Historic Huffman

We are members of the Wright-Patt Aero Club, where my husband John is a Certified Flight Instructor. We enjoy general aviation and certainly feel privileged to fly from the Air Force Base Aero Club, adjacent to Huffman Prairie Flying Field. It was Huffman Prairie where the Wright Brothers tested and perfected their early aeroplanes, learned to maneuver in flight, and taught others how to fly.

Three seasons out of the year, the Wright-Patt Aero Club is a buzz of activity: flight training, recreational flying, families forsaking the airlines and opting for general aviation for vacation travel, etc. But, in the winter, things slow down significantly.

While Huffman Prairie is the world’s first and original flying field [and the functional home of aviation], winter in Ohio is often not a friend to general aviation. Rapidly changing weather fronts, high winds, low visibility, and some of the worst in-cloud icing conditions in the country make the Ohio Valley challenging to small aircraft during the winter months.

John & I decided that we should break up the winter flying doldrums with a Groundhog Day Party, “in the hope of an early spring and a return of great flying weather.” This past Saturday we hosted the Third Annual Aero Club Groundhog Day Party at our home in Historic Huffman.

Any/all members, pilots, mechanics, staff, friends, spouses, and guests are invited. Typically [if you can average three years and call that “typical”] we have welcomed 30-35 people to our home. Though the numbers are stable, there are both recurring and new guests each year. [This year, we even had a Huffman neighbor—and new Aero Club member—stop by for a few minutes!]

It is a genuine pleasure to welcome people to our home for the first time. For one thing, it’s a great party house with its large rooms, open living room and kitchen area, and downstairs bath. I also enjoy answering questions about the house, its history, and about Historic Huffman.

It is nice to see the house, and our neighborhood, through visitors’ eyes. I am reminded of all the reasons why we left the suburbs for the City, and historic district living, almost five years ago.

I think we need to have more parties!

In the 1950s, jobs were easy to get in Dayton. So two brothers from Kentucky moved to this city, found work in factories, and settled down in this small neighborhood east of downtown.

Joe and Bill moved into next-door houses on June Street, owned by their sister, who worked at Wright Patterson AFB. Raised by their grandparents, the siblings had all grown up on a farm in Kentucky, where “the yellow mud was so thick, your feet would get stuck” on the walk to school, recalled Bill.

After serving in the armed forces, the two brothers came to Dayton in the early 1950s. They found work in the tool and die and manufacturing industries. With the help of a G.I. loan, Joe was able to buy the house from his sister and has lived on June Street ever since.

He thinks this is a great neighborhood. Recalling the first decade he lived here, he says, “Everybody knew everybody.” On warm evenings neighbors sat outside, talked, and played cards.

During the 1960s and 70s, the Huffman neighborhood experienced some tough times. More people moved to homes in the suburbs – as automobile ownership increased travel opportunities and desegregation of local schools sparked “white flight” – leaving the houses in Dayton’s inner core vulnerable. Houses turned into rental properties, some run roughshod by motorcycle gangs and drug dealers. Some houses burned down.

But Joe and Bill stuck through it all. In the early 1970s, Joe married a woman he met at his workplace and brought her home to Huffman. Gerema has been by Joe’s side through the neighborhood’s tough times and as it gradually improved. They both say that the neighborhood now has many of the good qualities it had five decades ago.

Gerema recalls helping longtime June St. resident Hilda with errands and house chores after Hilda’s husband passed away. One time Hilda asked Gerema to dust a particularly elaborate crystal chandelier. When Gerema climbed up on a chair to reach it, she discovered that is was hanging precariously by a few wires and encouraged Hilda to find a more experienced handyman to come to the rescue. They would also walk to neighborhood meetings together.

After 50 years in the neighborhood, Joe and Bill are some of June Street’s most senior residents. Gerema, too. On recent warm evenings, they walked up and down the street’s sidewalks — Bill with his dog — stopping to chat with various neighbors. Lately health issues have kept them closer to their homes. Now we see them in their front yards or we knock on the door to be invited in for a chat in their living rooms.

As an 13-year June St. resident, I must say that I always enjoy my conversations with my neighbors. We exchange news, tell stories, and usually have a good laugh. Gerema, one of the sweetest women I know, often tells her neighbors that she loves them. What a great neighborhood to be a part of!

The announcement this week of federal money dedicated to a rail project in Ohio is great news for Dayton. The passenger line that will link Cleveland to Cincinnati will have a stop in our city. The plan is for the station to be in the same location as the old Union Station downtown. This would be about a mile away from Huffman. I’ve walked to that area before, but a bike would make the trip super easy. Come to think of it, a folding bike would be perfect for that commute – ride down to the platform, collapse the bike, and hop on the train with it.

The new passenger rail system would allow Daytonians to work in Cincinnati or Columbus. Even at less-than-high-speed, the rail commute seems more appealing than my current 30 minute drive time to work in Piqua. I really can’t do anything but drive and listen to music on my way to work now, but sitting on a train for an hour opens up the possibility of replying to a round of email and taking notes while on cel phone calls. I may actually be more productive with a little longer commute! And, the thought of getting a little exercise on my way to and from the station while abandoning fuel and car maintenance costs is very appealing.

Hopefully the new train station will be the shot that downtown needs, too. The arcade is scheduled for renovation and would be a perfect place for all kinds of commuter services. Suburban commuters would depend less on the highway and drive downtown to park. A grocery store immediately adjacent to the train station would make a killing as riders could shop and drive back home after work. I’m sure there a lot of other possible amenities for rail passengers, too. What else makes sense? Do we have any entrepreneurs among us?

Last week’s fog provided an opportunity to capture a very dramatic side of Huffman. Warmer temperatures melted snow to keep the moisture low to the ground and thick in the air. The water droplets refracted light to feature unusual night details. Spectral glows from nightlights accented the city’s hum. Water vapor made the power lines sizzle and the eerie glow gave even our utilitarian alleys a chance to take on a special character. See and hear for yourself in the video.