Posted July 11, 200816 yr Main Street looking north. Now home to CareSource. New CareSource garage, 2008 CareSource, 2008 Third Street Main Street, looking south Same view, 2008 soon to be Schuster McCrory before makeover McCrory, 2008, more improvement to come... Riverscape under construction Riverscape, 2008 Later became Pretzinger Lane 4th and Patterson, Patterson Commons in its infancy Whoa What became to Doubletree Later became Reynold & Reynolds, soon to be.......? Later became Dave Hall Plaza, in my opinion a very underrated urban oasis...also the hotel Looked like this Awesome pre-courthouse square shot 5th Street used to be pretty interesting Patterson back then 5th 3rd u/c...not sure how it constantly sells out in a 'dead city'
July 11, 200816 yr Amazing photos! There are a couple I'm stuggling to place, perhaps because the buildings depicted no longer exist. I had though Elder Beerman was older than the 80's.
July 11, 200816 yr "I had though Elder Beerman was older than the 80's." ...it is, from the 1970s, late 70s I think? This is a fascinating shot and explains why Court House Square was designed the way it was...apparently it was phased. You can still see the old DP&L building across the alley (Artz Lane) here, where the Mead Tower is today. Not only that you can see the old storefronts and commercial buldings on Main, torn out for Gem Savings bldg. Fascinating. Crown Plaza (AKA Stouffers) under construction, along with the rest of Dave Hall Plaza. Wow! These are great shots!
July 11, 200816 yr The Hilton is now Doubletree, correct? The facade improvements are fantastic. You can also see the pilasters, cornice, etc. on the Wilkinson side of the DDN building; there is an addition blocking that today. Now you've got me feeling bitter about Rikes again...
July 11, 200816 yr Dayton has a Maison Carée too?! More from the front. I think it was built in the 1840s. The Hilton is now Doubletree, correct? The facade improvements are fantastic. Indeed, it is or was. Fortunatly enough of the facade was intact to permit restoration, but they had to rebuild the bay windows. ...the one story porno place on the corner was a notorious public sex spot. It had little peep show viewing booths with glory holes in the partitions. It burned one day, with people inside. No one was hurt, but one of the patrons, a real street queen, ended up in a local gay bar later, sort of smudged up with smoke and burnt stuff. I think he ended up ordering a double. It didnt reopen, and was torn down for a parking lot.
July 11, 200816 yr You can also see the pilasters, cornice, etc. on the Wilkinson side of the DDN building; Tromp-olay. That facade is painted on.
July 11, 200816 yr WOW. Blast from the past. Who remembers the old Sears store on Patterson before the river? "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 11, 200816 yr Not only do I remenber the Sears, I remember when Elder-Beerman was still on Main Street (next to where the new trasit hub is going), before they moved to Courthouse Square in 1976.
July 11, 200816 yr ^ I remeber that Sears. My partners first job in Dayton after he stayed here with me was working the Xmas season at Sears. Xmas 1988. That store was amazing. frozen in time. They even had the same outdoor lighting from the 1940s.
July 12, 200816 yr Sears on Patterson Blvd... heh... good memories. Friends and I going to the old Magnet School at the YMCA would stop at Flying Pizza across from Rike's parking garage for a slice, and we would then walk up to Sears and vandalize the bathrooms (nothing bad, my friend thought it was hilarious to throw a roll of TP into the toilet) and screw around wasting time on the primitive "pong" games and vintage calculators they had on display. This is a 1975 period memory.
July 12, 200816 yr Yep, I remember the old Sears, and the old Elder's, and old Beerman's, and the Home store. Saw movies at all three RKO theaters downtown in the '50's. Downtown was a busy place in those days. I have many memories of the Dayton that used to be.
July 12, 200816 yr ^ I knew Elder-Johnson was seperate, but wasn't Beermans and the Home Store one in the same
July 12, 200816 yr How late did Dayton have Sears? I still find it a little shocking that Hamilton has a downtown Sears until 1992. JcPenney even stayed around until 1991 when they moved to Tri-County.
