(Updated December 2, 2024)
The Gem City Ice Cream Building is no more. The building was structurally unsound due to age and disrepair and now is just a memory. The Gem City Ice Cream Building's demolition had been approved by the Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals in 2021. Unfortunately, the building was mistakenly associated with the first Wright Brother's Cycle Shop, as multiple news outlets had reported "the plan to demolish Wright Brothers 1st Bike Shop". These news reports contained numerous historical inaccuracies.
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| Gem City Ice Cream Building, December 26, 2021. Photo by Author. |
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| Panoramic view joining two photos of former site of the Gem City Ice Cream Building, West Third Street, Dayton, Ohio. Photo by Author, October 11, 2022 |
The Associated Press reported November of 2021, "The Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals has approved the city's request to demolish a 129 year old historic building that was once the site of the Wright Brother's first Bike Shop"
Incorrect- The building was not 129 years old. Built no earlier than 1894, and first occupied in 1896, this building, originally the Nicholas Block, was no older than 127 years, and likely only 125 years old. This is important, because the Wright's opened their first Cycle Shop in 1892, before this building existed!
The Associated Press account continued, "The Shop was first built in 1892 to serve as the Wright Brother's first bike shop.....(The Wright Brothers) started their work on flight several years after they built the shop that will be razed."
Incorrect- The Wright's did not build this "shop". A residential structure existing on the lot with address of 1003 West Third Street remained until at least 1894. Abraham Nicholas purchased the property in 1894, eventually tore the residence down, and developed the site, building the two-story-with-basement structure called the Nicholas Block, which was later occupied by the Gem City Ice Cream Company in 1902. The Wright's did not build this structure, and they did not occupy it.
The Dayton Daily News reported, "The City of Dayton has received approval to tear down a property that was briefly home to the Wright Brother's first bike shop..."
Incorrect- The Wright's first bike shop was occupied in December of 1892 through May of 1893. The building approved to be demolished did not exist in 1892/3. Previous historians have been in error concerning the date of construction of the Nicholas Block (Gem City Ice Cream Building), but through examination of the historical documents which are available for anyone to access, the evidence is clear, and is not open to differing view points. A house occupied this site until at least 1894.
The Dayton Daily News reported, "Two months ago, Dayton's Landmark Commission denied the city's request to tear down the building, which was the Wright Brother's first bike shop for less than a year in the early 1890's."
Incorrect- The Wright's first bike shop was possibly located in a small single-story wood structure with address of 1005 West Third Street in December of 1892. More likely, the shop was located at 1015 West Third, just to the west of the current Gem City Ice Cream Building. In either case, the shop was not located in the Nicholas Block building with address of 1005/1007, as this structure did not exist in 1892/3.
The Wright Brothers Cycle Shop formally located at 1127 West Third Street in Dayton Ohio is currently preserved at the Henry Ford Museum Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan, purchased by Henry Ford in 1936, relocated there in 1937, and opened to the public in 1938 with the blessing of Orville Wright. The brothers relocated their business numerous times through the 1890's, and 1127 West Third was their last location. (This location was of major significance as this is where their aviation experiments took place; where they performed their wind tunnel experiments, where Charlie Taylor constructed the engine, and where partial construction of gliders/flyers occurred.)
The
first location for the Wright's bicycle business has traditionally been
identified as 1005 West Third Street, occupied in December of 1892.
Wright historians (including this author) have written that the 1892
Wright Cycle Exchange was located in the same building later occupied
and expanded by the Gem City Ice Cream Company. This "fact" has been
repeated by many Wright historians, printed in numerous Wright
biographies over the past 30+ years, and accepted as indisputable
truth. This author however has determined through further study, that this piece of history is indeed incorrect,
as can be ascertained through examination of the Sanborn Fire Insurance
maps of 1887, 1897, 1919, and 1950, the Williams' Dayton City
Directories of this time period, the Montgomery County Auditor GIS
Document Archives, and the Montgomery County Records Center and
Archives. The facts are straightforward and evident, and will be clearly
stated here, as there is much in print that states otherwise.
