Dayton Historical Society

Dayton is the meeting point of two rail lines. One is a north/south Union Pacific (UP) line that comes out of Baytown called the UP Baytown Subdivision. The other is the east/west UP Lafayette Subdivision line that roughly follows US 90. The BNSF has authority to operate its trains on the Baytown Subdivision from Dayton to just west of Baytown and has a rail yard just south of Dayton. Another rail line runs through the northern edge of the city, called the UP Beaumont Subdivision. A study is being performed by the Texas Department of Transportation regarding a Dayton-to-Cleveland single mainline rail corridor consisting of approximately 40 miles of track connecting the UP Lufkin Subdivision and the BNSF Conroe Subdivision near Cleveland to the UPRR Baytown Subdivision south of Dayton.

One aspect that has been consistent is Main Street.  1912 was a banner year for construction on Main Street with buildings stretching the entire block.  At the north end of the block (between Cook and Depot Streets), evidence of Kline's Store still exists in the form a mosaic floor entrance. It was there for more than 40 years. On the opposite side of the street, all of the historic buildings, some of which were built by Ross Sterling who became Governor of Texas in 1931, have been replaced a few at a time between 1968 and 2007. 

Also memorable is the building at 202 North Church Street which still stands. It was constructed by Dayton State Bank in 1908 and used for banking until 1919 when the bank moved to its location on Main Street. At that point, the building was used for storage of bank records and real estate deeds. In 1936, Dr. E. R. Richter bought it and moved his medical practice there where he saw patients until his death in 1980 (44 years). Following Richter's death, Dr. J. Wayne MacDonald, who had been practicing at the Dayton Memorial Hospital since his arrival in Dayton in 1979, moved his practice to the building.  As of 2017, his office is still in that building.  

Directly across the street was a two-story building that was the location of the Masonic Lodge, organized in 1895.  In 1907, the Masons temporarily rented the bottom floor to the newly organized Dayton State Bank and the Masons held their meetings on the top floor. This lasted for a year until the new bank was ready.  

After the Masons built a new meeting hall, they gave the building to the African American Masonic Lodge group - after which it was moved to the south corner of the Colbert School location and then to Clarence Street where the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church held services in the early 1950s.  That building was demolished in 2014.  

In the meantime, a new brick building was built at 117 Cook Street that housed the Dayton Post Office. This lasted until a new post office was built at 110 Main St. The building is currently the location of Dayton City Hall.