This riverside pavilion marks the point where the first European settlers disembarked by boat on the banks of the Great Miami River and began their lives in the Miami Valley.
The Thompson party left Cincinnati on March 21, 1796, traveling up the Great Miami River in a poled flatboat. They landed at the site of the Founders Point Pavilion on Friday, April 1, 1796. Upon arrival they took the boat apart to make a temporary shelter, establishing the cornerstone of Dayton. The next week two overland parties led by George Newcom and William Hamer arrived from Cincinnati. At that time, Dayton’s first citizens totaled about 60 people.
The fact that three navigable streams converged at this point was a factor in settling in this area. Rivers meant water power for mills, and before roads existed; they were the only avenues of travel. Together they promised abundant crops and a waterway to the markets of the world.
This symbolic structure features five sides, each emblazoned with the name of the five regional waterways that were so important to that early transportation, and the establishment of Dayton. These are also the five rivers that are the name sake of the MetroParks system. Can you name them all?
When you visit, look for the footprints in the cement at the point, recalling the first steps of these original settlers of Dayton.