The 1005 West Third street building available to be occupied by the Wright Cycle Exchange in 1892 was a small single story structure as indicated on the 1897 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shown below, not much larger than the Wright's first printing shop location at 1210 West Third. Unlikely as a candidate for a Cycle Shop due to its small size, this 1005 building was necessarily later demolished for the construction of the 1005/07 two-story building eventually occupied by the Gem City Ice Cream Company in 1901/2. (Later expansions of the Gem City Ice Cream building attached to, and maintained much of the two-story original structure, including it's addresses of 1005/1007, and adding 1009/1011.) This building was originally known as The Nicholas Block, having been financed for construction by the owner, Abraham Nicholas. Abraham did not obtain this property (lot 6308) from the owners Henry and Elizabeth Kelly until January 18th of 1894.
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| Listing from William's Dayton City Directory, 1894. Henry Kelly residence at 1003 W. 3rd, West Side. This residence would have to be demolished prior to the construction of the Nicholas Block structure now known as the Gem City Ice Cream Building. |
The Kellys lived at the residence of 1003 West Third on this lot 6308
from 1892 through 1894. (Prior to the Kellys, 1003 West Third was
occupied by James Heffron from 1884 through 1891.) Before construction of the Nicholas Block could proceed, the residence at 1003
West Third, and the small single story 1005 structure would require removal.
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| Comparison of the 1887, 1897, 1919, and 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
shows the original single- story 1005 structure available to be
occupied by the Wright Cycle Exchange in 1892 later replaced by the 1896
two-story 1005/1007 Nicholas Block structure, later occupied and
expanded by The Gem City Ice Cream Company. The residence of 1003 as seen in the 1887 and 1897 maps existed into 1894. |
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Montgomery County Auditor GIS Documents & Montgomery County
Records Center & Archives, Abstract Books by City- Dayton 25, Plot
6308. Grantor A.R. Nicholas / Elizabeth Kelly Grantee, Mortgage, Book
167, page 560 & Grantor Elizabeth Kelly / A.R. Nicholas Grantee,
Deed, Book 196, page 41. Abraham Nicholas did not own this property
until January of 1894.
The
construction of the Nicholas Block began no earlier than February of
1894, and completion was no later than September of 1896. As the
Nicholas Block does not appear on the 1897 Sanborn map, construction
likely occurred in 1896 with completion by September, late enough that
it was missed in the 1897 Sanborn publication. Laura V. Nicholas
advertised the opening of her Millinery in September of 1896, at 1007
West Third. Miss Nicholas ran a Millinery in 1007 of this building from
1896 through 1900, the year her business ended due to bankruptcy. The
east half of the building, 1005, was occupied by Frost, Tillie, and Ray
Benham, in 1899, Frost a merchant tailor, with residence at the second
level. In 1900 and 1901, Frank Bayless, barber, and wife Ella utilized
1005, again with residence at the second floor.
The
1893 1015 West Third Street location for the Wright Cycle Exchange was
discovered by Fred C. Fisk, co-author of The Wright Brothers from
Bicycle to Biplane, with co-author Marlin W. Todd. Fred purchased a
picture frame from a friend Rice Kendall at the Montgomery County
Fairgrounds antique show in 1985. Within the frame was mounted an 1893
newspaper page, and on the bottom center of the page was an ad for the
Wright Cycle Exchange. Upon closer examination, the address of 1015 West
Third was seen, an address which was unknown as a Wright Cycle location
up to that time. Fred contacted Nancy Horlacher at the Dayton
Montgomery County Library, and requested that she search for the ad in
the newspaper archives for 1893. Nancy determined the ads had been
printed in the Dayton Evening Press for the dates March 25, 27-31, April
1, 3-8, and 10 for a total of 14 ads. The ad was revised for printing
on April 11th, and another 25 ads were placed through May 16th.
