Beavercreek Nostalgia

After looking here, you MUST see our Beavercreek Heritage Trail project...

We need your help! One of the most popular pages on BeavercreekLiving.com is the Dayton Nostalgia page. It's a collection of memories for those who grew up in the Miami Valley. We'd like to develop a page specific to the nostalgia of Beavercreek as well! Unfortunately there aren't a great deal of images out there - so please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. them to us with your recollections.

For this page, I'd like an image as well as a synopsis. Please feel free to share stories at www.facebook.com/beavercreekliving. If any of the images are yours and you'd like them credited or removed, please let us know.

Following is a list of topics, or feel free to send along your own!

1971 Aerial Image - This fantastic image of the northeast quadrant of Beavercreek shows what 40+ years of development looks like. The blueish cloud in the lower-left corner is a westbound train. I've also attached the same map tagged with some of the major street names. Image provided by Eric Nicholson.

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Dayton-Xenia Train Trestle - Every year, and sometimes more frequently, the BHS Senior Class would 're-decorate' the train trestle over Dayton-Xenia Road near Walnut Grove Golf Course. This was purely an attempt to help the railroad maintain the structure! This picture was the last year for this particular bridge... We'd love to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. additional pictures if you have any!

Another Picture!

Newspaper Clipping!

Belmont Auto Theater - Whether with a butter-saturated paper grocery sack full of delicious, coconut oil popped popcorn or a cooler full of Little Kings, going to the Belmont Auto Theater was always a memorable night! Often it'd be so hot you'd stick to the vinyl, rear-facing seat of the LTD wagon. Ever make that trip past the ticket gate in the trunk or huddled up on the floor board?

Riffle's Carry Out - The consummate corner grocery! From the cracked tile to the teal walls, the inventory didn't change - nor did the talk of politics at the sandwich counter. Great sandwiches and sides made for a healthier lunch than eating via the driver's side window. The Hamlin's operated the store for decades until competitors made it too difficult to survive. Rest in peace Mike Hamlin, February 27, 1961 - January 10, 2009.

Carpenter Road - Stay away!! It's haunted! Or was it trolls? No, maybe it was a cult? Hobo's in the corn? A man with a hook for an arm? Carpenter Road was always the source of dares or excitement. When midnight came on weekends... it seemed there was always a car or two parked with their lights off - some even had their keys on the roof of the car... was it you?

Studebaker Dealership - Great shot from July 1948 of the Marshall Brother's SOHIO station next door to the Beaver Grill. I'm told they had a Studebaker Dealership across Dayton-Xenia from the SOHIO, but havent' confirmed.

RB-57 Crash (1964) - "On Friday, January 3, 1964 over 2.000 students, teachers and workers were in Beavercreek High School when it escaped disaster by a hair's breadth. Beavercreek firemen were the first on the scene when the RB-57D twin-jet rerconnaissance plane crashed perilously near our school, dropping to earth in tons of twisted metal. No one in the school was injured and there was little damage done.

The plane spun through the air over a distance of 15 miles, landing only a few feet from the school building between the east wind and the east cafeteria narroly missing the cars parked there. The area and the manner in shich it crashed could olny mean that the last lap of its flight was almost straight up and down." Read more...

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F-104 Crash (1959) - "A jet Starfighter crashed broadside into a house near here today and buried itself in the ruins Two young sisters were killed The pilot ejected to safety The mother of the girls Mrs Grace Shoup 37 ran from the house her clothing in flames after the supersonic craft crushed the house and exploded She is in critical condition HALF-DAY SESSION The sisters were Lynn Shoup 12 and Laura 2 Their brothers Billy 10 and Tommy 8 were in school Lynn a was to have re- ported for her half-day session of school at noon Their father was at work Wallace McCormick 27 was driving past the house when he plane hit from the blast shot clear across the road more han 50 feet away and com- enveloped my told newsmen The fire was all over the car could feel the heat I lost control and hit the ditch about 50 yards down the oad When I got a look at the louse it was a complete wreck nd Mrs Shoup was running cross the yard with her ing afire DRIVER UNHURT McCormick was uninjured Shaken neighbors beat out the flames and hustled the screaming woman to a pital The pilot Maj James W Bradbury 34 ejected at low altitude when his craft lost power on takeoff The house a converted brick school building is located about eight miles south of Air Force Base where Major Bradbury is based Major Bradbury is one of the few men to survive ejection from a Starfighter one Air Force source said."

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Barrel Factory Fire - On September 30, 1969, the Lammer's Chemical Company located at Grange Hall Road and East Patterson Road dramatically went up in flames. Here's a video of the fire shot by Robert Deals and narrated by Kip Smith of the Beavercreek Fire Department.

Liar's Table - Originated at the Beaver Grill, this was a loosely organized "Men's Club" involving plenty of coffee and even more tall tales. The table reportedly made its way to a couple of different locations after the Beaver Grill closed - and supposedly, some of the familiar faces continue to enjoy coffee and the now-even-grander stories at various places around town.

Beaver Grill - Hugh Marshall was working as a telegrapher for the Pennsylvania Railroad when he decided to go into business for himself. He bought an acre of ground at the corner of Dayton-Xenia Road and Factory Road from Horace Anderson which contained a small building where he set up shop. Business was good and in 1928, a larger building was constructed. The menu was simple. Sandwiches, soup, soft drinks, coffee and candy were available. Hugh's wife, Alta, enjoyed having the high school students come in during lunch break to buy a hot dog and soft drink, each costing five cents.

Through the tragedy of fire, the deah of Hugh Marshall and numerous subsequent owners - the Beaver Grill survived until 1982 when the location was sold to the Elano Corporation. The building was demolished in 1986 so that the Factory Road intersection could be improved. And so, a bit of history vanished from sight forever, but not in the minds and memories of those who frequently enjoyed the sandwiches, pies and coffee which were offered at a nominal price, along with the friendly atmosphere and the "Liar's Table" which no doubt was the scene of many interesting stories, some true, and no doub many not so true, but nevertheless, interesting conversations. (Adapted from this Xenia Daily Gazette article by Joan Baxter)

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Bellfair Country Store - The Bellfair had always been nostalgia! A great place to go for penny candy, ice cream and 'old time' soda's and phosphates!

Bucky Beaver -

Onward Beavers, Onward Beavers, On Against our foe!

Fighting ever, yielding never, See our colors go!

Onward Beavers, onward Beavers, That's our battle cry,

Cheer on the orange and Black from Beaver High!~

B-E-A-V-E-R-S!

Beavers, are Best! YES!

Hear The BHS Band Play It!

Crowded Hallways -

One Lane Bridge - Before the Dayton-Xenia / Trebein Road intersection was re-configured, heading toward Xenia required crossing the one lane bridge over the Little Miami River - often this would require a shift pattern of "D - R - P - D" on the 'ol Hurst shifter!

After Removal

Factory Road - Although the picture is nostalgic - the issue is not! Factory Road still floods numerous times a year, laughing at efforts to keep it from doing so! Fortunately, it never crests the tanks of the water treatment plant...

Fairground Road Quarter Mile - Stories exist about a mythical quarter-mile drag strip on Fairgrounds Road near the old Torrence Place and Cosler Farm. Rumors of Chevy and Mopar rumblings from the east end are purely unfounded and the still-visible stripes across the road are strictly co-incidental...

Kil Kare -

Lofino's -

Train Wreck -

Trebein Trestle -

Young's Dairy - The original dairy store is now the building where the Young's family makes their delicious ice cream. A new store was constructed and subsequently expanded followed by construction of The Golden Jersey, a sit down country-style restaurant. The entire complex has changed, but is still just "Young's"...