Torrence Huffman was an American banker in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, who loaned pasture land to the Wright brothers where they perfected their first airplanes and started the first pilot training school. "As their flights grew ever longer in September and October 1905, local citizens and area journalists finally realized that something extraordinary was taking place in the sky over Torrence Huffman’s pasture," notes aviation historian Tom Crouch. The 84-acre field has since been known as

Huffman Prairie Huffman Prairie, also known as Huffman Prairie Flying Field or Huffman Field is part of Ohio's Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The 84-acre (34-hectare) patch of rough pasture, near Fairborn, northeast of Dayton, is the place w ...

and is designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and part of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio that commemorates three important historical figures— Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar—and the ...

. Born on March 20, 1855, in Dayton, Huffman was a “scion of one of Dayton’s oldest families and Ohio financier and manufacturer," according to the ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

''. His father was William P. Huffman, who had been the president of the Second and Third National Banks of Dayton. Huffman joined the Fourth National Bank at its inception in 1888 and later served as its president for 30 years. He owned the Buckeye Iron and Brass Words and was involved in numerous other enterprises as an owner or director including the Dayton Street Railway and Columbia Insurance Company. He was also a director of

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

and chairman of its finance committee. Huffman died at his residence at 119 North Perry Street on January 6, 1928, after an illness of over a month.

References

External links

National Park Service Huffman Prairie site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffman, Torrence 1855 births 1928 deaths American bankers Businesspeople from Dayton, Ohio Wright brothers