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University Row and Dayton View Triangle   niversity Row and Dayton View Triangle are part of an older suburb once known as Upper Dayton View. Settled in the late teens and twenties, the area drew large numbers of prominent Daytonians who had suffered through the 1913 flood and were looking for high ground safe from the threat of devastating flood waters. Developed on farm land at the northern edge of the city, Upper Dayton View’s winding streets and picturesque homes and gardens offered a park-like escape from the bustle of the old city center. By 1930, its beautiful and spacious Colonial, Georgian, Tudor, Spanish Revival, and Craftsman style homes had made the neighborhood the city’s most elegant and prestigious new suburb. Among the businessmen and professionals who were attracted to the growing area were many members of the city’s Jewish community. They first began to move from their downtown and East Dayton locations into Lower Dayton View at the turn of the century, and the 1913 flood further encouraged their movement to higher land on the outskirts of the city. Banned from Oakwood through the use of discriminatory real estate practices, their only residential choice for new upscale homes was in Upper Dayton View. Temple Israel, which built the first synagogue in the neighborhood in 1925, was followed by Beth Jacob in 1939, Beth Abraham in 1943, and Shomrei Emunah Young Israel in 1965. Residing alongside the many Protestants and Catholics who also lived in the new suburb, Upper Dayton View began with a cultural diversity which continues to be one of its most distinguishing characteristics to the present day. As African Americans continued to expand their residential opportunities in the 1960’s and 1970’s, they gradually began to make their home in the Dayton View area. While many neighborhoods resisted this influx, the Dayton View Neighborhood Council embraced it, pledging to welcome African American residents and to discourage “white flight.” As a result of their commitment and that of others in the neighborhood, University Row and Dayton View Triangle made successful transitions, taking great pride in the diversity of age, ethnicity, religion, educational background and economic level which characterized their neighborhoods. The story of the Dayton View Triangle, an area bounded by Salem, Cornell and Philadelphia, is closely connected with that of the United Theological Seminary. In 1911, Bonebrake Theological Seminary, then located in West Dayton, purchased 274 acres of land in what would become Upper Dayton View. Isolated and remote from the center city, the purchase was dubbed “Fout’s Folly” after J.E. Fout, the Seminary’s business manager. The Seminary retained only thirty-five acres, selling the rest to the Upper Dayton View Development Company. They in turn resold the land, insuring quality residential development through the use of restrictive covenants. Through the years, the Seminary developed the present beautiful campus and grounds, becoming a primary anchor for the Triangle through their intellectual presence and their active involvement in neighborhood activities and affairs. Today, University Row and Dayton View Triangle continue to offer a high quality of life to those who reside there. Points of Interest in University Row and Dayton View Triangle 
DAYTON THEATRE GUILD,
2330 Salem Avenue, traces its roots back to an informal theater troupe
organized in the 1920’s. In 1945, the DTG was formally organized
by Max Lambard. The first plays were rehearsed in a room at Memorial
Hall and performed at the Dayton Art Institute. Soon they were offered
the use of a coach house in Grafton Hill which became a 30-seat “living
room” theater. In 1963, the DTG purchased the former Dayton View
Post Office and converted it into a 90-seat theater.
TEMPLE ISRAEL/OMEGA BAPTIST CHURCH,
1821 Emerson Avenue. The congregation of K.K. B’nai Yeshurun formed
the first Hebrew Society in Dayton in 1850, and purchased the Baptist
Church at Fourth and Jefferson in 1863. They built the first synagogue
in Dayton View in 1925 at the corner of Salem and Emerson, naming
it “Temple Israel.” In 1994, they relocated to 130 Riverside
Drive. The Emerson Avenue building is now the home of the Omega Baptist
Church.
