Community and Historical Nature of the Area

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The building that now houses EbonNia gallery was built in the early 1900's. It has served a variety of uses over the years, being a paint, electrical supplies, and carpet and tile store During the summer of 2002, two former occupants of this building stopped by, while the building was in the final stages of being rehabbed. They came by to "see the old place" and share stories of their experience in the building and the neighborhood during "their day." Me are a store within themselves. Both are medical doctors now in their 80's who, on separate occasions, had their medical practice on the top floor of the building.

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Dr Jones was originally from a small Black town called Grove City, which is located outside of Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Jones attended Southern University in New Orleans, Louisiana on a football and academic scholarship. He attended Meharry Medical School. He had his general practice upstairs during the mid to late 1950's.

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The other gentleman, Dr. Weddington , a chiropractic physician, walked in one day during the summer of 2002 to see how his old upstairs office had changed since his practice in the late 1950's-1960's. Dr Weddington retains a special pride in having worked in the neighborhood where he developed many friends within the African-American general population and the African-American leadership.

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The Wright Dunbar Business Village, also known as the West Third Street Historic District, is a largely commercial district made up of two- and three-story brick buildings built between 1885-1924. As is typical of turn-of-the-century commercial districts, most of the buildings originally had stores on the ground level with offices and residences above.

 

The style of buildings is predominately Romanesque Revival, with several examples of Italianate and Classical Revival buildings enlivening the mix. This historic area is significant because of its association with three prominent Daytonians, Orville and Wilber Wright, and Paul Laurence Dunbar, all of whom lived and worked in or near the corridor. It is also architecturally significant as a cohesive collection of the late 19th and early 20th century buildings, which give people the opportunity to experience a virtually uninterrupted historic streetscape.

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Source (https://www.wright-dunbar.org/history.html)