Another Sunday, another Ohio city on an art and architecture tour. Today’s tour in Cincinnati emphasizes not only the art, but the setting as well.
Cincinnati – May 2021 – Urban Art
Author: rdzphotography
Dayton, Ohio – April 2021 – Historic Buildings
The National Historic Registry shows more than 100 buildings in Dayton on their list. These include:
The Benjamin Kuhns Building. Opened in 1883, the Kuhns Building is in the Romanesque Revival style.
ATT Building – While not on the historic registry, the ATT building is in the classic Art Deco design.
Old Post Office and Federal Building – Construction on this building started in 1912, and it was still under construction during the great flood of 1913. It was finally opened in 1915.
It remained the main post office until 1969, and the Federal Court until 1975.
Dayton Daily News Building -(foreground) and Sacred Heart Church (rear) – Legend has it that the founder of the Dayton Daily News (James Cox) was turned down for a loan by a local banker, he told an architect to ‘build me a damn bank’, so the newspaper office was modeled after the Knickerbocker Trust building in New York City.
It was completed in 1910, expanded in 1920s, 1950s and 1970s, and abandoned in the 2007. The newer sections have been torn down, leaving only the 1910 portion.
The Commercial Building – Completed in 1908 next door to the Dayton Arcade, it was designed by Albert Pretzinger who is known as the greatest architect in Dayton history. It is being restored as apartments.
Dayton Arcade – Completed in 1902, the Dayton Arcade is an ornate complex of buildings topped by a glass domed rotunda 70′ high. It is said to be patterned after a guild hall in Amsterdam. It has been disused for a couple of decades, but new proposals are being put forth to restore it.
Below is a view of the interior and dome as it looked when it was first opened in 1902. The building consisted of two floors of commercial businesses, and two floors of apartments.
The Conover Building – A mish mash of styles and construction materials, the Conover was modified over the years, as evidence from the 1903 photo from Shorpy below.
American Building – One could argue that only the façade of this building is on the registry, as it was moved from a historic building to this building after the other was demolished.
Engineers Club of Dayton – Dating from 1918, this building was dedicated in a ceremony that included the reclusive Orville Wright speaking.
Dayton Memorial Hall – This William Earl Russ designed hall was opened in 1910. It is constructed of a brick exterior, ceramic tile roof, and highlighted by terra cotta and stone.
Easily one of the oldest buildings in Ohio is the Victoria Theater, dating from 1866. It burned in 1871, and was rebuilt and re-opened in 1885.
Another building that is not on the registry but should be is the Miami Conservancy District. Named after the nearby Miami River, the conservancy was founded after the disastrous 1913 flood.
And with that our day in Dayton is done.
Dayton, Ohio – April 2021 – Mural Groupings
The city of Dayton, as with most American cities, have a decent number of murals.
In Dayton it seems they are grouped together by themes.
The riverbank has a large concrete flood wall that has a mural it’s entire length.
Another large collection celebrates Dayton’s history in Funk Music., an R & B mainstay in the 1970s and 1980s.
Not far away is a freeway retaining wall with the history of the Dayton Fire Department.
Dayton, Ohio – April 2021 – Early Spring at Wegerzyn Gardens
A day in Dayton started at Wegerzyn Gardens.
Union County, Ohio – April 2021 – Coming Back From the Dead (of Winter)
With winter finally over, and April here, there are more signs of spring. An afternoon out in the country included a stop at the Bigelow Pioneer Cemetery State Nature Preserve. This area is known for it’s native grasses, but they aren’t yet growing.
There are some interesting mid 1800s headstones though.
Columbus – February 2021 – Nosing Around Town in the Cold and Snow
After 4 months of hanging around the house building wooden toys to avoid the cold, snow and covid, it was time to wander around town for a couple of hours on this cold, sunny Sunday afternoon.
It is time to nose around in the snow…
One cold, lonely deer statue.
A colorful house on a dreary day (actually better than most – there is a bit of sun)
In the summer there are signs all around this pond saying ‘no wading, no swimming’ – no need for those today.
Plenty of bike shares available.
The statues standing sentry at the statehouse.
It feels like a Russian Winter.
Winter – the time of year if the streets aren’t covered in snow they are white from all the salt to melt the snow, and rust the cars.
Southern Ohio – October 2020 – Random Views
As noted in a previous posting Portsmouth, Ohio was once a town of nearly 50,000 people, now it has only 20,000, but has remaining architecture of a much larger town.
Chillicothe was Ohio’s first capital. A good collection of 150 year old buildings remain.
Southeastern Ohio – October 2020 – Random Views
While travelling around for great drone views, there are still plenty of views from the ground.
Rock Mill and Covered Bridge – Fairfield County
Fairfield County Fall Views.
Interesting pattern to a vacant building covered in weeds in bloom, in October.
Fall views in Licking County.
Dillon Reservoir.
Fall view with Muskingum River in the background.
Industrial Scene in Zanesville.
Dam and Locks in Philo.
Vintage bridge in McConnellsville.
Classic architecture in McConnellsville.
Former coal mining town of Glouster.
Southern Ohio – October 2020 – Views from Above
Todays Drone Tour starts out along the Ohio River at Portsmouth. The first view shows the flood wall covered in murals (later posting revisiting the murals).
The sun was just rising in the east, giving the U.S. Grant Bridge and the Ohio River some interesting lighting.
The Carl Perkins Bridge across the Ohio River, where the Scioto River enters.
The hills in Kentucky with the clouds reflected in the river.
Spartan Stadium was home to the NFL’s Portsmouth Spartans from 1928 until 1933, when the NFL had teams in relatively small cities. The Spartans moved to Detroit and live on to this day as the Detroit Lions.
An overview of the city of Portsmouth. The town has for decades lost population, dropping from a high of 43,000 in 1930 to the current population of 20,000.
The view east
Norfolk Southern Railroad has a large yard along the river in east Portsmouth.
Lake White State Park near Waverly.
The next stop was the city of Chillicothe. This view is of a large paper mill.
The same neighborhood has this large grain elevator. Unfortunately at this time the rain came and the drone became grounded.
Southeastern Ohio – October 2020 – Views From Above
Todays drone tour starts out in Newark, with the world’s largest basket (building). Previously the headquarters for the Longenberger Basket Company, it is now vacant.
A view of eastern Licking County on a frosty early October morning.
Black Hand Gorge is a scenic area of Licking County.
Additional views of the Black Hand Gorge Natural Area
Views of Dillon Dam and reservoir.
Muskingum County hills.
With more confident drone flying a return to Zanesville allowed me to get a better view of the famed Y Bridge from 250′ up.
The primary destination on this day was the Muskingum River Valley. This view is in Zanesville.
There are a series of dams and locks along the river as it makes it’s way south. This one is located between the towns of Philo and Duncan Falls, and is known as Dam Number 9.
The right side gives a view of the bridges between the towns – the new one was recently opened.
The valley extends for more than 100 miles through southeastern Ohio.
Lock and Dam Number 8 is known as Rokeby Lock.
The tour this day ended at the town of McConnellsville, and the 1913 truss bridge.
Burr Oak State Park Lake.
The final stop for today is in Nelsonville, and an overview of the Hocking Valley Scenic Railroad terminal.
