Watch this incredible transformation of Dayton’s Main Street

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

A birds-eye view of Main Street, photographed in 1889, is a rare early perspective on the Gem City.

The mammoth Benjamin F. Kuhns Building, which dominates the image at left, was built in 1882 at the corner of Fourth and Main streets.

The building was once the home of the “Dayton Dry Goods Co., which sold everything from “trimmings” and “muslin underwear” to “embroideries” and “cloaks,” according to an early advertisement.

Church steeples rise across the horizon and mansions can be seen in the distance on the north side of the Great Miami River. At ground level horse drawn carriages and street cars navigate Main Street.

Seen from a similar view today, the historic Kuhns Building has been dwarfed by decades of building progress.

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