Carillon Historical Park
Earlier this year I finally purchased a membership to one of my favorite places to visit in Dayton, Ohio – Carillon Historical Park! Until you actually go to the park and really look at all the displays and exhibits they have all around the park, you may have no idea how much the city of Dayton, Ohio has factored into the growth of Ohio, the United States, even the world.
So instead of throwing a bunch of photos up on Facebook with little context, I thought I would share some of what I saw today for you to become inspired to visit the park with your family! The gallery below has notes on the left of what you are looking at. Click to see each image larger or just go to the park and read all about it!
Per the images above, you can see a little bit about Dayton, Ohio history such as (take a deep breath!)… the planning for the 65-acre Carillon Park, see who Colonel Edward A. Deeds and his wife Edith Walton Deeds were, see photos of the construction of the Carillon bell tower, see photos of the NCR fireless steam engine the “Rubicon” going to its new home at the park, The the 1,000,000th Huffman (Huffy) Bicycle in gold, see two walls of famous Daytonians, learn how the Palace Theater in Dayton came to be and who made it happen, learn about the Barney & Smith (rail) Car Company, see what Daytonias helped the famous Liberty 12 Airplane Engine get off the ground and beyond, see how a paper company like Mead got involved into data as MeadDataCentral then became LexisNexis, see how Dayton tech helped to decipher the German’s Enigma Code machines through NCR and local Daytonians like Joseph Desch, see how Dayton was involved with the Manhattan Project by its own Dayton Project at Monsanto in Miamisburg, see how tech such as prestressed concrete cylinders got their start around the world here in Dayton, see how Charles F. Kettering helped Cadillac be the first production automobile to have an integrated starting system, ignition, and lighting system, see the 20,143 parts it took to make an NCR Class 2000 Payroll Machine, see onlookers with binoculars and cameras wait to get photos from the local bald eagles who next just above the middle of the park, see the complexity of a Conestoga Wagon, miniature railroad tracks, a former lock from the Miami Erie Canal system that was once located in Huber Heights, Ohio, see what a Canal Superintendent’s Office looks like, a shot of a bald eagle nest, the plans for a Wright Flyer, the restored plane, and finally a gristmill. All at one place, and this is just a tiny bit of what the park has to show you.
The gristmill on the hillside of the park near the Wright Hall building was moved to the park from north of Dayton. You can see how a gristmill works below. The gears inside the building are powered by a water wheel on the outside of the building (left here) and by using gears, shafts, and bearings, the power from the water wheel spins the stone for making flour.
On the outside of the gristmill, the water wheel is powered as the water falls from above the wheel causing the wheel to become weighted down with water on the front side and drop the water in each container to the pool below. On the backside, the empty water bins are lighter than at the front allowing the wheel to keep in motion.