Deeds Barn

From 1908 to 1912, in the carriage barn behind the home of Edward and Edith Deeds at 319 Central Avenue in Dayton, a group of young engineers and inventors headed by Deeds and Charles F. Kettering developed the modern electric automobile ignition, starter, and lighting systems. Nicknamed the Barn Gang, the group became the nucleus of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, DELCO. In this barn, Charles Franklin Kettering invented the electric ignition and the self-starter, which revolutionized the automobile industry and in 1909 led to the founding of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. Kettering formed a partnership with NCR executive Edward A. Deeds, and the barn became Kettering’s workshop. The original barn was later saved from destruction by the Kettering-Moraine Museum and Historical Society, which continues to restore and maintain it.

Dayton, Ohio · United States