The finding was questioned by some as possibly a typo of the address,
which is beyond unlikely, as the Wright's would certainly of become
aware of the typo after so many repeated printings. In fact, there is more
evidence confirming the 1015 location, due to 39 printed ads carrying
the 1015 address, as opposed to confirmation of the 1005 address with no ads at all.(1)
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| The buildings shown above, surrounding the Wright Cycle Exchange location at 1015 West Third Street did not exist in 1893. The single story building at 1005 West Third that would have been available to serve the first Wright Cycle Exchange was demolished to allow construction of the Nicholas Block (1005/1007) two-story structure housing the Gem City Ice Cream Company in this picture. 1009/1011 structure is immediately west of the Ice Cream Building. The small single story 1013 building is next, with 1013/1015 residential/commercial two-story building identified by the yellow arrow (renumbered 1015/1017 by 1919). West of 1015 is Hertzer's Feed Store and The Midget Theater. |
Orville Wright was interviewed in 1936 when Henry Ford purchased and
relocated the 1127 Wright Cycle Company and 7 Hawthorn structures to
Dearborn Michigan. From notes in the Benson Ford Library Archives, the
initial typed interview account exists, as do multiple revised copies
with additional information noted on each copy in pencil. In the
original version, Orville did not indicate specific building numbers of the Wright Cycle business,
but rather, general locations. The original version reads, "Mr.
Wright stated (11-20-36) that their first bicycle shop was located in
the middle of the one thousand block on the north side of Third Street,
that they were in this location only four or five months- November or
December, 1892 to May 1893. They moved because there wasn't sufficient
room. Their next location was on the south side of Third street in the same block. In the early part of 1895 they moved again, this time to
Williams Street...." Orville Wright stated that the first bicycle shop was located in the middle of the one thousand block on the north side. 1005 was not in
the middle, it was to the extreme far east end of the 1000 block. 1015,
however, is more to the middle, as described by Orville Wright. For a more complete discussion on the locations of the Wright Cycle and Print shops, including footnotes with references of sources, refer to the post The Wright Brother's Print, and Cycle Shop Locations.
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"Mr.
Wright stated that their first bicycle shop was located in the middle
of the 1000 block on the north side of Third Street, that they were in
this location only four or five months..." The single story 1005
structure of 1892 was located in the area of present day 1007 of the Gem
City Ice Cream building. 1015 Wright Cycle Exchange was located in
current day empty lot behind the brick wall. Panoramic compiled of
photos by author, 2021. Click on image for larger view. |
In 1902, The Gem City Ice Cream Company moved into 1005 of The Nicholas Block.The existing
structure of 1005/1007 was expanded in 1910-1912 toward the north. The
structure was expanded further westward in 1920/21 and listed as
1005/1007/1009/1011 in 1921. Then, in 1929, additional expansion behind
to the north was constructed. This structure was described as "A
modern garage building at the rear of the plant...The new garage
building will enable the Gem City Ice Cream company...to increase its
delivery facilities by adding other trucks which can be housed in the
new building."(5) Today, this truck building no longer stands.
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| Artwork from company 1928 letterhead (from author's collection) depicting Gem City Ice Cream Building. The drawing shows the Garage Building behind which was constructed in 1929. The original front section just behind the portion of the sign that reads Cream Co. was the Wright Cycle Exchange location. |
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| 3D view of Gem City Ice Cream Building as it stands in 2019 showing original structure 1005/1007, and 1911 plant expansion behind this structure. The 1920/21 plant expansion is shown behind 1009/1011. The 1929 Gem City Garage Building to the north is now an empty lot. Courtesy of Google Earth, created by author. |
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| One of the many ice cream treats offered by Gem City Ice Cream. From page 21 of "The Modern Hostess Book" publication of the company |
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| An original Gem City Ice Cream mold, picture courtesy of current owner, Weston Loomer. The note indicating the mold was made in 1905 for a banquet held for the Wright Brothers is obviously in error, too early a date. However, the idea that George Antrim, a friend of the Wright's, would have been inspired to produce this mold for a Wright celebration event seems reasonable. Further research would be required to determine the exact origination date of this mold. |
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| New addition constructed in 1910-1911, Architect E. J. Mountstephen. From The Dayton Herald, Saturday December 31, 1910 issue. |
The Gem City Ice Cream Company was established in 1901 with Louis E. Ellis as president, and Chas. Dugdale as treasurer, and located at 1005 West Third Street. George D. Antrim joined the company and in late 1910 through 1912 the company expanded, occupying both 1005 and 1007, with major expansion to the north as pictured above. "The new building will enable the company to triple its output....the building....has to be completed ready for occupancy within forty working days."(4) Poor timing, as the March 25-27th 1913 flood would have caused major damage on the recently expanded business. However, by April 10, 1913, Gem City Ice Cream was advertising in the Dayton Daily News they were again open for business at 1005 W. Third.
