The northeast corner of this intersection was the location of the Dayton and Xenia Traction Power Station.  Part of the building may have survived to become a portion of the Lammer's Chemical Company, also impactful to Beavercreek's more recent history - but more on that in a bit!

Please turn right at the stop sign onto Patterson Road.  The field on your left was once a huge apple orchard.  This stretch of East Patterson Road provides some of the most beautiful autumn colors during ‘Peak Week’ – typically late October or early November.  The home at 4362 East Patterson Road dates prior to 1880 and was owned by John Moler – more on him in just a moment.

• Dayton and Xenia Traction Power Station Dayton and Xenia Traction Power Station
• Dayton Xenia and Belpre Railroad Stock Dayton Xenia and Belpre Railroad Stock
• Rapid Transit Company Transfer Ticket Rapid Transit Company Transfer Ticket
•  

The second, and more successful mass transit line was The Dayton and Xenia Traction Company, although there were numerous owners and names that followed.  We'll refer to this company as 'The Traction' as it was 100+ years ago.  Carrying its first passengers on January 23, 1900, its route cut through farmland, roughly following Main Street out of Xenia to Trebein, south of the railroad tracks.  

It looped to the south side of the town of Alpha, followed the train tracks to Shoup's Station and ultimately to this point (the car barn was located at the site of Lyndon's Automotive on the southeast corner), the location of the car barn and power station.  From here, it proceeded west via Watervliet, Wayne Ave., Phillips Avenue and then Wyoming Street to South Main Street in Dayton.

To stop the trolley, one just stood by the side of the track and signalled the oncoming trolley with a wave of the hand.

Per Elizabeth Shoup-Belden: "January 29, 1900, the noon car on its route to Dayton had failure of air brakes when going down Phillips Avenue hill jumped the tracks at the foot of the hill.  There were about twelve passengers aboard.  Among the passengers were two young ladies, very close friends, who had boarded the trolley at Alpha.  These two, Mill Hallie Klunk and Miss Jeanette Hagenbuch, were seated together, Hallie by the window.  When the trolley left the track, Miss Klunk was thrown through the window and fatally injured.  Miss Hagenbuch was miraculously saved, receiving only minor bruises.

Mr. Fred Hawker, a farmer living near Alpha, was also fatally injured.  There were other serious injuries, especially the motorman, but all recovered."

• Passenger Traction Car Passenger Traction Car
• Passenger Traction Car and Barn Passenger Traction Car and Barn
• Freight Traction Car Freight Traction Car
• View of Traction barn View of Traction barn
• Pre-Paid Freight Coupons Pre-Paid Freight Coupons
•  

Turn left onto Grange Hall Road.  Beyond the driveway at the south side of Carter Lumber is a long fencerow and path heading east, this was the B&O rail line.  To the west it follows the 835 bypass and crosses Spaulding Road at the southern s-curve.  Once over the Little Beaver Creek Bridge, pause at the stop sign onto Patterson Road.

The initial mass transit system between Dayton and Xenia was The Rapid Transit Company.  In operation from approximately 1898 to 1908, this company literally operated on tracks imbedded into the compacted 'Old Route 35', now known as Dayton-Xenia Road.  It left Xenia via N.Detroit Street to Fairgrounds Road, then cutting through a valley to Trebein.  From there it followed Dayton-Xenia Road all the way into Dayton.  An electric trolley system, the power station was located at Lucas' Grove Park, now Kil-Kare Race Park.  The line struggled due to its rough road bed and eventually became unprofitable, leading to its early demise.  If you'd like to tour one of the Rapid Transit rail cars please visit Carillon Park in Dayton - it's worth the price of admission!

The Little Beaver Creek parallels on the south side of the bypass and crosses to the north side just west of the I-675 underpass.  In the 1870’s this area was owned by John Coy on the west and Daniel Shoup on the east.

This section of road roughly follows the former route of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) railway.  This was a narrower gauge rail, meaning the tracks were closer together.  Nearby were the tracks that accommodated the Dayton and Xenia Traction line, the second generation of trolley cars that ran from Xenia into Preble County as well as from Dayton to Troy and Springfield.

• Area Growth Area Growth
• B&O Railroad Medallion B&O Railroad Medallion
• John Coy John Coy
• Jed's and the Mouse That Roared Jed's and the Mouse That Roared
• Whiskey Train Whiskey Train
•  

Head south and turn into the parking area of Beavercreek Station at the 9/11 Memorial.  This basin was previously known as Shoup’s Station, on the Pennsylvania rail line.  Just south of the tracks was the Dayton and Xenia Traction Company Line, which traversed farmlands east to Xenia and followed what is now Patterson Road into Dayton.  On the east side of North Fairfield Road is an access road that crosses the Little Beaver Creek.  This leads to the Schantz-Hagenbuch Home, originally a small one-room brick house which George Shoup built for his son Solomon in 1810.

George had brought his family from Frederick, Maryland in the very early 1800’s to continue his milling trade.  He constructed a large three story, three stone undershot water wheel mill on the south side of the creek with a daily capacity of forty barrels.  Over the years, both the Shoup and Hagenbuch families added numerous additions.   An enormous fireplace had a handwrought crane that swung over the fire.  The bricks were all fired on site, just west of the home.

• September 11, 2001 Memorial Dedication September 11, 2001 Memorial Dedication
• John Schantz Home and Mill John Schantz Home and Mill
• 1874 Map of Zimmermansville 1874 Map of Zimmermansville
•