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Dayton Area Information
Dayton is a city in southwestern Ohio, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Montgomery County. As of the 2005 census
estimate, the population of Dayton was 159,000, and the Dayton metropolitan area had a population of 843,000. Dayton is situated within the
Miami Valley region of Ohio.
Dayton plays host to significant industrial, aerospace, and technological/engineering research activity and is known for the many
technical innovations and inventions developed there. The Wright brothers, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and entrepreneur John H. Patterson
were born in Dayton. The Dayton area is home to several major international, national, and regional corporations. The city was the location
of the negotiation of the Dayton Peace Accords, which brought an end to the war in Bosnia.
Dayton was founded on April 1, 1796 by a small group of US settlers seven years before the admission of Ohio to the Union in 1803. The town
was incorporated in 1805 and given its name after Jonathan Dayton, a captain in the American Revolutionary War and signer of the U.S.
Constitution. The Miami and Erie Canal, built in the 1830s,
connected the Dayton commerce from Lake Erie via the Great Miami River and served as the principal route of transportation for western
Ohio until the 1850s. The catastrophic Great Dayton Flood of March 1913 severely affected much of the city, stimulated the growth of
suburban communities outside central Dayton in areas lying further from the Miami River and on higher ground, and led to the establishment
of the Miami Conservancy District in 1914.
Dayton is home to the Dayton Art Institute, a museum of fine arts. The National Museum of the United States Air Force is at nearby
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Dayton Metro Library is a library system consisting of 23 locations across the metropolitan area,
with the Main Library located in downtown Dayton. The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park commemorates the lives and
achievements of Dayton natives Orville and Wilbur Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar. SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park is located
on the south end of Dayton. SunWatch is the location of a 12th century American Indian village that has been partially reconstructed and
includes a museum where visitors can learn about the Indian history of the Miami Valley. Dayton is also home to a variety of performing
arts venues. The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center at the corner of Second and Main, is the home performance venue of
the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dayton Opera. In addition to Philharmonic and Opera performances, the Schuster Center hosts
concerts, lectures, traveling Broadway shows, and is a popular spot for weddings and other events. The historic Victoria Theatre, located
at the corner of First and Main, hosts concerts, traveling Broadway shows, ballet, a summertime classic film series, and much more. The
Loft Theatre, also on Main Street, is the home of the Human Race Theatre Company.
Dayton is also the home to the Gem City Ballet and Progressive Dance Theater, companies in residence at the Pontecorvo Ballet Studio.
Dayton is home to two major universities: the University of Dayton, a private, Catholic institution founded in 1850, and the
public Wright State University, which became a state university in 1967. The Kettering College of Medical Arts offers
two-year and four-year degrees in several disciplines including nursing. The Ohio
Institute of Photography and Technology is a career-focused college also located in Dayton. Dayton is also home to one of the country's
leading community colleges, Sinclair Community College.
The city has a rich heritage of inventions and innovations, with more patents per capita than any other city in the nation. Some of these
inventions include the powered airplane, cash register, the stepladder, microfiche, waterproof cellophane, pop top beverage cans, the
movie projector, space food, parking meters, the aircraft supercharger, aircraft ejection seats, automobile air bags,
the automobile self-starter, gas masks, and the solenoid.
The first American Professional Football Association (precursor to the NFL) game was played in Triangle Park between the Dayton Triangles
and the Columbus Panhandles on October 3, 1920.
Key Links:
Dayton CultureWorks
Dayton Convention & Visitor's Bureau
Downtown Dayton Partnership
Dayton Aviation Trail
National Aviation Heritage Area
Five Rivers Metroparks