July 12, 200816 yr ...the one story porno place on the corner was a notorious public sex spot. It had little peep show viewing booths with glory holes in the partitions. It burned one day, with people inside. No one was hurt, but one of the patrons, a real street queen, ended up in a local gay bar later, sort of smudged up with smoke and burnt stuff. I think he ended up ordering a double. It didnt reopen, and was torn down for a parking lot. Allright for being a flaming Queen!!
July 12, 200816 yr Great photographs. Funny how much more vibrant our cities looked even a few years ago. Something very powerful was lost when all the retail hightailed it out of the central cores of the downtown areas of our cities. Also love how a car in a picture dates the entire composition. Those old tanks from the 80s were so huge. There was sure a lot happening downtown then.
July 14, 200816 yr The Sears in downtown Dayton closed in 1993, about the same time they opened a new store at the Fairfield Commons Mall.
July 16, 200816 yr The Sears in downtown Dayton closed in 1993, about the same time they opened a new store at the Fairfield Commons Mall. Anyone have an old picture of the Sears building? The R and A from the old sign was salvaged by Real Art—who are currently moving from OD to Ballpark Village/Tech Town/Webster Station/First Street area.
July 17, 200816 yr I know this may sound...well, inappropriate, but is Omar Williams still alive? "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 17, 200816 yr I was thinking the same thing. Turns out, no. See: http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8268283 He apparently just passed in May. He joins Dayton TV luminaries such as Don Wayne and Joe Rockhold a.k.a "Uncle Orrie" in eternity.
July 17, 200816 yr Ugh, he was a great guy. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 19, 200816 yr My Google search of Elder-Beerman, page 3 - The Elder-Beerman Stores / International Directory of Company, states; Aurthur Beerman bought the Home Store in 1956. Also, Beerman's merged with Elder-Johnson in 1962. > FYI. Downtown Dayton might look very different today had Arthur Beerman not fought tooth & nail to keep John Kenneth Galbraith, the Pittsburgh developer, from getting involved in Dayton's urban renewal plans in the late 50's early 60's. Beerman was against any outsiders coming into 'his' city . I remember a rendering in the DDN of a 31 story tower Galbraith had planned for the area. > I also remember a 24 story tower proposed in the mid 60's. It would have been on Monument, a couple lots west of Main St. Don't remember details of this one. > I'd be shocked if anything ever gets proposed, let alone built, taller than the Kettering Tower.
July 19, 200816 yr Arthur Beerman wasn't a native Daytonian. I think he moved to town in the 1930s from Philalphia, but became big in real estate during the 1940s. I think he was into real estate before retail? Or maybe both at the same time. I agree. The skyscraper era here is pretty much over.
August 10, 200816 yr Author Hey eveyone...sorry the links were messed up for a while...to make up for it I left some comments and provided larger images, plus a few images I didn't include before.
January 2, 200916 yr So I found an interesting photo my grandmother took back whenever of Dayton's Union Station (which is, of course, gone). Thought you'd all enjoy it: "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 2, 200916 yr Cool pic. Was that station for buses or trains or both? shame they tore it down. :x
January 3, 200916 yr Train station "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 3, 200916 yr Has anyone seen a similar photo of Culp's Cafeteria in the old Arcade? My mom and grandmother would love to go there for a bite to eat after shopping downtown. (A way of life that was still available in the 60s.) Btw - cool pic!
January 4, 200916 yr I think all the stations on the New York Central System, at least in cities of any size, were classy in style. The last one built was Central Union Terminal in Toledo (1950), and it's restored and gorgeous. The fifties produced some unattractive stuff, but the station in Toledo pulls together all the best elements of the era. "Soda - Lunch - Cigars - News" Some things awaken memories that have been in hibernation. I remember that almost all public places of "importance" always smelled of cigar smoke. On election day just about everything shut down, including city schools, and most school buildings served as polling places. The day after the election when we returned to school, the building always smelled of the poll workers' cigar smoke.
January 4, 200916 yr awesome find. grandma had a good eye and a steady hand with the camera, too. can someome find or put up a map of the downtown block with the exact location of the station? thx
January 6, 200916 yr I'm wondering if this was under the tracks, built after the grade elevation in the early '30s (you can see the grade elevation in the top postcard). It reminds me a bit of that station for the IC/South Shore Line up in Chicago, the end of the line one by the Prudential Building, which was below grade.
