A Brief
Oakwood History
In 1804, Colonel Robert
Patterson purchased uninhabited land along the Miami River south of the
city of Dayton. Patterson built a homestead along Brown St. in Dayton,
and his farm, mill and out buildings occupied Northern Oakwood near
Rubicon Road and along Schantz Avenue.
In 1822, there were 10 taxpayers owning land in present day Oakwood.
Settler, William Kramer owned 60 acres on which he cultivated orchards
and vineyards. He also grew expansive flower gardens for visitors to
stroll and enjoy. His original property today straddles Kettering and
Oakwood and contains the Dayton Country Club.
Large farms appeared on the east side of present-day Oakwood. The
terrain was rocky, but relatively flat. The west side of Oakwood was
unsuitable for farming, so land owners opened stone and gravel quarries.
The Long-Romspert family owned a quarry behind their home (the
present-day historical society). The quarry ran the length of what is
today Coolidge Drive.
In the 1870s, there was a plat with a few constructed homes near the
present day city building on Park Ave, but it didn’t sell well and
development was abandoned.
In
the 1880s, families built summer and permanent homes on Oakwood Ave.
Others built estates further out of Dayton in present-day Oakwood that
were used for raising horses or to provide privacy for large wealthy
families. John H. Patterson established his estate overlooking Dayton
and his company (NCR) on the site of the present-day Lutheran Church of
Our Savior at Thruston
Blvd. and Woods Rd. Patterson was largely influential in the physical
and governmental development of Oakwood. Patterson created Hills & Dales
Park which had an entrance off Far Hills at Peach Orchard Rd. He
established Sugar Camp, a NCR training camp, were classes started in
1893. He subsidized and published the first Oakwood newspaper,
The Oakwood Village Record which ran
monthly. He donated the land and partial funds for the East Oakwood Club
building, called today the Oakwood Community Center.
As the turn of the century approached, developers purchased land and
platted out suburbs for Dayton (Schantz Plat). Electric streetcars
running from Main St. down Brown St. and up to Five Points allowed
people to move out of the city but still benefit from the city’s
proximity for employment, shopping, and entertainment. Oakwood
incorporated as a city in 1908 with 67 homes. In 1912, Orville Wright
and his sister, Katherine, and father, Bishop Milton Wright, moved to a
new home at the corner of Harman and Park Avenues. Known as Hawthorn
Hill, the home had served as a NCR guesthouse for many decades, but in
2006 was donated back to the Wright family for the preservation of the
Wright Brothers legacy.
The 1913 Dayton Flood may have spurred Oakwood development as many city
residents sought new homes and were comforted by the high elevation home
developers touted in their advertisements.
Oakwood’s population boomed during the 1920s and 1930s. Improved
transportation encouraged more families to move out of the city. The
streetcar extended to Monterey Road, and automobiles were becoming more
popular, available, and affordable. Home developers had access to
cheaper materials and could construct quality modern homes at a faster
and less expensive rate. Most homes in Oakwood were built in this time
period.
Oakwood saw very little growth during the depression and lead up to
World War II. Residents converted their homes into room rentals,
restaurants, and grocery stores to sustain their families through the
hardest years. Large estate homes became convents and guesthouses for
the brothers working at the University of Dayton. Some residents lost
their homes to bank foreclosures.
World
War II created a manufacturing and engineering boom in Dayton and at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The increase in jobs and wages spurred
new homes and growth in Oakwood. In the 1950’s, the city instituted a
joint police and fire department which is an extremely rare
organizational structure. During the war, WAVES slept at the Sugar Camp
training facility and worked at NCR on code breaking projects.
By the end of the 1950’s, the City of Oakwood was essentially the size
it is today. The cities of Moraine, Kettering, and Dayton had surrounded
the City of Oakwood. In the 1960s and 1970s, recession impacted growth
and development in the City of Dayton and the City of Oakwood. Larger
estates and lots were subdivided and sold for new home construction.
This is seen in the Schantz Historical District with homes from the
1910s and 1960s sitting next to each other.
