Day: October 26, 2023

The Paul Laurence Dunbar House Historic Site

October 17, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Dayton, Ohio

We drove to Dayton, Ohio today to visit the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park so I could get the stamp and sticker in my National Park book.

I didn’t know that Paul Laurence Dunbar’s house was available for touring as part of this National Park. We arrived too late to actually see the inside of the house or the grounds. It closed at 4:00 pm.

Who is Paul Laurence Dunbar you ask?

He was an American poet, lyricist, essayist, and novelist of the late 19th century who was born in Dayton, Ohio.

He was born on June 27, 1872, to parents who were slaves in Kentucky before the American Civil War.

He was one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation.

One of the poems I especially like of his is called “Dreams.”

What dreams we have and how they fly

Like rosy clouds across the sky;

Of wealth, of fame, of sure success,

Of love that comes to cheer and bless;

And how they wither, how they fade,

The waning wealth, the jilting jade —

The fame that for a moment gleams,

Then flies forever, — dreams, ah — dreams!

Suffering from tuberculosis, which then had no cure, Dunbar died in Dayton, Ohio, at the age of 33. It’s a shame that he died so young.

Thanks for reading and joining me for another history lesson.

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park

October 17, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Dayton, Ohio

We drove two hours south the other day to visit the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park in Dayton, Ohio, and get my stamp and sticker in my National Park book. We didn’t realize this was in the heart of downtown Dayton and finding a place to park was difficult.

There are times we become a bit concerned about the area we are entering and driving through. We passed several police cars with people pulled over and lights flashing. The entire area looked quite poor and rundown, except for the buildings that were part of the park. But I refuse to be afraid when we travel. I will not live in fear.

The Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP commemorates Orville and Wilbur Wright who turned cloth, wood, bicycle chains, and gears into the first heavier-than-air airplane. Established in 1992, this national park includes six unique sites, each highlighting a different part of the story.

The Wright Cycle Company (shown in the main photo above behind the park sign) and the visitor center is the first place to begin. These two buildings are right beside each other. The cycle shop was closed the day we were there. This building was actually the fourth cycle shop location operated by the Wright brothers and is the only remaining testament to their cycle operation.

The visitor center was open. It is a beautiful building and the workers inside were extremely nice and helpful. The first thing we did was walk through the small museum.

The photo below is a replica of the 1902 Wright Glider. It’s the first display you see when you enter the museum. It has a wing span of 32 feet and weighs 117 pounds empty.

Located at the corner of South Williams and West Third Street, the visitor center and museum contains exhibits on every phase of the Wright brothers’ lives, exhibits about aviation history in the Dayton area, and exhibits about the life and works of poet and writer Paul Laurence Dunbar.

The house is the third building that is part of the park and is located on North Paul Laurence Dunbar Street. Dunbar purchased this house in 1904 for his mother Matilda. He lived here after he became too sick from tuberculosis to travel. He died in 1906. His mother lived here until she died in 1934. Free tours are available on select days and it was closed the day we were there.

Did you know that the Wright brothers not only figured out how to fly through the air, but they also built a better bicycle with improved brakes?

The Frank B. Hale Grocery store was also located here in the early 1900s. For seventeen years Hale sold canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other goods to the people of Dayton, including the Wright brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar. This grocery store replica has been carefully furnished with historically correct items to show what it looked like at the time.

In 1920, the Wrights opened the first factory in the United States designed especially for building airplanes. They had just returned from a European tour and came home to Dayton with orders to build three airplanes. The factory is going to be the newest part of this National Park but is not yet open to the public.

Located on West Third Street is this 1905 Wright Flyer III Sculpture. The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft by the Wright Brothers and was built during the winter of 1904–05. Orville made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905.

I love traveling the country and visiting all the national parks and historic sites. I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park.

Do you collect stamps and stickers of the National Parks?

Thanks for reading.

Annie Oakley: A Pioneer for Women’s Rights

October 15, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

The little sure shot from Ohio.

Rich and I drove 45 miles south today to the birthplace of Annie Oakley. Located on Spencer Road in Yorkshire, Ohio is a small memorial dedicated to the site of her home. It’s a shame that the home itself wasn’t preserved.

The plaque reads that the log cabin was a little over 1,000 feet east which puts it in that cornfield behind the memorial.

Phoebe Ann Mosey, (there is some argument that the last name was Moses, not Mosey), better known by her stage name Annie Oakley, was one of the most famous sharpshooters of the Wild West era.

She was born on August 13, 1860, into poverty in southwest Ohio, but her skill with firearms helped her rise to international fame.

Oakley’s father died when she was young forcing her to learn to hunt and shoot to help support her family. She was so skilled that she was able to sell her wild game around the city of Greenville, Ohio. Some of it was even shipped off to market in Cincinnati.

She was so skilled that she won a shooting match in Cincinnati, Ohio against a professional marksman at the age of 15. That’s how she met the man she would eventually marry, Frank E. Butler.

After visiting her birthplace memorial we drove eight miles to Brock Cemetery just outside of Versailles, Ohio to visit the gravesite of Oakley and her husband Butler.

She adopted the stage name “Oakley” when she began performing with her husband in the early 1880s.

There are several theories about how she chose her stage name. One theory is that she took it from the town of Oakley, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, where she and her husband lived for a time.

In 1885, they joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. Oakley quickly became one of the show’s biggest stars, dazzling audiences with her amazing feats of marksmanship.

We left the cemetery and drove 12 miles south into downtown Greenville to the Annie Oakley Memorial Park. Being downtown there was not much parking available so we pulled into the alley and got out for a few minutes.

During her life, Oakley was a role model for women and girls everywhere. She proved that women could be just as good as men at shooting sports, and she inspired many women to learn how to shoot.

She was a strong advocate for women’s rights and equality, a national icon, and one of the most famous women in the world.

Oakley died of pernicious anemia on November 3, 1926, at the age of 66. Her ashes are buried in the Brock Cemetery near Greenville, Ohio. Her devoted husband, Frank Butler, died just three weeks later on November 21, 1926, and is buried right beside her.

Annie Oakley was a true American pioneer, a hunter, and a role model. She showed the world that women could do anything they set their minds to. Her legacy continues to inspire people. She is remembered as one of the greatest sharpshooters of all time and a pioneer for women’s rights.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos and learning about Annie Oakley — the little sure shot from Ohio.