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| As pictured in Dayton Daily News, Sunday, February 22, 1914 issue. |
In 1927, Lewis E. Ellis was president, George D. Antrim was vice president, Herbert R. Ellis was secretary, and Guy L. Antrim was treasurer. Lewis died suddenly on September 24th of 1928 at the age of 58, and George Antrim became president of the company, Guy L. Antrim vice-president, and Herbert R. Ellis secretary and treasurer. George remained president of the company until the late 1940's. In 1950, Herbert Ellis was president, and Guy Antrim vice-president, with John T. Smith secretary, treasurer. George was Chairman of the Board. George Antrim died in 1958. Both Guy Antrim and Herbert Ellis died in 1978.
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| Comments by Bob Ellis on ancestry.com. The Ohio registered name of Gem City Ice Cream was cancelled August 7, 1978. If comments are correct, George retained 50% ownership after retirement. Guy Antrim did more than just work in the manufacturing and lab departments in the 1950's; Guy was vice-president from the 1930's on. |
In Timothy Gaffney's book "The Dayton Flight Factory", the author writes "The first bicycle shop location later became the Gem City Ice Cream Company. The company put its name on the building's facade...In the years after the Wright Cycle Exchange occupied it, the building underwent many modifications, and most of the architecture associated with the bicycle business was lost. Its facade remained a part of the West Third streetscape in 2014, but the structure was in sad shape and at risk of collapse." This however is not the case, as the Wright Cycle Exchange single story building at 1005 was demolished to make way for the construction of the Nicholas Building in 1896.
Per a Dayton Daily News article written February 8, 2012 by Jeremy Kelly, the author writes "City Planner Roane Smothers confirmed that three walls of the original two-story bicycle shop that the Wrights ran in 1892 are still standing inside the current structure. But Assistant City Manager Shelly Dickstein said that when the building was reviewed for inclusion on the National Register years ago, there wasn't enough 'historic integrity' to get it designated as a Wright site." This is inaccurate, as the original 1005 building occupied by the Wright Cycle Exchange in 1892 was a single story structure, and was replaced by the two-story structure that later became the Gem City Ice Cream Company.
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| Gem City Ice Cream Company building prior to the 1921 and 1929 expansion, Dayton, Ohio. |
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| August 14, 1921 advertisement in The Dayton Daily News, showing front building facade as it appears today, and with the address of 1005-07-09-11. |
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| Looking west on West Third Street, 100 years ago, with the Gem City Ice Cream Building to right (north), and Allaman Building to the left 1921.(7) |
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| View looking west on West Third Street with Gem City Ice Cream Building to the right. Many of the buildings are still standing as seen in the previous 1921 photo. This photo was taken by the author in October of 2001. |
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| 1949 GIS aerial view showing the Gem City Ice Cream Company in full operation, with Orville's Lab at 15 North Broadway still standing. The 1127 Wright Cycle Shop and 7 Hawthorn Wright home had been located to Dearborn Michigan and empty lots can be seen in this view. |
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| Period photo from author's collection of Gem City Ice Cream Building. Note address of 1005 to right. The original single story 1005 building available to be occupied in 1892 by the Wright Cycle Exchange was located roughly where 1007 is located. George Antrim is likely one of the men pictured, but I'm not sure which. My guess is second from rear of truck. See more detail in the photo below. Lew E. Ellis is furthest to the right as identified by his great-grand daughter Karen Mays (see reader's comments). Can anyone identify the others? |
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| Gem City Ice Cream Building as pictured in The Dayton Herald, March 6, 1929. |
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| The Gem City Ice Cream Building as it appeared in 2017; photo taken by author June 27, 2017. |
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| Gem City Ice Cream "The Modern Hostess Book" |
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December 2014 view of east side of Gem City Ice Cream Company front original section. White concrete structure building to rear is 1911/1921 addition. Facade at front south end facing West Third street replaced the original facade shown in top picture. 1921 facade across original and 1921 addition shown below, also dated December 2014. Photos by author.
