Hours of Operation
Tuesday – Sunday
10:00am – 2:00pm

Admission
FREE
(Enter through Kettering Family Education Center)

Location
1000 Carillon Blvd.
Dayton, Ohio 45409

Parking
FREE parking available at Carillon Historical Park

For More Information

(937) 293-2841

Culp’s Café- A Taste of History!

Carillon Historical Park presents a brand new Culp’s Café. This one of a kind eatery pays homage to the small soda fountains and lunch counters found throughout Dayton in the early nineteen hundreds. Culp’s Café offers delicious breakfast platters, sandwiches, soups, salads, chicken & waffles, and classic soda fountain favorites. For a truly unique experience dine in the restored 1903 Barney & Smith Interurban railcar. It’s a perfect spot for that early breakfast meeting or lunch date.

The Culp’s story dates back to 1902, when Charlotte Gilbert Culp, a young West Dayton widow, began preparing baked goods for her six children to sell door-to-door. Soon, the Culp family opened a stand at the South Main Street Market before Charlotte’s eldest son, Howard, expanded the business into the Arcade—selling poultry, eggs, cheese, and dill pickles at three lunch counters. In the 1930s, the Culps opened a full Arcade cafeteria; by the 1940s, they were serving as many as 5,000 customers a day. While Culp’s was sold in 1960, the spirit of this family-owned restaurant lives on at Carillon Historical Park.

Menu