{"nrhp_refnum":"79001904","name":"Deeds' Barn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"35 Moraine Circle South","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kettering","county":"Montgomery County","state":"OH","lat":39.697072459000026,"lon":-84.21444861299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Engineering","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood frame barn, 58 by 28 feet, originally a carriage house at 319 Central Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. It has been moved twice and now stands in Kettering, Montgomery County, Ohio, where it serves as an industrial museum.","why_significant":"The barn housed the experiments that led to the invention and improvement of the electric ignition system and the automobile self-starter. It was the original home of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO), founded by Edward A. Deeds and Charles F. Kettering. The form describes these inventions as an important advance in automobile development.","narrative":"Originally a carriage house behind 319 Central Avenue in Dayton, this two-story wood frame barn measures 58 by 28 feet. Between 1908 and 1912 it served as a laboratory and machine shop for Edward A. Deeds and Charles F. Kettering. The loft held the machine shop and drafting room, and the ground floor, with a concrete slab, was a testing laboratory. Here Kettering developed an electric ignition system, and after Cadillac contracted for 5,000 ignition sets, the partners formed the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO). Twelve assistants known as the Barn Gang worked in the building. The first self-starter tests took place on September 2, 1910, and a complete starter system was tried on a Cadillac on February 16, 1911. The barn was moved in 1962 to Prugh Park and again in 1973 to land donated by the City of Kettering. It now serves as an industrial museum and still has its pilastered facade, hipped wall dormers and tall brick chimney.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1908-1912 in the earlier form)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Currently maintained by the Kettering and Moraine Historical Society as an industrial museum; moved in 1962 and again in 1973, with a new roof, concrete slab and window panes at the current site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.547549-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79001904.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990607","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/montgomery-county/deeds-barn-79001904/"}