Museums & Properties
Akron
Sights to See in Akron
Akron
Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum houses collections spanning from 1850 to the
present day, a period that reflects the founding and growth of the City of
Akron. To meet the increasing public interest in the museum’s programs and
exhibitions, the museum commissioned the first public building in the United
States designed by the internationally celebrated architecture firm, COOP
HIMMELB(L)AU.
The new 63,300 square foot John S. and James L. Knight Building connects with the museum’s existing 1899 Building, a 21,000 square foot Renaissance revival structure, which originally served as the downtown Akron Post Office. The expansion dramatically increases the museum’s ability to originate and present special exhibitions and display major, rarely seen works of art from its collection. The new building also increases facilities for education programs for students of all ages and public programs for adults and families. The new Akron Art Museum is playing a vital role in the continuing renaissance of downtown Akron.
Akron
The theater was built in 1929 by
Marcus Loew and designed by famed theater architect, John Eberson. The interior
structure was fashioned after a Moorish castle featuring Mediterranean decor,
including medieval carvings, authentic European antiques and Italian alabaster
sculptures.
Among facilities of its size, the Civic is one of only five remaining atmospheric theaters in the country where patrons experience a twinkling star-lit sky and intermittent clouds moving across the horizon, all while sitting inside the auditorium.
Akron
Police Department
Museum
Features confiscated weapons, gambling and narcotics materials, and other police related items.
Dr. Bob’s House
855
The house where the concept of Alcoholics Anonymous was
conceived.
Firestone High School
333 Rampart AveOhio Historical Marker here states:
Astronaut Judith Resnik
"The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future and we'll continue to follow"
President Ronald Reagan
As the second American woman in space, Judith Resnik (1949-1986) paved the way for the future of women in space exploration. A gifted science and music student and valedictorian of Firestone High School's class of 1966, she earned a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977 and was accepted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as an astronaut candidate in 1978. Her first flight was on the inaugural mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1984. Resnik was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger as a mission specialist on January 28, 1986, when it exploded just 73 seconds after lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All seven crewmembers died in the explosion.
Gallery of Akron’s Black History & Culture
22 N. Wolf330-972-7030
The Akron Black History and Culture Gallery is committed to telling the African American story fully and accurately as it impacted the greater
Glendale
Cemetery
Many gravestones and monuments of
Glendale Steps
Glendale AvenueOhio Historical Marker here states:
Built over a two-year period, from 1936-1937, by the Federal
Works Progress
Administration, the Glendale Steps survive as a monument to the work of stone
craftsmen during the Great Depression. Spanning a 200-foot slope, the purpose of
the Glendale Steps was to enable Akron residents to descend from South Walnut
Street to a city park along Glendale Avenue. The 242 sandstone steps were
dressed on site and hand laid by WPA laborers at a cost of $22,000.
Depression-era budget problems prevented the City of Akron from completing
planned improvements to the park. Goodyear Airdock
South side ofBuilt in 1929. The largest building in the world without interior supports. Dirigibles were built here until 1935.
Ohio Historical Marker here states:
A colossus of engineering acumen and structural steel, the
Airdock was built in
1929 as the construction facility for the U.S. Navy's rigid airships, the USS
Akron (1931) and USS Macon (1933). The airships, or dirigibles, served as the
fleet's aerial watchdogs, but with the advancement of aircraft carriers, the
Navy no longer needed these leviathans of the skies, which were large enough to
carry five biplanes. Eleven steel parabolic arches, cresting at 211 feet, create
one of the largest open space interiors in the world and shelter more than
364,000 square feet of floor space. Only one of the arches is fixed to its
concrete piling. Its 660-ton spherical doors rest on flatbed railroad cars to
open. The Airdock, a National Civil Engineering Landmark, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Goodyear World of Rubber
Museum
Museum depicts the history of rubber. Included are a restored workshop of Charles Goodyear, tire displays, and a replica of a rubber plantation.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
1144 E. Market StreetOhio Historical Marker located here states:
Grace School
Maple at ExchangeOhio Historical Marker here states:
Named for Grace Perkins, wife of Akron founder Col. Simon
Perkins, Grace School
was constructed in 1890 in the popular Jacobethan architectural style. Now known
as Five Points, this area was not urbanized at that time; the Akron Rural
Cemetery was nearby. Additions were constructed in 1918 and 1964. The school was
decommissioned in 1977, but served as an Adult Service Center for the Akron
Board of Education. Hall Park Allotment Historic District
131 Oakdale AvenueOhio Historical Marker here states:
Akron, an industrial boomtown in the early twentieth century, grew
in population
nearly fivefold between 1900 and 1920. As the city industrialized, middle class
residents sought homes on West Hill, away from the smoke and soot of heavy
industry on the East Side. The Hall Park Allotment Historic District in West
Hill represents a notable early twentieth century neighborhood. Developed by
Philander Hall between 1902 and 1919 during the height of Akron's "rubber boom,"
it consists of several houses representing the picturesque styles of the period,
including the American Foursquare, Craftsman, Colonial, and Medieval Revival
Styles. With its gently curving brick streets, hilly topography, and mature
trees, the Hall Park Allotment Historic District evokes the feeling of a
distinct period of time in Akron's history and constitutes a neighborhood of
distinctive historical character and architectural merit. Howard Street District
Martin Luther Kind Jr Blvd and North Main StreetOhio Historical Marker here states:
Side A: The center of African-American culture in Akron during the mid-20th century, Howard Street was home to many of the city's black-owned business and entertainment establishments, and provided an atmosphere in which minority-owned businesses could thrive. Attracted to the vitality of the neighborhood, entrepreneur George Mathews (1887-1982) established a barbershop here in 1920 and in 1925 opened the adjoining Mathews Hotel. The hotel quickly became the anchor of the Howard Street district. Mathews' success allowed him to endow a scholarship fund at the University of Akron in 1964.
