what is on I 75 N just north of river

Vicki 99 5 posts Mar 01, 2009 11:45 AM	What is the old manison on the east side of I-75 just past the river? there are Danis trucks around, and new construction starting to surround the old mansion. I saw once what is was, but don't remember. I sort of recall it was built by the first female lawyer in Dayton or she lived there at one time in the past. Any infor as to who the old structure belonged to and what the new buildings are will be much appreciated. thanks Vicki
SeeDavid 181 posts Mar 01, 2009 7:20 PM	Dave thinks it's the "Kennedy" mansion. He beleves that the family was a very affluent family in the Dayton area. Any more than that, we shall have to ask Curt. I have seen Jim Bucher on Channel 2 visit there since they started to re-hab, but not recently. Guess we will have to look at on line books or DDN or the city of Dayton. Good luck. Will wait to see what you find out. ~C
Curt Dalton 97 posts Mar 01, 2009 7:38 PM	The Salvation Army of Dayton got millions of dollars to build a Ray and Joan Kroc community center in Old North Dayton, on a tract of land that houses a former mansion. McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc left a international charity to develop dozens of community centers in under-served neighborhoods across the country. Dayton was one of only eight commands in the eastern United States to get the nod, of 29 that applied for part of Kroc's unprecedented gift — the largest ever given to a charity. The 17.5-acre tract at Keowee and Webster streets includes Duncarrick, the former Katherine Kennedy Brown mansion, which Salvation Army officials are going to preserve. The following information was taken from Wright State University Library's web site: Katharine Louise Kennedy Brown was a prominent and powerful figure in Ohio politics and Dayton society for over fifty years. She was born on July 16, 1891 in Dayton, Ohio, the eldest child of Grafton Claggett Kennedy (1859-1909) and Louise Achey (1860-1945). Grafton Kennedy was an attorney in the Dayton law firm of Kennedy, Munger & Kennedy (the other partners were his half-brother, Eugene, and Warren and Harry Munger). The family home was a mansion called Duncarrick (“Home of the Kennedy’s”) located at Keowee & Webster streets. The Kennedy’s figured prominently in Dayton Society from the late 19thcentury, well into the 20thcentury. They numbered the Winters, Pattersons, Wrights, and Barneys among their friends. As a prominent and wealthy family, the Kennedys traveled extensively in Europe and spent their summers in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Katharine initially was educated by German and French governesses at home, then attended Dayton Public Schools and Dana Hall at Wellesley. Katharine married Kleon Thaw Brown on April 20, 1921. Tragically, Katharine’s marital happiness was short-lived; the couple’s only child died in infancy, then was followed by Kleon, who died suddenly on May 20, 1925. Katharine never remarried. Katharine’s political career began in 1920, immediately after women won political suffrage, when women were initially denied a place on the Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee. She decided that she was tired of being “given things” by men and determined to “take what was legally ours.” Katharine eventually became a member of the committee, but did not stop there. She helped build Montgomery County’s Women’s Ward and Precinct Organization in 1920 and formed the first Women’s Republican Club in the county as an added support to the county organization. She became a member of the Republican State Committee of Ohio in 1928, representing the 3rdCongressional District, a position to which she waselected every two years for forty years. Katharine was the Republican National Committee woman for Ohio from 1932-68. She eventually became a member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women’s Clubs and served as a member of the Executive Committee. In 1942, she was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee and served in that capacity until 1952. She also became a member of the Executive Committees of the State and County Republican Committees. She was a founder of the Ohio Federation of Republican Women’s Organizations and was its president from 1940-1964. She was Vice-Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1944-52. Katharine also was a member of the Advisory Council of the Women’s National Republican Club of New York and a member of the League of Republican Women and the Capitol Hill Republican Club in Washington, D.C. Katharine served as a Delegate-at-Large to eight Republican National Conventions (1932, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968) and as an Alternate-at-Large from Ohio in 1928. She was a member of the Arrangements Committee for the Republican National Conventions of 1940 and 1944. Katharine was literally advisor and confidante to numerous presidents, congressmen, and governors, including John Bricker, Robert Taft, James Rhodes, and Richard Nixon. In 1944 Senator John W. Bricker chose her