In 1860, F.A. Requarth bought a small woodturning shop on Fourth Street at Wayne Avenue with a partner named Henry W. Meyer. The shop was mostly a stair-building and woodturning business. It has been in Dayton since.
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For this edition of Vintage Dayton, we went into the archives to tell the story of Requarth, which famously was the wood supplier for the Wright brothers’ quest to build the first airplane.
More on long-time Dayton companies
• Beginning with a dried beef slicer, D.W. Mikesell grew a potato chip empire in Dayton
• Smales Pretzels, a delicious five-generation family business with many twists and turns in Dayton
• Dorothy Lane Market: From fruit stand to gourmet grocery chain
Did you know?
Here are a few great Dayton history facts we’ve learned from our stories:
• Historical marker: The official historical marker noting the Union Meeting House Organized in 1807 and Union Seminary Organized in 1809 stands at 1145 Union Road. in Xenia.
• Dunbar house: If you enter Paul Laurence Dunbar’s house today you may think the poet has just stepped out. His possessions look as if they remain untouched.
• Civil rights: W.S. McIntosh Park is named in honor of the father of the civil rights movement in Dayton.
• Distinctive architecture: The Kon-Tiki, Trotwood’s Polynesian-themed movie theater, was inspired by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
We want your help!
Do you have any requests or ideas that you would like to see us cover in this history newsletter?
What about cool old photos or stories of your own?
Let us know and we’ll include them in future newsletters.
We recently received a question about the origins of Wilberforce University, which is the country’s oldest private historically black university.
• Click here for our story: Wilberforce University: What to know about its history
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Thank you for reading.
