger Park, which is an interesting design the way it works with the slope.  Note the two houses to the left, which correspond to the houses on the Sanborn.  The larger could be the one shown in the 1869 map.

 

 

 

 

By 1950 the neighborhood has reached build-out, and some additional houses have been demolished for the expansion of Bomberger Park

 

 

 

 

A look at some of the large houses on McLain Street, and St Lukes Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Theodore Meuche Home. Meuche was successful in the insurance, real estate and loan business. He first l lived on a large estate fronting on all of the north side of McLain Street, but later destroyed his early stick style home to make way for more residences. This Georgian Revival style residence is unique in the area.”

 

 

 

Details

 

X

 

 

 

Though St Anne’s Hill was a neighborhood of craftsmen and the working class, this particular area did have a more bourgeois character, as some local industrialists settled here.

 

 

(the Joyce-Cridland factory was originally off of Wyandot Street,  then moved to a factory on Linden Avenue.  The Linden Avenue plant is still standing and will be included in a future “industrial tour of east Dayton” thread).

 

Saint Lukes, originally the Sankt Lukas Lutheran church

 

 

 

Corner house, with thumbnails showing the view toward downtown and along the base of the hill, now all part of Bomberger Park.

 

 

 

A view to the urban renewal area west of the hill…

 

 

And finally, the Steamboat House again, icon of this neighborhood.

 

 

A closer look at Dutoit Street. 

 

Today a part of the St Anne’s Hill historic district this area has perhaps its own development history as part of the Dutoit property…

 

 

 

Like McLain Street, Dutoit Street developed as a street of bourgeois villas in a working class neighborhood.  This block was the rump of the Dutoit farm, officially platted by the city council in 1869, but perhaps unofficially subdivided earlier.

 

 

The heavily modified 1830s Dutoit farmhouse. 

 

 

Another local landmark, the Twin Houses

 

 

“Both built by Captain Henry Sortman, a moderately successful builder who served with distinction during the Civil War and is credited with the original idea for a Soldiers Monument. Sortman tragically committed suicide by hanging himself in his carriage house after leaving a note under his wife's breakfast plate. He lived in 208 and built 204 in collaboration with Marcus Bossler.”

 

 

 

A closer look.  Can you see the suicide’s ghost?  Or is that a Christmas tree in the attic window?

 

 

Beyond the remnant Dutoit property, two bourgeois villas just before one gets to 4th Street

 

 

“Adam Cappel Home. Cappel was a manufacturer of umbrellas, leather goods and luggage, and founded a company which later became E.F.McDonald. Cappel's company built the structure on S. Ludlow Street which is now Reynolds & Reynolds.”

(the Reynolds & Reynolds structure is now owned by the school board)

 

 

 

 

On 4th Street is the German Baptist Church, originally Lutheran.  This big brick box was built between 1869 and 1875, and has some interesting details, particularly the porthole windows in the rear (now blocked up).  Services where held in German as late as WWII.

 

(old B&W pix from the Lutzenberger Collection)

 

 

The crown jewel of Dutoit Street, this restored Second Empire mansion, the Blosser House.  One of the great 19th century treasures of Dayton’s architectural patrimony. Dayton.

 

 

 

“….residence of Marcus Bossler, who grew wealthy in the limestone and building business: his company provided stone for the old jail, courthouse and buildings at the Veteran's Administration. Bossler became bankrupt after overextending himself putting up the Ohio Building at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, and lost his home to creditors.”

 

 

…and a view of downtown Dayton from Dutoit Street.

 

 

 

Envoi:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow...excellent thread! I've always been intriged by this neighborhood, especially those twins. The Blosser House is grand, but the roof ruins it for me, much like the courthouse in Zanesville. Oh...where should I look for the ghost?

Excellent!

Amazing thread, again! Your research is so incredibly thorough and detailed, I hope you're archiving it somewhere that will be accessible to researchers.

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