Daytoncity, seat (1899) of Rhea county, southeastern Tennessee,
U.S. It lies on Richland Creek near the Tennessee River, 36
miles (58 km) northeast of Chattanooga. Originally called
Smith’s Crossroads (c. 1820), it was renamed Dayton in the
1870s. The Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton was the scene of the
famous Scopes Trial (July 10–21, 1925), in which John T. Scopes,
a high school science teacher, was found guilty of teaching
evolution. The trial pitted William Jennings Bryan for the
prosecution against Clarence Darrow for the defense. The
courtroom is preserved and a museum about the trial is located
in the building. The Scopes Trial Play and Festival is held
annually in July, during which a reenactment of the trial is
performed using the original court transcripts. Bryan College
(1930) was built on a hill overlooking the city as a memorial to
the silver-tongued orator and lawyer-politician, who died in
Dayton five days after the trial ended.  The city’s economy is
based on agriculture (tomatoes, pumpkins,