Dayton Canoe Club Essay

At the dawn of the Twentieth century, cities, like Dayton, had factories being erected almost every day. The Industrialism period brought many people to cities looking for jobs. As cities became crowded and people overworked, a movement began to spend more time outside enjoying nature and all it has to offer. This created an opportunity that Charles W. Shaeffer saw, and jumped on (Dalton 11). He gave way for the idea of a club for those to spend time together, outdoors, to be involved with one another and to bring the community together as one. In the age of industrialism, in this city of 1000 factories, Dayton Canoe Club helped spark a new found love of outdoors for those in the city, and continues to do so today, 100 years later. In late 1912 Charles Schaeffer, founded the Dayton Canoe Club, and in 1913, they broke the ground for their new club to be built (Stoecker). Schenck & Williams Company, hired by Schaeffer, to be built with “all modern improvements,” commissioned Oliver Ritzert, who also designed and built the Ohio Theatre, for the building of the club (Hover 95). During the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, in the midst of construction, people rushed to the club to see if it was still standing, and to great amazement it was, one pamphlet stating, “…Possibly Neptune, understanding that we

The importance of this building and club is not just a landmark to the community, but is also a landmark of the period of the time in which it was built. It shows The Progressive Era’s movement to be healthy, and outdoors, and to be social with one another in the midst of city conditions says the Ohio Historical Association (Smith A6). Consideration for this honorary title was also due to it being one of the only standing canoe clubs in the United States that was originally a canoe club and continues to be so