I took a bus to the top of Dayton’s Grafton Hill neighborhood to see the spot where Edward Deeds’ barn once stood at 319 Central Avenue. It now resides within The Heritage Center at Carillon Historical Park.

This grassy area was the location of the Deeds’ home and the carriage house where Charles Kettering invented the automobile electric starter and where DELCO was founded.

The neighborhood continues to offer hints of what this once fashionable area looked like.

The west side of Dayton around the Salem Avenue area once boasted some beautiful homes. Sadly, the neighborhoods grew into a dilapidated looking state but many areas are busy rehabbing.