Side B : ""
The 1930-1950 era saw the heyday of Howard Street as a vibrant cultural center. The Mathews Hotel was a regular stop for black entertainers such as Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie when they performed in Akron. Local music clubs included the Green Turtle, the Cosmopolitan, the High Hat, and Benny Rivers. The Howard Street district declined in the 1960s and much of it was razed for "urban renewal" in the 1970s and 1980s.Hower House
60 Fir Hill330-972-6909
http://www3.uakron.edu/howerhse/
Built in 1871 by John Henry Hower, Hower House is furnished
with family treasures from around the world.
It remains as one of the finest examples of Second Empire Italianate
architecture extant in National Inventor’s Hall of Fame
221 S. Broadway330-762-4463
The Inventor’s Hall of Fame is dedicated to the creative
process. Guests enter into a world of
inspiring stories of great inventors, hands-on exhibits, interactive
educational programs, special events, and other exciting experiences.
Lock 2 Park
Between State & Buchtel, Main & Water StreetsReproduction of lock that once stood at the spot. Replica outline and description of a canal freighter.
Our Lady of the Elms/Elm Court
1230 West Market Streethttp://www.theelms.org/
Ohio Historical Marker here states:
Side A "Elm Court Arthur Hudson Marks (1874-1939)"
Elm Court, designed by Howard Van
Doren Shaw of Illinois, was built in 1912 for Arthur Hudson Marks. The original
mansion exemplifies the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Elm Court included
the mansion, barn, stables, carriage house, pond, and a variety of trees,
especially elms, on 33 acres. Arthur Marks was the inventive genius in chemistry
and business who revolutionized the rubber industry in Akron. He was best known
for inventing the alkaline-recovery vulcanization process in 1899, the cord
tire, the chemical research laboratory system, and placing rubber research on a
scientific basis. In World War I he served as director of chemical warfare
services. Marks served as vice-president of B.F. Goodrich Company and Curtis
Airplane and Engine Company and president of other rubber companies and the
Aeolian Skinner Organ Company. Side B : "Our Lady of the Elms Sisters of St. Dominic"
In 1923, the Akron Dominican Sisters, the Order of Preachers (OP), purchased Elm Court for a Dominican Provincial House. Our Lady of the Elms Convent was dedicated on October 14, 1923. The next day, the Sisters opened an academy for elementary and high school students. The Akron Dominicans became an independent congregation in 1929, but their history began in 1206 in France when St. Dominic invited women to be part of his work—to pray, preach, and educate. Monasteries spread throughout Europe and in 1853 four sisters were sent to New York. Akron became a home to one of the Dominican congregations that spread throughout the United States. Its convent, administration buildings, and school campus including an all-girls' high school and elementary school, and a co-educational preschool/kindergarten are located on the Elm Court property. Akron Dominican Sisters continue to engage in the ministries of education and social service.Mustill Site and Cascade Valley
234 and 248 Ferndale StreetOhio Historical Marker here states:
Side A : "The Mustill Site"
The Mustill house and store are survivors of
Akron's canal era and date to the 1840s. Joseph and Sarah Mustill moved their
family from England to Akron in 1833 and owned the store and Greek Revival house
at Lock 15 on the Ohio & Erie Canal. Three generations of Mustills lived and
worked the grocery business at Lock 15, first Joseph and Sarah, then their son
Fred with his wife Emma, and their children Maria, Frederick, Edwin and
Franklin. A popular place to buy or barter goods, the store served canallers,
farmers, craftsmen, and neighbors for many years. Side B : "The Cascade Valley"
The Ohio & Erie Canal was completed from Cleveland to Akron in 1827. From the Mustill Site, the canal rose 15 locks to the summit in Akron. The "Cascade Mill Race," built by Dr. Eliakim Crosby in 1832, paralleled the canal, creating a large manufacturing center of mills that derived its power from water from the Little Cuyahoga River. The canal carried products north to Lake Erie or south to the Ohio River reaching worldwide ports. In March 1913, a flood ended canal operations in this area.Portage
Historic route used by the Indians to portage their canoes
from the 
between the Cuyahoga and
Tuscarawas rivers. The two streams and the portage across the watershed formed
an early route between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. First the Indians, then
French and English traders and trappers, and finally American settlers and
travelers carried their canoes and packs across this narrow strip of land in
passing, by way of the rivers, between northern and southern Ohio. The portage
was a part of the defined boundaries in the treaties with the Indians made at
Fort McIntosh (1785), Fort Harmar (1789), and Green Ville (1795). Use of the
portage was discontinued in 1827 when the Ohio and Erie Canal was built along
the old trail. Today, modern Akron streets--Portage Path and Manchester
Road--follow the approximate route of the original portage. Quaker Square
Renovated factory buildings of the Quaker Oats Company
include boutiques, shops, restaurants, and a Hilton Hotel.
