History

To tour the Oregon Historic District is to relive the history of Dayton through the evidence of its architectural heritage.

In 1810, Dayton was a small community of 383 persons living on the banks of the Great Miami River. There was no Oregon, no Miami-Erie Canal, just a meandering gully to the east where the canal would eventually be constructed. This gully flowed south from the Mad River to a point just below the town where it joined the Great Miami. The only establishment east of here was a sawmill located near East Fifth and Wyandot Streets. South of this, near East Sixth Street, was a sawmill ground.

In May, 1815, Daniel C. Cooper, the proprietor of Dayton, laid out the original outlots to the east including the area which would become Oregon. On July 8, 1829, the first Oregon plat was recorded by Brainard Smith et al for 27 building lots bounded by East Fifth, Jackson and sides of East Sixth Street. John Van Cleve., local resident, wrote that that property in Dayton was selling "very high" - noting that these 27 building lots had sold for the grand total of $2,200.