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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.
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Completed in 1915, the Gate Lodge is one of several service buildings located at Stan Hywet Hall dedicated to the operations of the estate. Located at the front entrance gates, this two-story Tudor Revival structure was designed by the Seiberlings’ architect Charles S. Schneider. Originally, the Gate Lodge served as a residence for the estate’s superintendent. The first to fill this role was William Dennis who moved in with his family to the Gate Lodge after its completion and resided there until his death in 1923. Between 1923 and 1944, Fred, the eldest child of F.A. and Gertrude Seiberling, lived in the Gate Lodge with his wife Henrietta and their three children. In 1935, Henrietta brought here the two men who would formally found Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson of New York and Dr. Bob Smith of Akron.
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This burying ground was the first public cemetery located within Akron’s boundaries. It was also known as the “Old Cemetery” and the “Newton Street Cemetery.” Deacon Titus Chapman donated this land in 1808 as a burying ground, and he was probably the first person interred here when he died later that year. Early Akron settlers and their descendents, including veterans of the American Revolution, are buried here. Some of the gravestones were among the finest brought to the Western Reserve from Connecticut. The Middlebury Cemetery was used until 1853.
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John Richards Buchtel was born in Green Township, Ohio. A successful businessman and philanthropist, Buchtel was a leading spirit in the Akron Library Association. He donated to establish the Akron Public Library and served as the First Chairman of the Board. He also donated $31,000 in 1870 to found Buchtel College, which became The University of Akron in 1913, where he often paid the tuition of underprivileged students. He served as the college’s President of the Board of Trustees and served for the board of A & M University, which is now The Ohio State University.
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In 1951, several pioneer drag racers opened on of the Midwest’s first drag strips known by local racing enthusiasts as the “Fulton Airport Champioins Raceway.” For the next eight years half-brothers Art and Walt Arfons, Otis “Otie” Smith and “Akron Arlen” Vanke raced here. Both Arfons, who were long-time bitter rivals, at one point held the world land speed record. Otie, the first president of the Cam Jammers car club in Akron, won the National Hot Rod Association’s 1959 championship. Vanke won many national champtionships as a Stock, Super Stock and Pro Stock racer.
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Born in Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown moved with his family to Hudson, Ohio, in 1805 and lived many years in Portage and Summit Counties. His expert knowledge of sheep and wool led to a business partnership with Colonel Simon Perkins from 1844 to 1854. The partnership drew Brown’s family to the house at 514 Diagonal Road, across from Perkins’ estate on Mutton Hill. Brown considered the then two-room house with loft, rented from Perkins, “the most comfortable and most favourable arrangement of my worldly concerns that I ever had.” (Continued on other side)
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St. Vincent-St. Mary High School is the oldest continuously operating, public or private, high school in Akron. With roots extending to the late 19th century, St. Mary High School graduated its first three students in 1901. St. Vincent High School opened in September 1907 in an effort to extend educational offerings beyond the eighth grade. The first class, comprising four students, graduated in 1910. The two schools merged in late 1972 to become a single co-educational college preparatory high school. “In the spirit of the Gospel, we are committed to educate the whole person,” the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School mission statement pledges, “to lead and to serve, enlightening the mind, developing the body, touching the heart and inspiring the soul.”
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The town of Bedford was settled in 1837. Early residents, Hezekiah and Clarissa Dunham donated the land that serves as Bedford Public Square. The Dunhams built one of the area’s first homes in 1832, which stands at 729 Broadway with the letters H & D above the doorway. Early settlers were attracted to the area by the abundance of natural resources and a large waterfall for mill sites. Bedford also served as a stagecoach stop on the route from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The road or Turnpike Road as it was called was originally part of the Mahoning Indian Trail. By 1895 the road was renamed Main Street (and later Broadway) when the Akron, Bedford, and Cleveland Railway Company (ABC) traversed the middle of the street carrying passengers. The interurban is called “America’s first high speed long distance electric interurban” with speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. [continued on other side]
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