Akron, Ohio

City of Akron
—  City  —
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Rubber Capital of the World, City of Invention, Rubber City, Tire City
Location within Summit County, Ohio, USA
City of Akron Location within Ohio
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Summit
Demonym	Akronite
Founded	1825
Incorporated	1835 (village)
Government
- Mayor	Don Plusquellic (D)
Area
- City	62.4 sq mi (161.6 km2)
- Land	62.1 sq mi (160.8 km2)
- Water	0.3 sq mi (0.9 km2)
Elevation	1,004 ft (306 m)
Population (2000)[1]
- City	217,074
- Density	3,497.3/sq mi (1,350.3/km2)
- Metro	694,960
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	330, 234
FIPS code	39-01000[2]
GNIS feature ID	1064305[3]
Website	http://www.ci.akron.oh.us

Akron (pronounced /ˈækrən/) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. The municipality is situated on the Ohio and Erie Canal and Little Cuyahoga River, approximately 39 miles south of Cleveland midway between New York City and Chicago. As of 2000, the city proper had a total population of 217,074, being the fifth largest city in Ohio and 81st in the United States.^[4] The Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, covers both, Summit and Portage counties. In 2000, the area had a population of 694,960 and in 2009, estimates placed the population at 699,935.^[5] Akron is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which in 2000 had a population of 2,945,831, and ranked as the country's 14th largest. Like many former urban manufacturing centers of the U.S. Rust Belt, Akron's population has declined, falling from a peak of 290,351 in 1960, to just over two-thirds of that today.

Due to spawning many industries in the 1800s, Akron became a boom town, as the fastest growing city in America. Some well-known industries that began in Akron include, American trucking, cereal, toy and marble, rubber, and tire. Despite its size, the city is known to be first in many experiences aside from industry such as, the first long distance electric railway, police patrol vehicle, human testing of iodised salt known as the Akron Experiment,^[6] and team to win the NFL Championship. Popularized in the 19th century, the Akron Plan is used in many churches.

Primary industries supporting Akron's economy in current day include, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, FirstEnergy, FirstMerit Bank, Gojo Industries, and Roadway Express. Rubber and airship development made the city essential during World War II. In the late 20th century, Akron started gradually becoming the center of polymer research, having the Goodyear Polymer Center located on The University of Akron campus with the soon to be finished, National Polymer Innovation Center.^[7] In the 21st century, the city's economy began to revitalize through continued efforts in industry and media notoriety from NBA All-star LeBron James. Akron was also list by Newsweek as one of ten High-Tech Havens, prominent in the Information Age.^[8] In 2008, the city was awarded the City Livability Award for remodeling all of its public schools to serve as community centers all year round. Inducted into the National Civic League Hall of Fame in 2008, the city won the award twice before, in 1981 and in 1995 for creating the first Joint Economic Development District.^[9] In 2009, the National Arbor Day Foundation designated Akron as a Tree City USA for the 14th time.^[10] Akron also annually host the All-American Soap Box Derby, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Founders Day(Alcoholics Anonymous), and the National Hamburger Festival.

Residents of Akron are referred to as "Akronites". Nicknames used for the city include "Rubber Capital of the World," "Rubber City,"^[11] "City of Invention,"^[12] and "Tire City".^[13] Historical nicknames for the city include "Summit City"^[14] and "The Cross Roads of the Deaf".^[15]

History

Early history

Akron was founded in December 1825 by Simon Perkins. It began as a small village on the divide between the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi River drainage basins. The village was a 43-block square with its main intersection at Exchange and Main Streets.^[16] The northern limit was one block beyond State Street. Much of Akron's early growth was due to its location along the Ohio and Erie Canal which at one time connected Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The locks were needed because of the steep 400-foot (120 m) rise in elevation as the canal crossed the summit between the Lake Erie and Ohio River watersheds. Akron comes from the Greek word ἄκρον meaning "summit".^[17] This would later be applied to the name of Summit County, of which Akron would be made part in 1840 and declared county seat in 1842.^[18]

In 1833, Eliakim Crosby established a "second" Akron just north of the existing village known as Cascade, which was referred to locally as "North Akron."^[19] Cascade developed around a construction project originally intended to provide increased water power for industries. In 1836 the villages joined under the Akron name. The completion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal along Main Street in 1839 started Akron on its climb to industrial importance.