It does seem a shame to lose this structure, but preservation would be costly. One alternative would be to preserve the original southeast section, and demolish the 1911/21 structure. This would require structural work of course, which could be accomplished, but funding would need to be available. Even beyond preserving and renovation of this portion of the structure, the expenses would continue in maintaining and staffing the site. Below shows the first floor level with proposed new stairwell to basement and second floor level (floor plan prepared by Moody Nolan in 2002). West Third Street is to the top of the sheet.
 The buildings west of this site, north side of West Third Street, at the corner of West Third and Williams were preserved in 2002. Those structures were in such bad condition, the interior second floor of the two story structure had been removed, and the exterior walls had been shored up with cross bracing prior to 2002 until the buildings could be renovated. Below, before picture from 2001, and after renovation, photos by author.   Just to the west of those buildings is the empty lot where the last Wright Cycle Shop was located, now in Michigan. See below.  Further west at North Broadway is the empty lot where Orville Wright's Lab building used to be located before it was demolished in 1976.
From George Doyle Antrim's book "The Tale of Two Dogs and other short tales", copyright 1950, the Gem City Ice Cream Company president at that time wrote "It was in 1901 that Lewis E. Ellis came to Dayton and started this company. Two years later, young George D. Antrim joined him in the partnership that was to continue until the present corporation was formed in 1927. Such words at 'panic', 'depression', 'flood', 'war', 'boom', 'recession', have been on the lips of the people through most of these past fifty years. Under the leadership of Mr. Ellis and Mr. Antrim our company has gathered size, strength, and reputation through good times and bad."
George Antrim wrote to his grandson in August of 1928, sending the letter by U.S. Airmail. He writes:
"This evening at 6 P.M. the first U.S. Airmail Plane operating on regular 'skedule' over a regular route will land, leave and take on mail and take off at the Wilbur Wright Field. It will come from Louisville Ky. via Cincinnati, stopping here only long enough to exchange mail and take off for Cleveland where it makes direct connection with the N. Y. to California Route.......So I am writing this to you for a sort of souvenir. It will be no doubt the first letter you ever got by air mail, also it will be the first one I ever sent by air and it will leave here on the first mail service air ship operating over this route."
The original letter from my collection is shown below, and below that, a page from a Gem City Ice Cream product brochure.
  "A Pig Tale And a Few Others" was published in 1940 in which George Antrim wrote the following poem to Orville Wright for Orville's 68th birthday- 
George Antrim wrote the following poem to Orville Wright for Orville's 75th birthday, August 19, 1946. Per George, "Some friends of Orv gave an 11:00 A.M. breakfast in his honor at the Van Cleve Hotel. I was invited and asked to write some verses for him.....Ed Smith of N.C.R. had photostatic copies made and framed for each one present. All of us then signed it." (2) Dear Orville: Some folks would spend their dough and time And buy for you a shop made rhyme; A neat, a decorated card With verses by a Birthday Bard, But we prefer to pick our lyre And save our dough to buy a tire Or shoes and shirts and spuds and meat. The things we need to wear or eat. And yet, on this your natal day The words won't come, we'd like to say: Orv, you and Wilbur sowed the seed That revolutionizes speed. The first to sail and chart the sky You taught the whole World how to fly. The bomber and the giant plane Are but the children of your brain. You've heard your name and praises sung By every nation, race and tongue While we, who've known you through the years And heard the echo of their cheers Today, in you we only see The Orville Wright that used to be. Unspoiled, unchanged. The same old lid Still fits no tighter than it did. Thou wizard of the skies and winds, Though far beyond "Where life begins," We wish you many, many more Each happier than the one before Very Sincerely, Geo. Antrim (Original copy shared by Melissa Stephenson of New Hampshire.) Orville Wright passed away January 30th, 1948. During a tribute to Orville the following week, George Antrim had this to say about