as the only woman member of his National Strategy Committee in his bid for the presidency; in 1948 and 1952, Senator Robert A. Taft named her the only woman member of his National Strategy Committee in his bid for the presidential nomination. Katharine wrote or was co-author of several pamphlets on politics, including: “What You Want to Know About the Great Game of Politics,” based on Frank R. Kent’s book, “Ward, Township Organization and Polling”; “The Rudiments of Political Organization”; and an evaluation of the 1964 Presidential Campaign, “The Need to Know”. She organized the Junior League of Dayton and from 1926 to 1929 she was the Vice-President and Regional Director of the Association of Junior Leagues of America. She was a director of the Dayton Art Institute from 1930-47, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University. Since Katharine’s mother and grandmother organized the Jonathan Dayton Chapter of the DAR, Katharine was a member at an early age, and served as a page and delegate to their National Congresses. Katharine also was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and Chairwoman of the Dayton Circle. Katharine’s favorite hobby was the theater: she was one of the founders of the Comedy Club of Dayton, which presented one-act plays from 1916-1925. Katharine died on November 10, 1986 at Kettering Convalescent Center. Katharine, her parents, maternal grandparents, and great-grandparents are buried as Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. The family’s first residence, 131 West Third Street, is the current home of the Dayton Bicycle Club. Her beloved Duncarrick still stands at 1000 Keowee Street. Last Edited on 1-Mar-2009 7:45 PM
Vicki 99 6 posts Mar 02, 2009 8:31 AM	Thank you both so much. She was a very important woman in Dayton. Are they any relation to President Kennedy? I'm guessing not. Joan Kroc has done some amazing giving. I grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakato and the Krocs were very giving to the "500 year flood" (1997) victims,including some of my family members who lived there. What are the buildings that are surrounding Duncarrick? Is Duncarrick being restored as a museum? Or what use? Thanks again
bo68chev 29 posts Mar 03, 2009 8:23 PM	The information that Curt provided is very informative. However, I would like to make one correction about the neighborhood. The site of the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center is actually located in the McCook Field neighborhood. Since the trees and the walls have been removed, numerous Daytonians have been asking questions about the site and the mansion. Those of us that have lived near the site have called it Kennedy's for years. Some have lived nearby and never had a clue what was behind the walls and the trees. The mansion had been vacant since Mrs. Brown's death in 1986, and the grounds eventually became overgrown. The fate of the site and the mansion has been a concern for years. Preservation Dayton listed the Duncarrick Mansion as one of the ten most at risk structures in Dayton. Luckily, the Salvation Army is saving the mansion. The mansion will be restored, and will be used for administrative purposes. There will also be a meeting room for the McCook Field Neighborhood Association, and others. There was some discussion about having some type of museum there, but I am not sure if that will happen. The Kroc Center is part of a 1.6 billion dollar endowment that the Kroc family has bequethed to the Salvation Army. $66 million dollars was awarded to the Dayton Corps. for this project. $33 million was for the property and the facilities. The other $33 million was an endowment for operations. The Dayton Corps of the Salvation Army also raised at least $6 to 7.5 million dollars in local matching funds. The campus will feature an early childhood center, a technology cafe, after-school tutoring for school children, a recreation center, a worship center, and other amenities and programs. The University of Dayton has and will be a partner will some of the programs at the community center. Katharine Kennedy Brown was definitely a powerful woman, as evidenced by the information in Curt's posting. It has been said that she exerted that power in making sure that I-75 did not go through her property. She also was a collector of all types of elephant items as a result of her Republican affiliation. I was told that people sent her those items from all over the world. As evidenced by Curt's posting, Wright State University is an excellent resource for her items. They have her papers. You can also search the net. The Dayton Daily News has also done some fine articles about the Kroc Center and its impact on the McCook Field neighborhood.
Vicki 99 7 posts Mar 04, 2009 10:41 AM	Thanks so much. Vicki
bo68chev 30 posts Mar 04, 2009 8:03 PM	Vicki, thanks for starting this topic. It was fun to read Curt's post and to share information about the past and the future of that site. I do not think that Katharine Kennedy Brown's family was related to President Kennedy, but then again, it could be possible.
