Dayton, Ohio
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Dayton is the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 166,179.
The city is in the southwest quadrant of the state. Most official and government designations place it in west-central Ohio, an area that colloquially describes Lima. Dayton residents often use the term Miami Valley for the region.
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Name and history
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Dayton was founded by a small group of settlers on April 1, 1796, seven years before the admission of Ohio to the Union in 1803. The town was incorporated in 1805 and named after Jonathan Dayton, a captain in the American Revolutionary War and signer of the U.S. Constitution. The city was the home of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright who, before their aviation success, ran a bicycle shop in Dayton. It was also the home of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and of John H. Patterson 1 (http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/manuscripts/ms236.html), who founded a successful cash register business in Dayton, National Cash Register Corporation, now diversified far beyond cash registers and known by its initials NCR.
The nickname of the city is the Gem City. No one appears to be sure of the reason for the name: either a famous racehorse named Gem hailed from Dayton, or the city was as pretty as a gem. The most likely story is that the nickname was spawned from an 1840s article in a Cincinnati newspaper, which said, "In a small bend of the Great Miami River, with canals on the east and south, it can be fairly said, without infringing on the rights of others, that Dayton is the gem of all our interior towns. It possesses wealth, refinement, enterprise, and a beautiful country, beautifully developed."
Due to it being the hometown of the Wright Brothers, and the fact that they assembled their planes there, Dayton is also known as the Birthplace of Aviation.
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 stepladder, microfiche, cellophane tape, pop top beverage cans, the movie projector, space food, parking meters, the airplane supercharger, gas masks, and the parachute.
The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton on August 19, 1934.
Unlike many midwestern cities of its age, Dayton has very broad and straight downtown streets (generally two full lanes in each direction), facilitating access to the downtown even after the automobile became popular. The main reason for the broad streets was that Dayton was a marketing and shipping center from its beginning: streets were broad to enable wagons drawn by teams of 3-4 pairs of oxen to turn around. In addition, some of today's streets were once barge canals flanked by draw-paths.
Dayton used to have a "new" courthouse that was built in 1888 to supplement the lovely old Grecian-style courthouse that still stands. The "new" courthouse has since been replaced with even newer facilities and a downtown park.
Dayton Agreement
From November 1, 1995 to November 21, 1995, negotiations took place at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton to end the Yugoslav wars. The negotiations produced a peace accord known as the Dayton Agreement.
Cultural and Recreational Activities
Dayton is home to the Dayton Art Institute, a museum of fine arts.
Dayton is also home to the Schuster Center for the performing arts and the Victoria Theater which specialize in hosting concerts, traveling Broadway shows, and ballet. The Schuster Center is also the home performance venue of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra.
South of Dayton is the Fraze Pavilion which hosts many nationally and internationally known musicians for concerts. North of Dayton is the Hara Arena and the Nutter Center which are venues that host sporting events and concerts.
Fifth Third Field is the home of Minor League Baseball team the Dayton Dragons.
Political structure
In 1913, Dayton became the first city to adopt the council-manager government system. In this system, the mayor is merely the chairperson of the city commission and has one vote on the commission just like the other commissioners. The commission chooses a city manager, who holds administrative authority over the city government.
As of November 2004:
- Dayton City Commission:
- Mayor Rhine L. McLin (D)
- Dean A. Lovelace (D)
- Richard A. Zimmer (D)
- Joey D. Williams (D)
- Matt Joseph (D)
- City Manager: James T. Dinneen
- Clerk of Courts: Mark Owens (D)
Dayton Municipal Court
- Presiding Judge John S. Pickrel (D)
- Administrative Judge James F. Cannon (D)
- Judges:
Dayton City Schools Board of Education
- Gail A. Littlejohn, president
- L. Anthony Hill, vice president
- Clayton R. Luckie III, parlimentarian
- Ann Marie Gallin
- E. Doniece Gatliff
- Yvonne V. Isaacs
- Tracy L. Rusch
- List of mayors of Dayton, Ohio
- List of City Commissioners of Dayton, Ohio
- Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio
- Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio (Primary Election)
- Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission
- Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission (Primary Election)
- Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Judge
- Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Clerk
Media
The principal general circulation daily newspaper in the area is the Dayton Daily News, which is owned by Cox Communications.