St. Bernard’s Church
German Romanesque architecture with a Baroque
influence. Built in 1905.
Soap Box Derby
789 Derby Downs Drivewww.aasbd.com
Ohio Historical Marker here states:
An annual summer tradition for American youth since
the 1930s, the All-American
Soap Box Derby was the concept of journalist Myron E. ("Scottie") Scott, who
covered an impromptu homebuilt gravity-car race in Dayton in 1933. Scott
conceived and promoted a prize-awarding event later that year, and to his
surprise 362 boys entered the race. Restrictions on material cost and
participants' ages widened the sport's appeal; the Soap Box Derby held its first
national championship in Akron in 1935, sponsored by the auto and rubber
industries. Derby Downs, built as a public works project by the New Deal-era
Works Progress Administration (WPA), has been the event's home since 1936. The
Soap Box Derby continues to promote the values of craftsmanship, sportsmanship,
and perseverance for generations of American youth. Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, Inc.
714330-836-5533
www.stanhywet.org
Stan Hywet Hall is a 65-room tudor revival-style manor surrounded by 70 acres of historically significant gardens and grounds. The Hall is the former home of Goodyear co-founder F. S. Seiberling and his family. A national historic landmark, it contains original family furnishings and rare art treasures.
Ohio Historical Marker here states:
The former "country estate" of the Frank A. Seiberling
family, Stan Hywet Hall
is one of the finest examples of Tudor Revival architecture in the United
States. "F.A." Seiberling (1859-1955) co-founded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company in 1898 and later the Seiberling Rubber Company, thus greatly
contributing to Akron's distinction as "The Rubber Capital of the World." Built
between 1912 and 1915, The 65-room Manor House and service buildings are
situated on more than 70 acres of restored historic gardens and wooded
landscapes, all reflecting the Seiberlings' tastes in the decorative and
cultural arts. Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens was listed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
Summit
County
The present structure was completed in 1908.
Treaty of Fort McIntosh Boundary Line
995 Treaty Line RoadOhio Historical Marker here states:
In 1785, American Indian tribal leaders from the
Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, and
Wyandot met with representatives sent by the United States Congress to sign the
controversial Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The treaty surrendered control of Native
American lands in southern and eastern Ohio to the United States government.
Most Indians rejected the validity of the treaty and rather than improving
relations, the Treaty of Fort McIntosh only intensified the tensions that
existed between the United States government and the Indian tribes. This marker
signifies the eastern most portion of the American Indian territory outlined by
the treaty. The Portage Path, a trail used by American Indians as a portage
between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, became a part of this boundary line.
Universalist Stone Church
Main Street between Perkins and Market StreetOhio Historical Marker here states:
slave, gave her world
famous "And Ain't I a Woman?" speech, recalling the hardships she had endured.
Active in both the abolitionist and women's rights movements, she electrified an
audience of women and men who had come to the Universalist Stone Church for a
two-day women's rights convention. Wesley Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
104 North Prospect StreetOhio Historical Marker here states:
This church, founded in 1866, is the oldest Black
congregation in Akron. After
worshiping in several locations, the congregation held a fund-raiser to help
finance the construction of a permanent home. The person collecting the most
money had the privilege of renaming the church. That honor went to Mrs. Belle
(Smith) Wesley. Completed in 1928, the current structure is a Neo-Classical
Revival style building, featuring a classical pedimented portico, or porch, and
four distinctive ionic columns. An education wing was added in 1963 by the late
Rev. Dr. E. E. Morgan, Jr. Akron Black architects Herbert L. Wardner and John O.
Somerville designed the church, and then a Black contractor, Samuel Plato,
completed the structure. The church has long been a vital religious and social
focal point for Akron's Black community. The local chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was organized at
Wesley Temple. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places 3/19/94.