History

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Humble beginnings of a neighbor...started with a Farm!

While the Montgomery County Fairgrounds continues to recognize the contributions of agriculture and provide a lasting green space for the enjoyment of all residents of the County and the City of Dayton, one of the fairgrounds' neighbors has its roots in farming as well.  

The University of Dayton started 160 years ago with the purchase of a farm and now, sitting along Stewart Street, from the Miami River to historic Woodland Cemetery, UD has become one of the leading universities and Catholic institutions in the United States.  

The Montgomery County Fairgrounds is proud to be neighbors to such a fine leader in higher education. 
Learn more University of Dayton
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Historic court in the Fairgrounds' Coliseum 
                                                                                    
The 1947-48 season was a turning point in University of Dayton's men's basketball.  Tom Blackburn, a stern disciplinarian, took over as the Flyers new head coach and soon built the team into a national power that took six trips to the National Invitational Tournament and won a NIT championship. 

This new era also began on a new home court - in the Coliseum on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. 

The Flyers' success (52-36), which included the second longest home winning streak in the school's history on the Fairgrounds' hardwood, over the first three years of Coach Blackburn's hall-of-fame career led to the building of the UD Fieldhouse (now Frericks Center). 

As the Flyers' success continued, the cozy confines of the UD Fieldhouse soon gave way to one of the best basketball venues in the nation, UD Arena. 

Although many years have passed, that historic court in the Fairgrounds' Coliseum is still there where such great players like Don "Monk" Meineke, who is on UD's All-Century Team, led the Flyers to their first 20-win season.  (Number 20 of 24 wins in 1949-50 was a 59-42 victory over arch-rival Xavier before 3,500 fans crowded into the Fairgrounds' Coliseum). 

The Montgomery County Fairgrounds is proud to be a neighbor of the University of Dayton and to have played a small part in the success of our UD Flyers.