Deeds Barn and the Self Starter

The 1912 Cadillac, equipped with self-starter, is the central exhibit in Deeds Barn.
Deeds Barn is symbolic of one of the most important developments in the automotive field. It was here that the modern ignition system for automobiles and the self-starter were born and the foundation laid for one of Dayton’s most important industries. The barn itself and one of the 1912 Cadillac cars, first to be commercially equipped with a self-starter, represent this important invention. Also included in the barn are several other exhibits which should be of interest to any visitor and most certainly to every Daytonian.
The original Deeds Barn was erected at 319 Central Avenue, Dayton. An exact replica stands in Carillon Park.
C. F. KETTERING
E. A. DEEDS
These photos were taken about the time the Delco firm was incorporated.
In industrial production, as in so many other activities, large oaks from little acorns grow. The cash register and the electric self-starter are instances in point. The first factory of The National Cash Register Company under the presidency of John H. Patterson, was a room in the Callahan Power Building, forty feet wide and eighty feet long, with thirteen people on the payroll. From it emerged a business on which the sun never sets.
More humble in environment was the invention of the self-starter which had its birth in a barn. Almost before a decade passed, it had made the use of the automobile universal. Such were the beginnings of two enterprises which, to a degree greater than any others, enhanced the industrial prestige and prosperity of Dayton. Each contributed a chapter to the romance of American Industry.
Dayton people, and for that matter, a considerable portion of the outside world, are familiar with the story of John H. Patterson’s industrial genius that made his name synonymous with cash register production and distribution. They are not so well acquainted with the origin of the self-starter and particularly the historic barn in which it was created. A replica of that barn stands today in Carillon Park.