Curt Dalton
39 posts
Mar 18, 2007
8:31 PM
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The flat-bottom boats were made by National Cash Register. They were made from wood that would have normally been used to make cash registers, which were made of wood, brass, bronze or nickel at that time. The plans for the boats were already in place as NCR used them on the old canal to sometimes take parts to other buildings.
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olds88
40 posts
Feb 01, 2013
8:44 PM
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My grandmother had kept diary and had very vivid recolection of the flood and a perfect view. My grandfather was office mgr. at Green and Green Bisquit co.and they left their house over around the Oregon district and went to his office above what is now Victoria theater with two young babies.
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pie8me
128 posts
Feb 03, 2013
9:12 AM
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Seems like I remember reading that they tore down the fence surrounding the Hungarian village in old north Dayton and used it to build more boats. Something to do with Barney Coach Works.
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Marck1957
158 posts
Feb 03, 2013
8:08 PM
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Did any of the NCR boats survive? It would be cool to see one!
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abwillhoite
2 posts
Feb 04, 2013
8:36 AM
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I believe that the NCR archive has one on display on St. Clair St. Not sure if it's open to the public though.
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CeKay
6 posts
Apr 13, 2013
8:47 PM
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John Patterson came to work the day of the flood and told everyone they were stopping all cash register construction and immediately building boats. The boats were taken down the hill from MVH on Main Street to edge of the water and launched there, with NCR workers onboard. Channel 16 showed a good documentary, "Goodbye The Levee Has Broken" on the anniversary. Patterson was the motivation behind the massive fundraiser after the flood, to finance the 5 dams that protect Dayton today. It was done without government assistance--Daytonions realized a need and took care of it themselves.
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doodlkatz
6 posts
Apr 17, 2013
3:45 PM
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I don't know where the boats are today but they were at the lagoon at old river in the early 70's. you could rent either the row boats or a canoe for about 50 cents for 2 hrs don't know what happened to them when the park closed I talked today to my very clear headed 93 yr old dad who worked for ncr for his entire working life retiring in the late 80's as a tech writer He is a big ncr history buff and explained where the wood for boats came from . Ncr was self contained company at one time meaning that the company only purchased raw materials & produced in house everything needed to build a cash register except glass. On the 3rd floor of one of the bldgs[possibly #31]. was a full woodworking dept,they built anything from register frames to shipping crates and employed around 100 craftsmen and purchased unfinished lumber by the railcar hence in 1913 they could turn out anything made of wood asap after a design was presented of course ncr was also run by one man whose word was law so if Patterson said build boats the designer would stop anything else and design a boat the wood shop when told build boats could probably have the first one built in hours instead of the months of decision or non decision discussions John H said DO it and it got done
Last Edited by doodlkatz on Apr 18, 2013 4:05 PM
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Enderdog
1 post
Feb 19, 2014
7:45 AM
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I've read, on this site, that much of the wood for the boats came from the stockade fence surrounding the Hungarian worker's village for Barney Coach Works. The company never came back after the flood, and some of the residents of Old North Dayton are the children of people who worked there.
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luv my dayton
547 posts
Feb 19, 2014
5:17 PM
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What is amazing is all that John Patterson did to build Dayton into what it once was,employeed thousands of peoples,provided Christmas parties at his auditoreum, built the Old River complex to provide a family enviornment for his employees has all been pretty much removed and 25 yrs from now will all be pretty much forgotton. Thank you Mr Patterson for your work and the love you put into making Dayton what it once was.
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historybuff
84 posts
Feb 19, 2014
7:33 PM
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I believe there is at least one of the flat-bottom boats at the NCR archives on St. Clair St. but they are not open to the public. During the flood the NCR boats were not the only boats used. No doubt there were boats used from the Hungarian Colony in North Dayton and also many boats of all kinds commandeered by some of the rescuers. Of course the majority of the boats were probably made by NCR as they had the facilities and the manpower to manufacture them. Carillon Park has an excellent flood exhibit with many artifacts displayed from the flood. If you haven’t been to that exhibit, and you are in Dayton, be sure to visit it. Carillon Park is a real treasure for Dayton and the exhibits on display there memorialize the monumental accomplishments of Patterson, Deeds, Kettering, the Wright Brothers, the Barneys and many other Dayton figures and is continually growing.
Last Edited by historybuff on Feb 19, 2014 7:41 PM
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