Torrence Huffman (1855-1928) was an American banker in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, who loaned pasture land to the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

where they perfected their first airplanes and started the first pilot training school. "As their flights grew ever longer in September and October 1905, local citizens and area journalists finally realized that something extraordinary was taking place in the sky over Torrence Huffman’s pasture," notes aviation historian Tom Crouch. The 84-acre field has since been known as

Huffman Prairie Huffman Prairie, also known as Huffman Prairie Flying Field or Huffman Field is part of Ohio's Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The 84-acre (34-hectare) patch of rough pasture, near Fairborn, northeast of Dayton, is the place ...

and is designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and part of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio that commemorates three important historical figures— Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar—and ...

. Born on March 20, 1855, in Dayton, Huffman was a “scion of one of Dayton’s oldest families and Ohio financier and manufacturer," according to the ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

''. His father was William P. Huffman, who had been the president of the Second and Third National Banks of Dayton. Huffman joined the Fourth National Bank at its inception in 1888 and later served as its president for 30 years. He owned the Buckeye Iron and Brass Words and was involved in numerous other enterprises as an owner or director including the Dayton Street Railway and Columbia Insurance Company. He was also a director of

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

and chairman of its finance committee. Huffman died at his residence at 119 North Perry Street on January 6, 1928, after an illness of over a month.

References

External links

National Park Service Huffman Prairie site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffman, Torrence 1855 births 1928 deaths American bankers Businesspeople from Dayton, Ohio Wright brothers