SHOMREI EMUNAH YOUNG ISRAEL ORTHODOX SYNAGOGUE,
1706 Salem Avenue. The Young Israel congregation was officially organized
in 1965, and the name “Shomrei Emunah” (Guardians of the
Faith) was adopted in 1971. In 1976, Shomrei Emunah purchased the
house which serves as the synagogue for the community. As a tenant
of faith, they do not operate motor vehicles on the Sabbath and need
to live within walking distance. By 1991, the community had doubled
in size and expanded their building to meet the needs of their growing
congregation.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH,
1516 Salem Avenue, began as the First United Brethren Church in 1848.
In 1929, the congregation merged with Cowden Memorial Church and made
plans to relocate to Dayton View. The Great Depression and World War
II delayed plans, and the new building was not completed until 1954.
In 1968, it became the First United Methodist Church when the Evangelical
United Brethren merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
DAYTON VIEW library,
1515 Salem Avenue. This beautiful Jacobethan style library was dedicated
in 1930 and was designed by the prominent Dayton architectural firm
of Pretzinger & Pretzinger.
BETH ABRAMHAM SYNAGOGUE,
1306 Salem Avenue, was founded in 1894 by several members of Beth
Jacob who broke away to worship in the “Litvische” (Lithuanian)
style, rather than the “Russische” (Russian) style. For
fifty years, they worshiped in the Wayne Avenue area, until the movement
of the Jewish community to Dayton View spurred efforts to join with
other congregations and relocate in 1941. World War II delayed plans
until 1943, when Beth Abraham merged with the Dayton View Synagogue
Center in Lower Dayton View and purchased a plot at Salem and Cornell.
Wartime restrictions prevented construction until 1949, when the present
building was dedicated.
ST. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
1960 Salem Avenue, began as a Sunday school and mission of Christ
Church in 1868. After their building at Buckeye and Pulaski was damaged
in the 1913 flood, the congregation entered a long period of difficulty
as members moved to Dayton View away from areas threatened by flooding.
The congregation moved to its new building in 1923. Known as “The
Little Church on the Hill,” this Early English Gothic style church
is an important Dayton landmark.
GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH,
1001 Harvard Boulevard, began in the early 1800’s and is one of Dayton’s
oldest congregations. It changed its name from “Wesley Chapel”
to “Grace Methodist Episcopal Church” when the congregation
erected a building at Fourth and Ludlow in 1870. The church became
one of the first institutions to locate in the Upper Dayton View area
when the Early English Gothic style building was completed in 1921.
Designed by Dayton architects, Schenck and Williams, it is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places.
JEFFERSON SCHOOL,
1231 Euclid Avenue, was built in the Jacobethan style about 1917.
It now serves as a Montessori school and is a part of the Dayton Public
School magnet system.
BETH JACOB SYNAGOGUE/FAITH TEMPLE PENTECOSTAL
CHURCH OF GOD, 1350 Kumler Avenue.
Beth Jacob was organized in 1887 at the home of businessman, Aaron
Thal. In 1893, the congregation built the city’s first Orthodox
synagogue on Wyoming Street between Brown and Wayne. Responding to
the movement of much of the Jewish community to Dayton View, the congregation
built a new synagogue on Kumler Avenue in 1939. Beth Jacob served
a flourishing Jewish community in Dayton View for forty-one years
before moving to its North Main Street location in 1980. The Kumler
Avenue building is now the home of the Faith Temple Pentecostal Church
of God.
UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,
1810 Harvard Boulevard, was founded in 1871 as the Union Biblical
Seminary of the United Brethren Church and moved to its facility at
First and Euclid in 1879. It became Bonebrake Theological Seminary
in 1909 when Kansas farmer John M. Bonebrake donated $50,000 to the
Seminary, renaming it for his six great-uncles, all United Brethren
ministers. The Seminary moved to its Harvard Boulevard location in
1923. It became the United Theological Seminary when Bonebrake merged
with the Evangelical School of Theology in Reading, Pennsylvania in
1954. Known for its innovative approach to theological education, the Seminary works to develop programs which address the needs and concerns of a diverse student body as well as those of a changing ministry. With its active interest in the community, the Seminary has become the major anchor for Dayton View Triangle, its park-like thirty-five acre campus providing a popular place for neighborhood events. BACK TO TOP |
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 Sunday
School at Grace United Methodist Church (Courtesy of Grace United
Methodist Church) |
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