rodat6 20 posts Apr 12, 2009 9:02 AM	I was the morning paperboy for 1 full year, I delivered the Journal Herald 6 mornings per week from Monday through Saturday. This was from 1952 to 1953 and I was 10. I lived at 411 Van Wert Place, Parkside, I would wake up in the very early morning and walk to Gallagher's Drug Store on Keowee St. in the McCook Plaza to pick up my 63 papers. There was also a Western Auto Store along with a place that served pie and ice cream by the name of Farmer's Equity but at this hour nothing was open. At the entrance to the Katherine Kennedy Brown Mansion on Leonhard street was a driveway with a house where the servants lived, I assumed they were hired help but don't know for sure. I do know that there were 4 or 5 Doberman Pincher's kept chained who would tug at their chains and ferociously bark at me in the morning or anytime I came to collect. That was very scary so in the early morning when still pitch dark to deliver their paper without being barked at I found a break in the north side concrete wall that surrounded the property about even with the larger Mansion where I had to place their paper. I would climb through the break and creep to their house being as quiet as I could, drop the paper and get out of there as fast as possible. I feared the dogs breaking their chain and coming after me. On collection day I usually was asked to come inside to the kitchen where they had a lot of beautiful cabinetry and I would be given a 5 penny tip. After my papers were all delivered I walked to Webster Elementary School near Chapel street near Troy. I grew up in the days of playing duck and cover in school and watching films about what to do if I saw a bright flash of light and in the third grade we students were taken to the auditorium and shown Reefer Madness which was about the evils of marijuana although CokaCola, cigarettes and alcohol were being advertised to everyone on a daily basis. After Parkside we moved to McGuffey Homes and I attended McGuffey Elementary School for the 7th and 8th Grade. A few of us kids would often hop the Kennedy estate concrete wall to take a short cut across the property, we did so cautiously of course in case the dogs were loose which they never were. I went from my morning Journal Herald route to selling the Dayton Daily Newspaper on various downtown corners. Sons bar on the southeast corner of 5th and Ludlow, it was the most profitable although I sold more papers outside of Rikes. I cannot say that I ever met Katherine Kennedy Brown, there were several women there on collection days but I was a 10 year old paperboy so no introduction. A friend and I, Reggie Welborn buried a wooden box full of trinkets just on the inside of the wall at Leonhard St just west of Webster. This would have been around 1955, we jumped the wall in the darkness and buried the box many years ago. I've wondered if it were still there many a time but have never been back to Dayton. Living in McGuffey Homes at 62 Messina Place, every Saturday we had the air raid test, the siren sat atop the Chrysler building and it was loud not being more than 2 blocks away, I had to open my mouth and hold my ears, I figured if the Russians were smart they would attack then and we'd think it was only a test but of course I was only a kid and didn't understand time zones. : + )
newspace12x12 3 posts May 08, 2009 7:58 PM	rodat, they've done a lot of excavation on that site, your box is probably toast
Hankster65 18 posts May 05, 2010 11:38 AM	(Curt, I hope its OK for me to post a link here, if not please delete.) A poster with the user name, Bellanox, has posted a fascinating series of photos on Flickr showing all the rooms inside the mansion and the amazing contents that sat there for many years gathering dust after the death of the owner. If you look at them be sure to click on the "All sizes" icon just above each photo. That way you can see the high resolution images and really check out the contents. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellanox/4185140419/ Last Edited on 5-May-2010 12:11 PM
chard99 3 posts Apr 17, 2011 11:47 AM	I grew up in Parkside at Kent Place from 1964 to 1972. I can't say there were pleasant memories. We were one of the few white families there and it was hell. I remember going to McGuffey Elem. and taking the shortcut through the "Kennedy's" property. We used to pick grapes and apples from the orchard. I remember the dog's barking alot when walking near the house. But I never actually saw them. Once we trick or treated at the main house and got an apple each. I rember thinking how generous. One day during the summer of 1969 my oldest brother found a body in the woods on the property. That was a hot topic of conversation for us for a few weeks. I think it was determined that the person was walked into the woods and shot. That is about all I remember about that area other than getting into alot of fights or figuring out it was better to run like crazy if you were outnumbered. I was happy to move away when I was 12. I am a computer scientist now. So it is proof that someone can come from a bad background and have a respectable life. It makes me happy that something good happened to the Kennedy property. It was a quiet refuge during a timultuous time.