his good friend- "For over 50 years, I have known Orville Wright, probably as well as any person, except those who went to school with him. I would like to tell two stories about Orville that sum up his character." "Claud Protsman, a salesman who always patronized the Wright Brother's bicycle shop, received a Canadian quarter (worth twenty cents) and thought he could pass it off on the Wright Brothers. He decided on Orville because he thought he would be an easier mark than Wilbur. The short lecture Orville gave him for lying and trying to cheat emphasized Orville's high regard for truth and honesty." "Then I'd like to relate an incident that had to do with Orville's character as a neighbor. That is, when he helped Frank Hamburger boost a half carload of nails up out of his cellar of his hardware store on the morning of March 25, 1913, because he hated to see Frank lose a few nails because it looked like the river was coming over the levees, and it was predicted that before noon everybody on the West Side would have a cellar full of water. Orville got his helper, Charles Taylor and, together with Frank and his clerk, they boosted the nails onto the ground floor. Frank, in telling me about it, said, 'We worked like beavers, and when I offered to pay him, he wouldn't take a cent. Then you know what happened? By 3 o'clock that afternoon the water had taken the paper off the ceiling and soaked the carpets on the apartments above the store." "When I was president, in 1928, and we had a meeting in honor of Orville, I told those two stories that had never been told before. Just to make Orville feel at home, I had Charlie Webbert, from whom he rented the shop; Frank Hamburger, the hardware man; Jessie Gilbert, who ran the coal business in the next block, and Charlie Monback, the barber, who had given Orville more close shaves than he ever got in an airplane, on the platform." "When I told that nail story, I said that a lot of fellows didn't like to set a price for their work when they had offered their services, but many of them would accept a tip should it be offered to them; and since Orville had refused to set a price, it might not yet be too late for him to accept a tip. Thereupon, Frank reached into his pocket and handed Orv a quarter. I promptly fined Orville a quarter for accepting a tip for such little service, as being un-Rotarian. Doc Lewis, sergeant-at-arms, collected the quarter and kept it. And he still has that quarter!"(The Dayton Herald, Saturday, February 7 1948, Rotary Club Speakers Pay High Tribute to Memory of Member, Orville Wright)  Gem City Ice Cream offered quite a variety of ice cream treats. One of Orville Wright's favorite holidays was St. Valentine's Day, and pictured here are two Valentine ice cream treats. From the company's "The Modern Hostess Book", author's copy. From "The Tale of Two Dogs, and Other Short Tales", by George Antrim, a poem is included honoring the Golden Anniversary of The Gem City Ice Cream Company.  In April of 1984, Rotarian, Jerry Hoerner, 85 years old at the time, was interviewed by The Journal Herald. Jerry had attended 55 years of Rotary meetings with perfect attendance. "Hoerner recalls chatting with Orville Wright at Dayton Rotary meetings in the 1930's. 'But he never did speak at our meetings; he was rather shy and didn't like public speaking. Yet, he was a great conversationalist and full of all kinds of information.' ......No one, though, will ever top the late George Doyle Antrim in the humor department, he says. 'Back in 1929 we met in the Old Miami Hotel, the location now of Shillito-Rikes,' Hoerner recalls. 'We had one of the best Rotary attendance records ever. Antrim was our president then. He was an Irishman, a jolly fellow, and no one wanted to stay home and miss what George had to say. He always had some little ditty, some funny story to tell....Yes, George Antrim,' says Hoerner, 'was the funniest man I ever met." (6) Again, it is a shame that the Gem City Ice Cream building no longer stands, however, the existing structure was never occupied by the Wright Brother's Cycle shop. And likely, the original single story structure at 1005 West Third that was demolished in order to allow the Nicholas Block two story brick building with basement to be constructed in 1894 or 1895, was never occupied by the Wright Brother's Cycle Shop. The evidence is overwhelming that the first Wright Cycle Shop was located at 1015 West Third, now an empty lot just to the west of the current Gem City Ice Cream Building. Summary 10/7/21- The first Wright