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28-77 The Soap Box Derby
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 […]
27-77 Sikh Gurdwara
This marks the site of the first Sikh Gurdwara in the state of Ohio. Sikhs began to arrive in Ohio after India’s freedom from British rule in 1947. They came for advanced education at universities in the state. With liberalization of immigration laws in the 1960s, many Sikhs settled in metropolitan areas and set up […]
26-77 Hall Park Allotment Historic District
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 […]
24-77 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 […]
23-77 Franklin Augustus “F.A.” Seiberling and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
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 […]
22-77 The Mustill Site / The Cascade Valley
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 […]
21-77 Western Reserve College and Academy
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 […]
20-77 Silver Lake / Silver Lake Amusement Park
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 […]
19-77 Stan Hywet Hall
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 […]
18-77 Ghent Woolen Mill
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 […]