January 6, 200916 yr Originally, it was at grade but I believe it was elevated after the 1913 floods, much like the Toledo & Ohio Central station on West Broad Street in Columbus. Both stations were in the flood plain.
January 6, 200916 yr There was a movement toward grade-separating railroads around that time, too. Growth in traffic on major railroads and in automobile traffic on city streats and increasing urban population were bringing conflict and carnage. In midwestern cities, the 1913 floods probably provided the final push to get it done. Dayton's elevation was completed in 1931, according to some sources. Dayton's Union Station was demolished in 1989. I think the platforms and canopies still were in place for a few years after that; I kind of remember seeing them in 1991, although I'm not sure of that. Here's a link to Miami Valley Railfans. http://www.trainweb.org/mvr/index.html Scroll down past all the introductory stuff on the home page, and there are several photos of passenger trains at the platforms at Dayton Union Station, although unfortunately none of the station itself. Some include good Dayton skyline views.
April 8, 201015 yr The little Big City….even though the skyscrapers were lower it seemed a bigger place back then, more cityfied somehow... Downtown, don’t you want to go Down--town…cue Petula Clark… This place must have looked great at night…. (Two Legs was a custom tailor, too) Downtown…steak houses and cocktail lounges (Green Mill & Gold Coin0 Matchbook from the Gold Coin (note the union ‘bug’, showing this was made in a union print shop) Cocktail Lounges, we loves them yes we do…..the Steppe Inn in the Arcade Inside the Arcade, when it was a market (1969, still hopping even that late in time) Barber & shoe shine, recall there were apartments in here, too…you could live here and go grocery shopping and get a hair cut downstairs… More Arcade scenes can be found here (you will enjoy them. Good photography, too) Neighborhood snaps Fifth Street in the Haymarket (1151 east) (familiar church steeple in the background) 600 block of Wayne Xenia & Wayne Richard Street Richard and Wayne (The two buildings to the left are probably from the 1860s or earlier. Richard heads off into the distance. Eagle is coming in up a slopt at that building facing us. Wayne runs from left to right. We are on that hill the Steamboat House and Emerson School are on.) A few blocks further east, Al's Bar 1500 block of Richard, St Paul theatre Globe Laundry, 1727 E Richard Some west side snaps….Germantown and Broadway: (I think ColDayMan has a family connection to the drugstore across the street) Sunshine Grill in Edgemont (Sunshine Biscuit bakery in background) West Side Hungarians doing something folkloric at the social hall A few blocks south, Kenders bar on W Third…Mr Kender…. Steve & Gwen… …note most of these are Cincy brands (but I also see a case of Falls City!). Dayton did have post-repeal local beers, but I think they where gone by the mid 1950s? These and much more pix from Dayton in the ‘50s can be found here
April 8, 201015 yr (I think ColDayMan has a family connection to the drugstore across the street) Indeed. Fantastic job, Jeffrey. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 9, 201015 yr What's interesting about the 1969 Arcade photos is that most of the customers pictured are older individuals. It seems that the generations who were accustomed to city life didn't give it up for the suburbs because they knew the advantages of walking and transit from growing up with them. Their children were the ones who had the sprawl lifestyle target marketed at them and bought in. Many of today's older folks are those hardcore suburbanites.
April 9, 201015 yr Great photos! Love the kids all dressed up in the for a festival. Dayton must have been really something.
April 9, 201015 yr Great pics! Thanks for sharing them. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 9, 201015 yr Here's another Arcade pix...Nu-Way Bakery I guess Im suprised on how active (and leased) the Arcade was as late as 1969. Maybe it could have survived as a market, the way the North Market did in Columbus? The guy who owned it wanted to turn it into a Dayton version of the Cannery in San Francisco, but maybe it could have remained viable as a downtown place for food, services, small retail (even if somewhat scruffy and low key, as in these pix).
April 9, 201015 yr Great photos! Love the kids all dressed up in the for a festival. Dayton must have been really something What it was was a little Chicago.
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