Cycle Shop was immediately to the west of the eventual location of The Gem City Ice Cream Building, at 1015 West Third. The 1015 building was demolished around 1949, and no structure has replaced it (that I'm aware of). Potentially, the remnants of the basement of 1015 may exist underground. Would strongly recommend an archeological dig or ground x-ray to at least expose any foundation walls that may still exist. The Nicholas Block (1005/1007 two story/with basement section of the Gem City Ice Cream Building) was not constructed until at least 1894, a fact beyond dispute as it is documented in the Montgomery County Records and Archives, Abstract book 25, plot 6308. The available structure in 1892 with address of 1005 was a small single story wood building about in the location of the current 1007 section of the GCIC building. The Wright's were familiar with the 1015 address, as business owners located at that address advertised numerous times in the Wright's West Side News in 1889/90. Thirty Nine printed ads for the 1015 address for the Wright Cycle Exchange appeared in 1893. No ads appeared for the 1005 address. The 1005 address does not appear in history as associated with the Wright Cycle Exchange until after Orville Wright was interviewed in 1936 by Henry Ford's group associated with the relocation of the 1127 Wright Cycle Shop. Orville indicated the first Cycle shop was located in the middle of the north side of the 1000 block, and did not provide the specific address; this was added by editors of the 1936 interview. Fred Kelly, in his book "The Wright Brothers", likely simply repeated this address of 1005 without OW's input, and it has been taken as fact since. Fred Fisk/Nancy Horlacher found the correction to this history in 1986; 36 years have passed and the history has yet to be fully accepted. Matt Yanney  Concerning the book "The Wright Brothers", in a letter to Fred Kelly, dated July 20, 1942, Orville wrote "The 'Author's Preface' already submitted to me will need considerable revision. This preface would make it appear that the book represents my idea of a proper presentation of the subject, and that the book has been corrected to the last dot. Of course, you know that I have repeatedly stated that this is not so. The book was written without previous consultation with me to save me time and labor, as you have said. But after the book was once in writing it was practically impossible to change it to what I thought it ought to be without an entire rewriting." Update 12/2/24 From The Aviation Trail Newsletter December 2024- "Aviation Trail mourns the recent death of Nancy Horlacher, Life Member, former board member, Secretary, historian, and researcher for our organization. She was also co-editor of the newsletter from 2008 to 2017. Over four decades she dedicated thousands of hours serving Aviation Trail in many capacities until her retirement from the board in 2022. She had a forty-year career as a research specialist for the Dayton Metro Library and served as Director of Curatorial Services at Carillon Historical Park from 2001 to 2006. She was a driving force behind the development of the Dayton Region Walk of Fame and recipient of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance's prestigious Ivonette Wright Miller Award in 2021. Nancy had a huge impact on the Dayton community and will be fondly remembered by all." See also-
"The Wright Brother's Print, and Cycle Shop Locations". "The 1913 Dayton Flood, and the Wright Family"
"Index of Topics" Google+ Comments were discontinued in February of 2019. To preserve prior comments, I took a screen shot and have inserted them below. New comments can be made in the comment box at end of this post.   Copyright 2021-Getting the Story Wright Notes: 1. In an interview by Ann Deines with Mary Ann Johnson dated February 21, 1996, Mary Ann states doubt that 1015 West Third address was actually a location of the Wright Cycle Exchange. She stated that she felt the evidence pointed to the address as being a typo. From the interview: Ms Johnson: The first printing shop outside the house had been torn down. The second bicycle shop, the 1034 West Third, the building it had been damaged by fire, and I think it had just been torn down maybe in the 70's. It wasn't long before we got there. And 1005, the first one.....Even though Fred thinks there might be a 1015, I will say I have never found any other evidence, so I ..... Ms. Deines: For 1015? Ms. Johnson: Right. And I've found some evidence where......well, some other evidence that