The trail is the latest in a series of themed driving trails exploring different aspects of Ohio, and the Innovation Trail includes approximately 80 sites across state celebrating Ohio’s problem-solvers whose ideas reshaped how people move, manufacture, protect, power, feed and heal, according to the America 250-Ohio committee.
Dayton’s history of inventions
“Our beautiful, 65-acre campus is really a most fitting backdrop for this program,” said Alex Heckman, vice president of museum operations at Carillon Historical Park, one of the stops on the Ohio Innovation Trail.
With the museum’s National Cash Register (NCR) exhibit featuring about 90 historical cash registers behind him, Heckman said Daytonians have invented the cash register, the self-starter for the automobile, the pop-top on cans, the ATM machine, the barcode scanner and more.
“Dayton, by 1900, held more patents per capita than any other city in the great nation,” Heckman said. “That spirit of innovation continues today with the important work that unfolds at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, at the Air Force Research Laboratories, across the street at the University of Dayton’s Research Institute and at numerous private businesses across the Dayton region and around Ohio.”
Dayton was also home to one of the state’s biggest claims to fame — Orville and Wilbur Wright, credited with inventing, building and flying the world’s first successful airplane.
“Daytonians taught the world how to fly,” said Julie Sullivan, executive vice president of regional development at Dayton Development Coalition.
Celebration, tourism, inspiration
In southwest Ohio, there are 20 sites on the trail, including:
- National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester
- Cincinnati Museum Center and Cincinnati Observatory
- Wright Brothers Museum in Dayton
- White Water Shaker Village in Harrison
- National Afro-American Museum in Wilberforce
With those and other Ohio Innovation Trail stops, those on the America 250-Ohio committee wants to celebrate Ohio’s history while encouraging tourism throughout the state.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“For communities, this trail connects local state sites to a larger statewide story,” said Melinda Huntley, executive director of Ohio Travel Association and a member of the America 250-Ohio committee.
“It generates visits and, with them, visitors spending in local diners, hotels, retail shops and other businesses. It gives small museums, local archives, historic factories, and other sites a common language in a shared spotlight,” she said.
In addition to celebrating the past, they are investing in inspiration, she said.
“When young people stand where innovators once stood, when they see that real change comes from real people who live in towns just like theirs, they start to believe that they can build what comes next,” Huntley said.
The Ohio Innovation Trail offers routes, digital tools and the history and descriptions of the stops on the trail at america250-ohio.org/ohio-innovation-trail.
For more information, visit america250-ohio.org, email the committee at am250ohcommission@ohiohistory.org or call the committee at (614) 324-9954.
About the Author