Industrialization era

The larger scale production of vitrified clay pipe, which has salt glazing on both the pipe's interior and exterior surfaces in the U.S. was started in 1849, by D.E. Hill's, the Firm of Hill, in Middlebury, Ohio, which is now an Akron neighborhood. In 1848, the Akron version of the graded school system, began being adopted across Ohio and other states.^[20][21] In 1857, Ohio Columbus Barber, America's Match King, formed the Barber Match Company, two years after assuming his father's, George Barber, match company he started in 1847. The company quickly became the largest match producer in the United States.^[22] In the early 1880s, through a merger, the company would become the Diamond Match Company, the then largest match producer in America. In 1863, the Buckeye Mower and Reaper Company, which became one of the world's leading manufacturers of farm equipment, was established in the city.^[23] Coal, a major railroad, and manufacturing growth from the Civil War contributed to a population increase from 3,500 to 10,000 inhabitants between 1860 and 1870. The city was given the nickname "Summit City" although, during the century, existing near Akron prior to annexations was a settlement called Summit City.^[14]

One of Akron's most known industries started in 1854. After initially failing to sell oats plain in previous years, immigrant, Ferdinand Schumacher, The Oatmeal King, began to successfully distribute them in one-ounce square blocks. In 1856, Schumacher purchased a mill along the canal in the city, where workers produced twenty barrels of ground oats per day. The oats became even popular during the American Civil War, as they were used to feed Union soldiers. In 1863, due to the demand for the oats, Schumacher moved his operation to Mill Street, where he established the Empire Barley Mill. After experimenting with new ways to process oats, he developed a way to pre-cook them, thus turning them into flakes. The flaked oats became a best seller immediately, being sold across the U.S. from Boston to San Francisco. After the Empire Barley Mill caught fire in 1886, Schumacher who had not purchased insurance, merged with other companies including the Akron Milling Company, to form the F. Schumacher Milling Company. The new business swiftly became successful but, due to the rise of new competitors, the investors in the company agreed to merge with several additional companies to create the American Cereal Company. The company continued to manufacture oats, selling the product with the picture of a Quaker on the packaging. The company began to produce other products and in 1901, the parent company, Quaker Oats, formed. Schumacher was not part of the deal, due to disagreements with other co-investors, which led to him being removed in 1899.^[24]

In 1872, philanthropist Lewis Miller, Walter Blythe, and architect Jacob Snyder designed Akron's First Methodist Episcopal Church using a floor plan that would become known as the Akron Plan.^[25] Numerous Congregational, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches were also erected this style of building, which was popular between the 1870s and World War I.^[26][27] In 1881, immigrant, E.F. Pflueger, established the Enterprise Manufacturing Company, which manufactured the first angling baits, hooks, and other lines of tackle.^[28] In 1883 a group of newspapermen founded the Akron Toy Company. In 1884, Samuel C. Dyke, Father of the Modern Toy Industry, invented a device that allowed a worker to mass produce 800 to 1,000 clay marbles per hour, this led to the marble being the first popular widespread toy. Later, other successful toys produced by the company would include, the first mass-produced balloons, rubber balls, dolls, ducks, baby buggy bumpers, and little brown jugs. In the 1890s, the then largest factory for glazed vitrified clay pipe, the Akron Sewer Pipe Company, was also founded in the city.^[29] In 1895, the first long distance electric railway in the world, the Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad began service between the city and Cleveland.^[30] In 1899, the first automobile police patrol wagon was invented to help Akron police.^[31]

Rubber capital of the world & airship era

Akron’s history and the history of the rubber industry are intertwined. The industry was key in transforming Akron from a successful canal town into a major city. It also had a major role in making Akron the birthplace of the American trucking industry and once the hub of interstate trucking.^[32] In 1869, B.F. Goodrich started the Goodrich Corporation, the first rubber company in Akron. In 1898, Frank A. Seiberling founded the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.^[33] In 1900, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded, the same year the city experienced its worst riot in history,^[34] resulting in the destruction of both Columbia Hall and the City Building.^[35][36] General Tire was founded in 1915 by the O'Neils, whose department store named O'Neil's, became listed in the National Register of Historic Places.^[37][38] During the first half of the 20th century, the city would also gain the nickname "Crossroads of the Deaf" due to many deaf people coming for jobs in the rubber factories.^[15]

The rubber industry shaped not just the industrial, but also, the residential landscape in Akron. Rubber companies responded to housing crunches caused by the booming rubber business by building affordable housing for workers. Goodyear's president, Frank Seiberling, built homes for employees in what would become known as Goodyear Heights. Likewise, Harvey Firestone built employee homes in what would be called Firestone Park.^[39]