rodat6 137 posts Apr 18, 2011 12:29 AM	I lived in Parkside from 1942 to about 1954. It was great having a great many playmates, turned part of the field into a Victory Garden and lush plants grew well, dug underground forts, fished and seined with a net, sold bait, sold fish, walked across the dam. Had frequent baseball games, I lived at 411 Van Wert Place, next to the Administration Building. Phone was HEmlock 8887. First Cousins and family lived at 123 Kent Place, just across the field south of the Adm. building. We walked to Webster which was a mile, sometimes we walked home for lunch which gave us 4 miles per day. We were driven once during a heavy rain as a little boy. I was a traffic boy one winter at Keowee and Webster, it was cold and the school would give us hot chocolate that was hot, really hot, got burnt once. For 1 year (orbit) I delivered the morning paper, Journal Herald, I was 10 or 11, maybe both, lol. Katherine Kennedy Brown was a customer and at first trying to go down the driveway by the servant quarters, the doberman's, 4 or 5 would tug at their chains and bark at me so I found a broken slab on the north side opposite the main house that I could slip through, sneak to the porch, drop the paper and get the heck out. I delivered the paper all 4 seasons, took 63 customers from Dick Merritt who was moving on to greater challenges I suppose or at least we are supposed to. The paper route was my first job and I had to get up real early, walk to the Gallagher's Drug Store on Keowee, just down from McCook Theater, get my papers, put them in my canvas bag except for Thursday which was ad day, I hid half of the papers and came back for them as my bag lightened. I won a free pass to Phillips Swimming Pool standing outside during a Tornado warning, strong winds, my number was called, I learned how to swim that season out of embarrassment due to a little girl telling her mother that I was her boyfriend, I learned to swim that very week. I went to McGuffy for the 7th and 8th grades, moved from Parkside to McGuffy homes, next to Claridge Park. Parkside was a dream in the Forties and a part of the Fifties, there were always lots of people there, maybe like New York City, I see the point now. We played a lot of games, hide and go seek, kick the can, red rover, red rover, steal the bacon. In my pre teens we'd play chase, if you were caught you paid a kiss. My father and mother divorced when I was in the 6th grade at Webster, went first grade through 6th, then McGuffey 7th and 8th, Colonel White 9th, school of life thereafter.
astrid 1 post Oct 22, 2011 11:02 AM	I lived in Dayton for four years and at Duncarrick Mansion for about a year and a half back in 1958/59, when my mother, an emigree from Austria, had a job as house keeper for Mrs. Brown. I was 10 years old at that time. She decided to go back to Austria in 1960 and there I still am, now past 60. My mother is passing into dementia and was rambling about happy times with Mrs. Brown, in her eyes one of the most important politic women of the last century. So I started looking for information on times long forgotten: I must admit I've been pretty upset these last two days - especially when seeing the pictures of these once so beautiful rooms, where I more or less only tiptoed around and didn't dare to touch a thing (her elephant collection, 300 at that time was of course one of the most fascinating features for a child). I remember when I was allowed to try on the wedding gown of Mrs. Brown's mother to demonstrate how fragile this woman was - the gown was almost to tight for a 10 yeard old, thin girl. I suddenly remembered sleeping in one of the rooms upstairs when I saw the old wooden bed. I see my mother working in the big white kitchen, often preparing dinner for guests with a hired butler and kitchen helps - and I remember how fascinated I was with the ice crusher! There are so many things coming up out of (intentionally) hidden undergrounds of my soul, I could go on and on ... In 1986 a friend sent a newspaper clipping announcing Mrs. Browns death and that the mansion would probably be pulled down. I hadn't heard anything more of it since then. Since I remember family with young children visiting at the holidays, I just can't understand how the property came to be abandoned to utter desolation. Over here, people would have been most eager to acquire the antique furniture or even the estate, which should have been quite an asset. If anybody can give me information on this aspect or tell me where to ask, I would be very grateful. Last Edited on 22-Oct-2011 11:05 AM
icsalum 80 posts Oct 22, 2011 3:36 PM	Astrid - the kennedy/Brown mansion was basically abandoned for 20 years. Since 2006, the entire estate has been 'rescued' by a project sponsored by Mr. Kroc (McDonad's fame). The grounds have been developed as a type of community center, and the original house has been saved and 're-presented' to the community. It looks fabulous!
Kati 1 post Dec 28, 2011 4:40 PM	Astrid - I remember being at the mansion with you even though I was only 5 hrs old. So sorry about your mom. My parents are both gone. But all the memories are still alive :)
Butchl1977 8 posts Jan 20, 2012 7:38 PM	Rodat6: I went to McGuffy in 1955-1957 and was a Safety boy and sometimes at Keowee and Webster although not my regular post.