Page 39 - A Flood of Memories
P. 39
TODAY
Left: During the Great Flood of 1913, water lled the streets of Dayton. On South St. Clair Street, at the corner of East Fourth Street, oodwater inundated the rst oor of the Beaver Power Building (the ve-story building on the left). Smoke from burning buildings lled the air. In 1909, Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds started the Dayton Engineering Laboratory Company – DELCO – on the top oor of this building.
Edward Deeds was instrumental in the creation of The Miami Conservancy District and was one of the original three members of its board of directors. Deeds served on the board from 1915 to 1954.
Above: This same building, which is now called the St. Clair Lofts, was converted into 100 apartment units in the 1990s. St. Clair Lofts features light- lled apartments and street-level shops. The conversion of this early modern manufacturing facility to residential use is a building block in re-energizing downtown and connecting with the Fire Blocks National Register Historic District, more popularly known as Merchants Row.
37
