The McPherson Town Historic District of
Dayton
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, contains roughly 90 structures north of downtown Dayton, across the
Great Miami River
The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nat ...
.
History
Tucked into a corner of the horseshoe area formed by a bend in the Great Miami River, McPherson Town was founded on February 1, 1845. On this date, an Irishman named Samuel McPherson filed a plat consisting of 34 swampy, wooded lots on both sides of Dayton and Covington Turnpike. The center of this plat was located at the present-day North Main Street. and McPherson Street.
McPherson Town and much of Dayton were devastated by the flood of 1897 and the
Great Dayton Flood
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913, part of the Great Flood of 1913, resulted from flooding by the Great Miami River reaching Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In response, the Ohio Gener ...
of 1913. Many homes were destroyed or badly damaged. Current residents still find pounds of flood mud in walls and ceilings during renovation projects.
In the years following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, many Dayton residents moved to the suburbs. After years of neglect, the McPherson Town area was slated for bulldozing and
urban renewal
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
. Residential property was purchased for speculative purposes, including commercial development, highrise condominiums and an interstate highway. But in the early 1970s, a few key private investors recognized the unique historical significance of the neighborhood and began to renovate several old homes. With this, a move to obtain historic district status began.
In August, 1977 Dayton declared McPherson Town its third historic neighborhood and structures were protected from future urban renewal efforts. In 1988, McPherson Town was registered on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
, bounded by Main Street, the Great Miami River,
I-75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...
and Downtown Dayton (No. 88001712).
City of Dayton Ordinance #25363.
Architecture
Most of the structures still in existence today in McPherson Town were built between 1880 and 1900. The architecture of McPherson Town Historic District includes examples
Stick/Eastlake,
Queen Anne and others. Since 1995, several modern infill houses have been constructed to replace structures that had been lost to fire or decay, and repair the streetscape of the neighborhood. These new construction homes are designed to look period with modern conveniences.
See also
*
References
External links
McPherson Town Historic DistrictMcPherson Town on Dayton MostMetroPreservation DaytonMiami Valley Conservancy DistrictDaytonHistory.orgGreat Dayton Flood of 1913
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcpherson Town Historic District
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
McPherson Town
National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Ohio