Aerial of Carillon Bell Tower and Grounds, ca. 1940s

For many years, the area now encompassing Carillon Historical Park was bushy swamp land that periodically flooded after heavy rains.  Colonel Edward A. Deeds and his wife, Edith, wanted to provide the citizens of Dayton with an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, listen to beautiful music echoing from the Carillon and learn something of Dayton’s and the Miami Valley’s rich and inventive past. With the help of the Miami Conservancy District and others, the land was transformed into a 65-acre campus that opened to the public in June of 1950. The beautifully-kept grounds were originally designed by the Olmsted Brothers, who had their own influential landscape design firm.  Their father was best known for his landscaping design of Central Park in New York City, while the two sons worked on projects like the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia.  Now in its 64th year of operation, the park has grown to include more than 35 historic buildings and structures to tour, hiking trails and sheltered picnic areas for visitors to enjoy. This photograph was taken by Dayton Daily News photographer David Lutes sometime in the mid-to-late 1940s. This photograph is from Dayton History’s Image Collection.

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