Why ‘The Roundhouse’ isn’t round and other facts about the cherished Dayton building

April 29, 1907: This image shows horseman in front of the the "Roundhouse," built in 1874. To learn more about the history of the Montgomery County Fairgrounds and to view more photos check out the History Extra in the Sept. 2 E-edition of the Dayton Daily News.

Credit: FROM THE NCR ARCHIVE AT DAYTON HISTORY

Credit: FROM THE NCR ARCHIVE AT DAYTON HISTORY

April 29, 1907: This image shows horseman in front of the the "Roundhouse," built in 1874. To learn more about the history of the Montgomery County Fairgrounds and to view more photos check out the History Extra in the Sept. 2 E-edition of the Dayton Daily News.

Thousands and thousands of Daytonians and visitors have walked through the Agricultural Building known as “The Roundhouse.”

The former fairgrounds property along South Main Street is owned by University of Dayton and Premier Health. Their joint venture to redevelop the property is called “onMain: Dayton’s Imagination District,” and plans call for The Roundhouse to be preserved and incorporated into the neighborhood’s open spaces.

The project took a significant step forward this week as the Roundhouse will be stabilized and the outside will be renovated.

August 2015: In 1874 the Agriculture Building, known as the "Roundhouse" was built at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. To learn more about the history of the Montgomery County Fairgrounds and to view more photos check out the History Extra in the Sept. 2 E-edition of the Dayton Daily News.

Credit: Lisa Powell

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Credit: Lisa Powell

“The Exposition Hall” was designed in 1874 by Dayton architect and contractor Leon Beaver.

It was completed in 1874 for $8,400.

It was ordered as a “round” house, but the building evolved into the eight-side building of today, according to a 1953 Journal Herald article.

It is not clear exactly why the roundhouse became an octagon, but Victorian author Orson Squire Fowler promoted the octagon as an alternative to the rectangular shape because it allows more room, according to Fairground record.

Exposition Hall

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The octagonal structure, often referred to as the “Roundhouse,” is two stories tall and has a diameter of approximately 150 feet. It was one of the original buildings constructed at the site.

The then-newly organized Fair Association voted in 1874 to hold its first annual exhibition that fall, according to research done by the City of Dayton for a National Register of Historic Places registration form.

The open class exhibit inside the Roundhouse shown July 7, 2017, for the last Montgomery County Fair to be held at the original fairgrounds on South Main Street in Dayton. The final fair opened July 10.

Credit: TY GREENLEES / STAFF

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Credit: TY GREENLEES / STAFF

On display in the Exhibition Hall the first year were “household appliances, including heating and cooking stoves and grates, furniture, pianos and organs, sewing machines and jewelry,” reported the Sept. 22, 1874 edition of the Herald Empire.

The 1953 reconstruction of the Roundhouse paid tribute to Ralph C. Haines, the secretary-manager and director of the Montgomery County agricultural board.

Roundhouse at the Montgomery Fairground .

Credit: Photo: Amelia Robinson

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Credit: Photo: Amelia Robinson

It was rededicated Sept. 7, 1953, in his memory.

The $55,000 overhaul included cement floors and a maple floor on the second level.

“Wooden beams were replaced with steel, and noise-proof ceilings were put in and the ‘long haul’ stairways to the second floor entirely rebuilt,” according to the Journal Herald article.

Roundhouse at the Montgomery Fairground .

Credit: Photo: Amelia Robinson

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Credit: Photo: Amelia Robinson

After the 1978 Great Blizzard, more than $23,886 in repairs were made after a portion of the roof collapsed during heavy snowfall, according to Montgomery County agricultural records.

When the fair wasn’t going on, the Roundhouse held A.B. Hallum furniture store, owned by Andrew Bradley Hallum.

PHOTOS: The Roundhouse at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds

The Roundhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The building hailed as “magnificent” by the 1882 “History of Montgomery County,” was noted in the application as the largest of five still surviving eight-sided halls constructed in Ohio between 1871 and 1889.

Today the building remains an iconic landmark in the city.