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Insco Apartments Building

Apartment buildings in OhioBuildings and structures in Dayton, OhioNational Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, OhioRenaissance Revival architecture in OhioResidential buildings completed in 1894
Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
InscoApartments
InscoApartments

The Insco Apartments is a historic apartment building in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was designed by Charles Insco Williams, a native of Dayton, and constructed in 1894. Williams designed the structure after an apartment hotel that he had seen on Fifth Avenue in New York City; he did not copy the design slavishly, but many of the architectural themes present in the Insco Apartments were derived ultimately from the unspecified New York City apartment building.: 8 The Insco Apartments were the focus of an early historic preservation battle. The location for which they had been planned, at the junction of Main Street and Monument Avenue, had been occupied since Dayton's earliest days by a still-standing log cabin. This building had been used for numerous purposes over the past century, including serving as the first courthouse and jail for Montgomery County, the city's first school, its earliest church, and even its first tavern. Opposition to its demolition arose for fear that children might lose the last of what today would be called the built environment of their great-grandparents' day, including this log cabin whose walls still bore bullets from Indian raids. The champion of the save-the-cabin cause was Mary Steele, whose columns in the local paper impelled many influential citizens toward saving the cabin and moving it elsewhere.None of the building's original plans survive; they, along with practically all of the original plans produced by Williams' office, disappeared many years ago.: 91  Built of brick on a stone foundation and covered with an asbestos roof, it was constructed to permit Williams to advertise it as "the only fire-proof apartment in southwest Ohio" upon its completion at the cost of $168,000. Instead of simply designing buildings for others' use, Williams embarked on real estate development, operating the apartment buildings he designed; he would mortgage each building soon after its completion in order to obtain money for the next one, and rents from his tenants would finance the mortgage. For many years, this scheme worked admirably, but the chaos during and after the Great Flood of 1913 completely upset it,: 114  and Williams' banks foreclosed on the Insco and other Williams-owned properties as a result.: 115 At its centenary, the Insco was accorded national recognition by being placed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its architecture and because of its place in local history.

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Insco Apartments Building
West Monument Avenue, Dayton

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N 39.763472222222 ° E -84.193333333333 °
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West Monument Avenue 10
45402 Dayton
Ohio, United States
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The Hotel Van Cleve

The Hotel Van Cleve was a 12-story, 236-room hotel that stood at 36 West 1st Street in Dayton, Ohio. In 1948, Boeing engineers met there and designed the B-52 Stratofortress over a single weekend. The hotel was demolished in 1969. The Van Cleve was named after William Van Cleave, who had established a hotel and tavern in Dayton in 1812. The hotel was financed by the Stranahan, Harris and Otis Company of Toledo and built in 1927 by Hill Smith and Company for $1.2 million. The hotel opened in January 1928 in the presence of Ohio Governor Vic Donahey, Columbus Mayor James J. Thomas, and prominent hoteliers from across the United States. The first general manager was C.C. Schiffler, a German-born hotelier who had managed the Ritz-Carlton in New York.In 1932, the hotel was acquired and run through the 1930s by hotel industry pioneer Ralph Hitz's National Hotel Management Company. In the fall of 1939, the Van Cleve hosted Bob Chester's orchestra for a dance music program, aired nationally on CBS radio. Through the 1960s, the Van Cleve faced a steady decline in business due to newer more modern hotels and motels being built in the area. In 1967, the shareholders authorized the board to dissolve the hotel corporation and put the building up for sale. The city attempted to buy the hotel for apartments. Instead, an anonymous donor purchased the hotel in November 1967 for between $750,000 and $1,000,000 and gave it to the Christ Episcopal Church next door. The building closed as a hotel on December 31, 1967. It was supposed to be converted into a home for the elderly, however this plan was scrapped when the cost for renovation proved to be too high. After the hotel was closed, its restaurant, the Mayfair, and bar, The Wagon Wheel, remained open until October 1968. After the restaurant and bar closed, the building remained empty until March 1969, when its furnishings were auctioned off and demolition began. Demolition was completed in June 1969. After its demolition, Parking Management, Inc. opened a parking lot on the site. This was supposed to be temporary, until Christ Church could decide what to do with the site. However, Parking Management, Inc. still operates a parking lot on the site today.

Dr. Jefferson A. Walters House
Dr. Jefferson A. Walters House

Dr. Jefferson A. Walters House is a historic residence in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Built in 1832 and one of the city's older houses, it was home to two prominent residents of early Dayton, and it has been named a historic site. Born in Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania, Jefferson Walters emigrated to Ohio in 1830 at the age of twenty. After studying medicine in Worthington, he practiced for three years in Perry County before moving to Dayton in 1837. During much of his life in the city, he distinguished himself as a successful pharmacist, operating a prosperous drugstore from 1841 until suffering a career-ending injury in an 1866 road accident. Although he ultimately regained his health, Walters chose not to return to the medical field, preferring instead a retirement full of philosophy and antiquarian research.Upon its completion in 1832, it was Dayton's first stone-faced brick residence. It was built for Thomas Clegg, owner of several factories and one of Dayton's most prominent early manufacturers. Built of brick with an asphalt roof, the house rests on a foundation of limestone and features additional elements of wood and limestone. The three-story facade features a main entrance on the first floor, framed by a post and lintel, and flanked by one window on either side, while three windows appear on the second and third stories. The present appearance mixes the Italianate style with elements of other Renaissance Revival styles, as a result of modifications performed in 1857.In 1974, Walters' house was listed on National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its architecture and because of its prominent namesake resident. It is one of seven National Register-listed properties in a four-block stretch of First Street, along with First Lutheran Church at 138 W., the Biltmore Hotel and the Victoria Theatre at Main Street, the James Brooks House at 41 E., Antioch Temple at 107 E., and the Dayton Memorial Hall at 125 E.

James Brooks House (Dayton, Ohio)
James Brooks House (Dayton, Ohio)

The James Brooks House is a historic house in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Built in the 1830s and significantly modified later in the century, it was named a historic site in the 1970s. The Brooks House is a stone building with a brick foundation, an asphalt roof, and additional elements of stone and iron. Its basic plan is a simple rectangle, two stories tall, with an exposed basement. Additional rooms are created by a rear extension that was formed by walling up a large two-story veranda. The facade is three bays wide, with windows in the central and eastern bays of all three floors; the western bay is occupied by a window (second story) and the main entrance (first story), while the western bay of the basement is blocked by a small staircase. Pilasters with Ionic capitals separate the second-story windows, while no comparable ornament is present below. A shallow hip roof covers the building, pierced by chimneys on either side, while its overhang permits room for a cornice composed of large bracket. The sides are noticeably plainer, with the most prominent element of the western side being a simple fire escape.The house's early history is rather enigmatic. It was built for English immigrant Thomas Clegg, a small-scale industrialist who owned Dayton's first iron and brass foundries, although the precise date is uncertain; a stone building was constructed on the present house's site in 1831, and while this may be the present house, it might not have been constructed until the following year. Montgomery County tax records are also inconclusive: they prove that Clegg never owned the property, nor paid taxes on it, but they fail to identify the owner of the property when the house was built. While the original design was clearly Greek Revival in style, renovations in the middle of the nineteenth century included modifications to the cornice and other changes that together produced an appearance typical of the Victorian era.In 1975, the Brooks House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. Another building with the same designation, the Dr. Jefferson A. Walters House, lies in the same block of First Street.