Congratulations!

     You have found Dayton History Books Online!  This website is dedicated to placing historical books and booklets about Dayton, Ohio online for everyone to read for free!  Curt Dalton, a local author who has written several books about Dayton's history, saw a need to make books and other materials about Dayton available to children and the general public. He knew that the material had to be in a format that could easily be read and searched, to enable visitors to use the information in homework and personal projects. What better way than through the world wide web?  On October 24, 2004 "Dayton History Books Online" opened with a list of twenty books and booklets that could be read, searched and printed out.  As of May, 2008 there are 226 books/booklets/articles available online, consisting of over 12,700 pages of text, with more added every month. We also celebrate having our 1,250,000th hit on the site! Though the site is really only a hobby of Curt's that's gotten out of hand, through the collaboration of local libraries, universities, archives, businesses and individuals, he hopes to make accessible online as many historical publications about Dayton as he possibly can. 

Types of Material Available

     This website of Dayton’s local history resources provides access to unique materials concerning the cultural and social heritage of the Gem City in the words of those who helped shape it. Stories to be discovered include the building of the code-breaking machine at NCR during the Second World War, how the Miami Conservancy was formed after the flood of 1913, a look at Paul Laurence Dunbar from his wife’s perspective, and a doctor who, during funerals, used to hang a sign outside his office stating that the deceased was “Not my patient”.
     It will take time to offer the many types of books, brochures and other reading material that this site hopes to introduce to the public over the next few years.  Most of the material will be from sources that are in the public domain, usually meaning that they were printed before 1923.  This still leaves hundreds of sources of information.  Much of this information will be taken from rare and hard-to-find materials not normally available to the general public outside of reference copies at libraries. This site will allow visitors to both read and print out any information they may find useful.  This will also allow future generations of students, teacher and researchers quick access to historical material in a manner that not only saves time, but also lessens the need for handling of the original documents, which will help preserve these often fragile items.