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Old 08-19-2017, 10:36 AM
 
Location: The analog world
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Hey all, I've recently read a book that briefly references the Olmsted firm, and it sparked my interest in their Dayton projects. I'm familiar with Hills & Dales and NCR, but I wondered if anyone knows where I might find on-line images of Park Drive Blvd or the original landscape plans (longshot, I know). I did find one image of a postcard, but it's pretty limited in scope and does not show any detail. The Wikipedia article mentions that there was once a fountain and a stream. Anybody know more?
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Old 08-20-2017, 12:43 PM
 
Location: The analog world
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Well, darn! I was really hoping there might be some old-timers around the forum who might know what it looked like originally, before the fountain was removed. Here's the postcard image I found on-line.
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Old 08-20-2017, 03:11 PM
 
Location: The analog world
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I think I misunderstood something I read on-line and assumed that the fountain and stream co-existed in the boulevard, but it appears that the stream existed before the neighborhood. When Park Drive was platted in the 1860s, the stream was re-routed through the center of the boulevard. The watercourse was not visible -- above ground at least -- on later maps. I do not have an exact date for the boulevard project, but the Olmsted firm was active in Dayton from 1896 through the 1950s. I'm going to assume that the now empty Fountainview Nursing Home at 250 Park Drive on the south side of the boulevard is a clue that the Olmsted fountain was in the circle that remains visible just to the west of the building. Does anyone know when & why the fountain was removed?
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Old 08-23-2017, 06:12 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
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That was before my time in Dayton, but what about the South Park neighborhood association, or whatever it's called? It might have the historical perspective you're looking for.

I sure wish I'd had the $$$ to buy one of those homes on Park Drive 40 or even 30 years ago ...
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Old 08-24-2017, 06:27 AM
 
Location: The analog world
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I've been through the neighborhood association website, but I did not find what I was looking for. This may have to wait for my next trip to Dayton and a trip to the library archives.
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Old 08-26-2017, 06:27 AM
 
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^Definitely! And you'll get to check out the new library while you're up here
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Old 08-26-2017, 07:20 AM
 
Location: The analog world
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The firm did a lot of projects around town, and for those with the patience to search, they can be found here...

OlmstedOnline

Here's a listing of projects for John H. Patterson. Expand the list called Plans to see them. Note the inclusion of "Mrs. Crane's lot." (projects 87-89) Who could that be? **

Unfortunately, there are only a few photos of Olmsted projects on the website and none of any completed in Dayton. I noticed that one of the projects was White City Amusement Park, which became Island Park. There were amusement parks like it all over the U.S. in the years after the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition in Chicago. (It was dubbed the White City in response to the white-painted neoclassical architecture that surrounded the Great Basin.) Dayton's White City Amusement Park fell into disrepair after the turn of the century and was wiped out by the flood. A nice little description of the park is included in this article about defunct Dayton-area amusement parks. Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to find it.

SWOH, I am looking forward to seeing the new library. What are the plans for the old building and Cooper Park? Somewhere recently I saw a blurb about the restoration of the Winters Fountain, which is located in Cooper Park, but I didn't look closely enough to see if it's currently in progress or already completed. Do you know the scoop?

** Found it! Mrs. Crane was probably Patterson's sister, Julia, aka Mrs. J. H. Crane.

Last edited by randomparent; 08-26-2017 at 08:42 AM..
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Old 08-26-2017, 10:24 AM
 
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They demolished the old library and built the new one in its place. I think the new building might take up a little more of Cooper Park than the previous building too...

They just completed the library a couple weeks ago (I think maybe the first week of August is when it opened?). They were using the old Hauer Music building as a temporary library, I'm not sure what the plans are for it now that the new library is open.
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Old 08-26-2017, 10:39 AM
 
Location: The analog world
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Ah, that's where my confusion lay. I thought the new library was going to be somewhere else. I did not realize it was being rebuilt in place. So the Central Branch was moved to the Hauer building temporarily? Just recently I came upon some historical information about the Hauer building that I cannot immediately bring to mind, but it had something to do with one of the original residents of Park Ave. I'm thinking that the Hauer building was originally a brewery owned by the resident? I'm not sure, though. Lots of interesting people lived on that boulevard, and it does have some gorgeous homes. My dad lived for a time in South Park when he was a child in the 1940s. (No, he did not know Martin Sheen.)

I was just reading through some of the posts in the history thread that we had going last year, and I leapt down the rabbit hole with the Pattersons again. I've spent the morning trying to figure out the Crane connection. I'm thinking that Julia Patterson (John's sister) was married to a relative of this prominent Daytonian of the same name. Julia's husband, Joseph Halsey Crane, was the first sales manager for NCR, and I just requested his obit from the DDN archives, because now I NEED TO KNOW MORE. Oh no, here I go again!

And I'm still looking for a photo of that fountain.

Last edited by randomparent; 08-26-2017 at 11:52 AM..
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Old 08-26-2017, 05:04 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SWOH View Post
They demolished the old library and built the new one in its place. I think the new building might take up a little more of Cooper Park than the previous building too...

They just completed the library a couple weeks ago (I think maybe the first week of August is when it opened?). They were using the old Hauer Music building as a temporary library, I'm not sure what the plans are for it now that the new library is open.
Their administrative offices will be there
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