In my last posting I mentioned this historical park, where the Wright brother’s first plane is housed. The park has 25 exhibit buildings relating to Dayton’s rich heritage of creativity and invention. In 1884 Dayton was a rapidly modernizing city which provided a rich milieu for the Wright Brother’s curiosity and creative genius. The entrepreneurial boys ran a print shop from 1887-1899. In the Park there is a 1930s era working print shop with period equipment. Pictured below is the printer which Orville Wright gave his great-nephew to use while he was in college- to print out the college newspaper and other items, which provided him a little income.
In 1895 the Wright Brothers added a bicycle shop to their business ventures, the first step on their path to the invention of an airplane. The Park has a Dayton Cyclery building which houses a collection of rare and antique bicycles with a special emphasis on Ohio’s role in bicycle evolution. Pictured below is a 1899 Cyngnet bicycle for ladies, made by the Dayton Stoddard Manufacturing Company (the company also built cars and farm implements). There is a netting over the back wheel which protected dresses from the spokes and chain. That bike has real class!
From 1908- 1912 Charles Kettering and his “Barn Gang” of scientists developed the electric self-starter for the automobile. In the Park there is a replica of a Dayton barn where those first experiments began. Lastly, I would be very remiss if I did not mention John H. Patterson, who also played a big role in Dayton’s modernization. He was the founder of the Dayton National Cash Register Company. The museum has an exhibit of the company’s old advertisements. We enjoyed touring the Park, it certainly is a very unique museum. In this posting I mentioned only a few of the many exhibits which can be found there. The park is named because of the presence of a 24 foot high carillon which is present on the grounds. Concerts with the carillon are played weekly during the summer.
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