Carillon Historical Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which hosts historic buildings and technology illustrating the history of Dayton and its citizens from 1796 to the present. The historical elements of the park were the brainchild of Colonel Edward Deeds.
The Kettering Family Education Center anchors the park which is divided into major sections covering settlement, transportation, invention, and industry. An original lock of the Miami Erie Canal is located on the grounds as well as a canal toll office. The transportation center has a Barney and Smith Passenger Car, built in Dayton as well as an interurban railcar and other vehicles associated with Dayton. A restoration of the world's first practical airplane, the 1905 Wright Flyer III is located at the park. The airplane was restored in the 1940s with help from Orville Wright.
In 2005, Carillon Historical Park merged with the Montgomery County Historical Society to form Dayton History.
[edit] Deeds Carillon
The park is named for the 151 foot tall Deeds Carillon. The Art moderne-style Carillon Tower was built in 1942, funded by his wife Edith Walton Deeds and was designed to commemorate the Deeds family. When the tower was built, each of 23 bells was inscribed with the name of a family member, with the “silent” bells bearing the names of deceased family members and ringing bells cast with the names of family members then living. Today, with 57 bells, the carillon is Ohio’s largest.
It was refurbished in 1988 from an electronic carillon to a traditional, mechanical carillon. The Park's carillonneur performs live carillon concerts every Sunday during June, July and August.