The local broadcast television stations are:
- WDTN, Channel 2, NBC, operated by Lin TV
- WHIO-TV, Channel 7, CBS,operated by Cox Communications
- WPTD, Channel 16, PBS, operated by ThinkTV (formerly known as Greater Dayton Public Television), which also operates WPTO, assigned to Oxford, Ohio
- WKEF, Channel 22, ABC operated by Sinclair Broadcasting
- WBDT, Channel 26, WB/Pax operated by Acme Television
- WRGT, Channel 45, Fox, operated under a local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcasting
Note: In 2004, WDTN switched back to NBC affiliation from a multi-year tenure as an ABC affiliate, forcing WKEF back to an ABC affiliation.
Transportation
Dayton is one of only five remaining U.S. cities with trolley bus service.
Air travelers are served by the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport
Bus service is provided by the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority or RTA.
Education
Dayton has two major universities. The private University of Dayton was founded in 1850, and the public Wright State University became a state university in 1967.
Dayton is also home to one of the country's leading community colleges, Sinclair Community College, located in the heart of downtown.
Notable Natives
- Erma Bombeck, National Columnist/Author
- The Breeders, Rock Musicians
- Nancy Cartwright, Voice of Bart Simpson
- Roger Clemens, Baseball Player
- Marco Coleman, NFL defensive tackle
- James Middleton Cox, Congressman, Ohio governor, 1920 Democratic presidential candidate, founder of Cox Enterprises
- Rick Derringer, Rock Musician
- Phil Donahue, Talk Show Host
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, Famous African-American Poet
- Mel Epstein, Film Producer
- Joe Eszterhas, Screenwriter - Showgirls, Basic Instinct
- Cathy Guisewite, National Cartoonist
- Dorian Harewood, Actor
- Allison Janney, Actress
- Gordon Jump, Actor
- Charles Kettering, Inventor - Automobile Self-Starter
- Chad Lowe, Actor
- Rob Lowe, Actor
- Mike Schmidt, Baseball Player
- Martin Sheen, Actor
- Gary Sandy, Actor
- Roger Troutman and Zapp, Musicians/Producers
- Ohio Players, Funk Group
- John H. Patterson, Founder - National Cash Register
- Mike Peters, National Cartoonist
- Peerless Price, NFL wide receiver
- James Ritty, Inventor - Cash Register
- Guided by Voices, Rock Musicians
- Jonathan Winters, Actor/Comedian
- Wright Brothers, Inventors - Airplane
- Slave, Funk Group
- Hawthorne Heights, Punk Rock Group
- Lakeside, Funk Group
Geography
Dayton sits in the Miami River Valley, north of Cincinnati, well south of Toledo, west of Columbus, and east of Richmond, Indiana. It is at the confluence of the Great Miami River, the Stillwater River, the Mad River, and Wolf Creek. After the flood of 1913, numerous water-control dams and levees were constructed to control these rivers.
Dayton is located at 39°45'46" North, 84°11'48" West (39.762708, -84.196665)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 146.7 km² (56.6 mi²). 144.5 km² (55.8 mi²) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.55% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 166,179 people, 67,409 households, and 37,614 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,150.3/km² (2,979.4/mi²). There are 77,321 housing units at an average density of 535.2/km² (1,386.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 53.36% White, 43.13% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. 1.58% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Households
There are 67,409 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% are married couples living together, 20.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% are non-families. 36.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 3.04.
Ages
In the city the population is spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.6 males.
Income
The median income for a household in the city is $27,423, and the median income for a family is $34,978. Males have a median income of $30,816 versus $24,937 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,547. 23.0% of the population and 18.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 32.0% of those under the age of 18 and 15.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
External links
- Official city website (http://www.ci.dayton.oh.us/)
- Dayton Metro Library (http://www.daytonmetrolibrary.org/)
- Visitors' information (http://www.med.wright.edu/visitors/nearby.html) (from Wright State University)
- Montgomery County Historical Society (http://www.daytonhistory.org/home.htm)
- Museum of the U.S. Air Force (http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/)
- Greater Dayton RTA Bus Lines (http://www.mvrta.org/)
- History of NCR (http://www.ncr.com/history/history.htm)
- Dayton Public Schools (http://www.dps.k12.oh.us)
- Dayton Daily News (http://www.daytondailynews.com)