I feel it's a typo. But that has to be decided. So we may or may not include it. I don't include it, other people do. But then we found out that 1005 had been incorporated in the building that's there now..... (The evidence does not point to 1015 as being a typo. The ad appeared 14 times until it was revised, and appeared another 25 times, all with the 1015 address! In lieu of questioning the 1015 address, the 1005 address should of immediately come under question. Further, 1034 West Third was not damaged by fire. The building damaged by fire, the Orth Building, had the address of 1022/1024 prior to 1939, and is not associated with the 1034 Wright Cycle Exchange of 1893/4.) Fred Fisk had first come across a newspaper section dated April 5, 1893 which included an ad for the Wright Cycle Exchange and the address of 1015 West Third Street. He contacted Nancy Horlacher with the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library and asked her to check newspapers for this ad. She found the ad had been printed in the Dayton Evening Press for dates March 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, April 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, for a total of 14 ads. Then another 25 ads were run between April 11 and May 16, all indicating the 1015 address. Could the ad have run for a total of 39 times without the Wright's noticing an error in the address? Of course not! They ran a print shop, and would not of ignored an incorrect printed address. Further, customers would have mentioned the error when visiting their cycle shop. 2. In George Antrim's book Gales and Gals and other short tales, 1954, the published poem to Orville Wright on his 75th birthday is a different version than the one quoted in this post. I prefer the expanded version. The published shorter version is per below for comparison.  3. Revisions Current photo of Gem City Ice Cream Building added June 28, 2017. Unfortunately, the next photo posted may just be an empty lot, and another landmark will be lost to Dayton. Additional pages from "The Modern Hostess Book" added July 17, 2017. Hi-res close up of men in front of Gem City Ice Cream truck added Dec 20, 2017. Minor text revisions, October 25, 2018. February 4, 2019- George Antrim's poem for Orville's 68th birthday was added, as was the 1951 Golden Anniversary poem. March 16, 2019, added removed comments. Added picture from 1921 Dayton Daily News showing expansion of Gem City Ice Cream Building to the west. Made corrections concerning the 1929 expansion. Added 1949 and 2016 aerial maps. Added Bob Ellis comments. January 11th and 12th, 2020, additional information and corrections made concerning dates of various expansion projects. Added photos of 1910 expansion, 1914 picture of Antrim and Ellis, 1929 picture of Gem City Ice Cream Building, and revised and replaced 3D picture labeling expansion dates. April 24, 2020- Theory of 1015 West Third Street as Wright Sales location, while 1005 continued as the Wright Cycle repair shop location. June 29, 2020- multiple updates and additions. February 1, 2021- added photos of Third Street looking west from Gem City Ice Cream Building, 2001 and 1921(8) April 11, 2021- Further research by this Author has revealed that the 1892 address of 1005 was a small single story building. It was demolished in 1896 for the construction of the Nicholas Block, the two-story structure that would eventually be occupied by the Gem City Ice Cream Building. October 14, 2021- added letter to Fred Kelly by Orville Wright, July 20, 1942. This letter is offered for those who would argue that since Kelly collaborated with Orville when writing "The Wright Brothers", and within the book Kelly wrote that the first Wright Cycle Shop was located at 1005 West Third, then Orville Wright must have agreed 1005 was the correct address. I believe this information was likely already in the manuscript prior to Orville reviewing the book, repeated from what was edited by Henry Ford's investigators in 1936. April 8, 2022- added picture of GCIC airplane ice cream mold. 4. The Dayton Herald, Saturday, December 31, 1910, "New Ice Cream Plant Will Be a Model". 5. "Builds Garage For Trucks", Dayton Daily News, Wednesday October 23, 1929. 6. "Rotary rooter, Perfect attendance: He's meeting the challenge", by Mickey Davis, The Journal Herald, April 6, 1984. 7. Photo from The Dayton Evening Herald, May 20, 1921.
 Higher Resolution photo showing Gem City Ice Cream Building, Truck, Antrim, and Ellis. |
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