, OH
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.
, OH
The Ghent Woolen Mill was one of at least thirteen mills built in the Yellow Creek Valley to take advantage of the water power available in the creek’s 400-foot fall across Bath Township. Erected by Messrs. Allen and Bloom in 1832, it was a marginal commercial success and changed hands several times during the 1800s – reportedly because an abundant wolf population in this region made raising sheep a risky venture. In its peak years of operation during the Civil War era the Ghent mill processed as much as 10,000 pounds of wool into finished cloth and yarn annually. It was converted to a machine shop circa 1889 and subsequently into private residences in the late 1890s. The oldest known woolen mill still standing in Ohio, it retains many of its original architectural features.
, OH
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.
, OH
Silver Lake was previously known as Wetmore’s Pond, named for Judge William Wetmore, an agent for the Connecticut Land Company. In 1808, Wetmore built a cabin overlooking the spring-fed lake, which was then a part of Portage County. Local lore records his friendship and conscientious dealings with the Native Americans, likely Seneca, who inhabited a populous village between the lake and the Cuyahoga River. The tribe left the area to join the British during the War of 1812, but later sided with the United States.
, OH
With the help of town founder, David Hudson, Western Reserve College and its Academy were founded in 1826. Often called “The Yale of the West,” the college saw success initially as all of its professors and college presidents were Yale College graduates. Nationally, Western Reserve College became involved with the Underground Railroad and anti-slavery movement 28 years before the Civil War began. Moreover, Western Reserve College established the Loomis observatory, named for Elias Loomis, a Yale tutor and WRC professor, which is now the second oldest observatory in the United States. The Western Reserve College moved to Cleveland in 1882 and eventually became Case Western Reserve University while the Academy remained in Hudson. Today, the Western Reserve Academy is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected independent college preparatory schools.
, OH
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.
, OH
Industrialist and entrepreneur Franklin Augustus Seiberling (1859-1955) named his fledgling rubber goods manufacturing company “Goodyear” to honor Charles Goodyear, the man who invented the vulcanization process for curing rubber. Seiberling founded the company with his brother, Charles Willard, because of their desire to participate in an enterprise that afforded an “opportunity for invention.” Incorporated in 1898, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company rapidly grew with the young automotive industry and helped establish Akron as the “Rubber Capital of the World.” Among Seiberling’s many significant inventions were the tire-making machine and the detachable wheel rim. He resigned from Goodyear in 1921 and went on to found the Seiberling Rubber Company. Stan Hywet Hall, F.A. Seiberling’s estate in west Akron, is a National Historic Landmark.
, OH
“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.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
