Winter Solstice | December 21st
Celebrate the Winter Solstice at SunWatch Village on December 21st!
Watch the sunrise at 7:55a in the village on the shortest day of the year and prepare to welcome back longer days and more sunshine.
At sunrise on the winter solstice, the Center Pole, located in the middle of the village complex, casts a shadow through the doorway of the Solstice house on the western side. We invite you to experience this incredible event like the SunWatch people did 800 years ago.
SunWatch admission will be FREE from 7a-12p.
(Regular admission applies from 12p-4p).
Coffee and donuts will be provided for those who would like to watch the sunrise!
2301 West River Road, Dayton, OH 45417
Phone: 937-275-7431
Our Humble Beginnings
SunWatch, originally named the Incinerator Site, was first excavated and reported on in the 1960s by amateur archaeologists John Allman and Charles Smith. When news came in the early 1970s that the City of Dayton planned to expand a nearby sewage treatment plant onto the property and impact the site, Allman and Smith contacted James Heilman, the Curator of Anthropology at the Dayton Museum of Natural History, in hopes of recovering as much valuable information from the site as possible. In 1971 the Dayton Museum of Natural History (now the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery) began “salvage” excavations at the site with just this goal in mind……
….On July 29, 1988, after 17 years of excavation and research by the Dayton Society of Natural History, SunWatch opened to the public. Seasonal excavations continued through 1989. The years of excavation at the site, combined with additional analysis and research, have resulted in a remarkable understanding of the site’s original inhabitants. SunWatch currently combines experimental archaeological research, including the reconstruction of the Fort Ancient structures in their original 13th century locations, with an interpretive center that exhibits many of the artifacts that have been recovered from the site. The village reconstruction includes five lath and daub structures with grass thatch roofs, portions of a stockade, and a native garden and prairie with plants typical of the period. Inferred astronomical alignments originate from a complex of posts at the center of the village that have also been replaced. There is also a picnic shelter and picnic tables overlooking the village and are available for visitors to relax.
Some of our Sponsors
The Jesse and Caryl Philips Foundation
Kettering Family Philanthropies
Mr. and Mrs. Irvin G. Bieser, Jr.
The Berry Family Foundation
Discover With US!
Visit Both of our locations. SunWatch and The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. We look forward to seeing you!