The Mt. Vernon neighborhood within Dayton Ohio has a truly unique collection of residential properties. Explore the neighborhood with our photo collection.

Upper Dayton View

(source: Dayton History's Archive Center and the NCR Archive).

The Mt Vernon Neighborhood is 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 farmland 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, Upper Dayton View made successful transitions, taking great pride in the diversity of age, ethnicity, religion, educational background and economic level which characterized their neighborhoods.

Today, the neighborhood continues to offer a high quality of life to those who reside there.

Points of Interest:

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.

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.

*Colonel White High School for the Arts* is part of _Dayton City Schools It serves approximately 1000 students. The school _mascot_ is the _cougar_ . The themes of Colonel White are _Academic Magnet Academy_ , School of Humanities and Cultural Studies, and School of Service and Leadership. The Arts progams offered are for _Creative Writing_ , _Music_ , _Dance_ , _Theater_ , and _Visual Arts_ . Your browser may not support display of this image. [More material on Colonel White High School and Upper Dayton View can be located in the Dayton Local History Room (noncirculating area) of the Main Library, Dayton.