120.655.1-6

View of the bath house at Dayton Park in about 1916."The Ames Evening Times" of October 13, 1915, announced that A. L. Dayton of Nevada, Iowa, was going to develop an amusement park on his land northeast of Ames. According to the article, Dayton's land consisted of 80 acres that offered a "spot of exceptional beauty." A large earth dam was to be constructed across the deep ravine that carried a small stream toward the Skunk River about a mile further west. A lake was to be formed, 800' by 300' in size and ranging from a foot to over 12 feet in depth. A bathing beach with bath house and boating facilities, as well, would be built. The park opened to the public on June 18, 1916. For more information on Dayton Park, see Chapter 53 of "Ames; the Early Years in Word and Picture," 1993, by Farwell T. Brown. (See also: 122.672.1-3 and 143.784.1-3)