Local historians once called the old mansion on Summit Street “the house everyone wants to know about.” Lurid tales of ghosts, strange deaths, murder, slaves dying, Underground Railroad activity ... Rumored secret passages and the lengthy abandonment of the dignified cut stone house led to an abundance of stories. The Dayton flood of March 1913 was caused by a series of severe winter rain storms that hit the Midwest in late March. Within three days, 8–11 inches of rain fell throughout the Great Miami River. The river overflowed. The existing levees failed, and downtown Dayton was flooded up to 20 feet deep.