For a time Akron was the fastest-growing city in America,^[40] its population exploding from 69,000 in 1910 to 208,000 in 1920. People came for the jobs in the rubber factories from many places, including Europe and West Virginia. Of those 208,000, almost one-third were immigrants and their children. Among the factory workers in the early 1920s was a young Clark Gable.^[41] In 1923, the Goodyear subsidiary, Zeppelin Company, began manufacturing a new design of zeppelins.^[42] During World War II, the US Navy used many of the airships for aerial observation and as airborne aircraft carriers. The nation's largest airship, Akron, was launched in 1931, and crashed in 1933. Akron's sister airship, the Macon, crashed in 1935, thus making Goodyear abandon rigid airships and focus on the production of blimps. In 1925, the Goodrich company decided to market galoshes with Sundback's fasteners. Originally a Goodrich trademark, "zipper" is now a free word in the English dictionary.^[43] The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company became America's top tire manufacturer, buying The Kelly-Springfield Tire Company in 1935.^[44] Also, in the 1930s, the city became the official home of the world famous All American Soapbox Derby. In 1943, Goodyear established a major research facility, which has since, received thousands of patents. Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad, the first long distance electric railway in world, was anchored by Akron.^[45] In 1946, Gojo Industries began to produce the heavy duty hand cleaner called Hand Sanitizer, invented by rubber factory workers, Goldie and Jerry Lippman, and Professor Clarence Cook. In 1958, local sports agent, Eddie Elias, founded the Professional Bowlers Association. In 1959, in nation's first human spaceflight program, Project Mercury, astronauts wore space suits manufactured by Goodrich.^[46] In the 1950s and '60s Akron saw a surge in industry as use of the automobile took off. In 1960s, Goodyear began using blimps for advertising purposes, leading to the Goodyear Blimp becoming a popular corporate symbol. In 1966, an invention called the skytacular, debuted on the blimp, Mayflower, at the Indy 500.^[47][48][49] In the 1970s and '80s, Akron rubber industry experienced a major decline as a number of labor union strikes occurred, and Firestone and Goodrich relocated their headquarters out of the city. In addition, Quaker Oats ceased production at Quaker Square in 1970. By the early 1990s, Goodyear was the only major tire manufacturer based in Akron. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of Akron workers in plastics and rubber products manufacturing was slashed in half.^[50]

Geography

Topography

Akron is located in the Midwestern United States in Northeast Ohio along the Cuyahoga River, between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south. The city is also located on the Little Cuyahoga River.^[51] Much of Akron is built on the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau region of Ohio. The city's southern edge rests on the St.Lawrence Seaway Continental Divide of the Americas.

The city's land currently covers 62.1 square miles (161 km²). 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of this is water and 62.1 square miles (161 km²) is land.^[52] The elevation of the city varies from 955 ft (291 m) to 1,004 ft (306 m) above sea level.

Climate

Akron has a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), with cold but changeable winters, wet, cool springs, warm (sometimes hot) and humid summers, and cool, rather dry autumns. Precipitation is fairly well-distributed through the year, but summer tends to have the most rainfall (and also, somewhat paradoxically, the most sunshine), and autumn the least. The mid-autumn through early-spring months tend to be quite cloudy, with sometimes less than 30% possible sunshine. The cloudiest month is December, and the sunniest month is usually July, which is also the wettest month because most of the precipitation occurs with brief, intense thunderstorms. Winters tend to be cold, with average January high temperatures of 32 °F (0 °C), and average January lows of 17 °F (−8 °C), with considerable variation in temperatures. During a typical January, high temperatures of over 50 °F (10 °C) are just as common as low temperatures of below 0 °F (−18 °C). Snowfall is lighter than the snowbelt areas to the north, but is still somewhat influenced by Lake Erie. Akron-Canton Airport generally averages about 46.7 inches of snow per winter. During a typical winter, temperatures drop below 0 °F (−18 °C) on about 6 occurrences, generally only during the nighttime hours.^[53] Average July high temperatures of 82 °F (27 °C), and average July lows of 61 °F (16 °C) are normal. Summer weather is more stable, generally humid with thunderstorms fairly common. Temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) about 9 times each summer, on average.^[54] In hot summers, such as 1988, however, as many as 30 days over 90 °F (32 °C) have been observed, and in cooler summers, such as the summer of 2000, the temperature may never reach 90 °F (32 °C). Temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C) are rare (about once per decade on average), most recently occurring on several occasions in the hot summer of 1988. The all-time record high in Akron of 104°F (40°C) was established on August 6, 1918,^[55] and the all-time record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was set on January 19, 1994.^[56] Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1971-2000 is 38.56 inches (979.4 mm).^[57]

Climate data for Akron, Ohio
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	73 (22.8)	72 (22.2)	82 (27.8)	89 (31.7)	93 (33.9)	100 (37.8)	102 (38.9)	104 (40)	99 (37.2)	89 (31.7)	80 (26.7)	76 (24.4)	104 (40)
Average high °F (°C)	32 (0)	37 (2.8)	47 (8.3)	59 (15)	70 (21.1)	78 (25.6)	82 (27.8)	81 (27.2)	73 (22.8)	62 (16.7)	49 (9.4)	38 (3.3)	59 (15)
Average low °F (°C)	17 (-8.3)	20 (-6.7)	28 (-2.2)	37 (2.8)	48 (8.9)	57 (13.9)	61 (16.1)	60 (15.6)	54 (12.2)	42 (5.6)	34 (1.1)	24 (-4.4)	40 (4.4)
Record low °F (°C)	−25 (-31.7)	−20 (-28.9)	−6 (-21.1)	10 (-12.2)	24 (-4.4)	32 (0)	41 (5)	39 (3.9)	29 (-1.7)	20 (-6.7)	−1 (-18.3)	−16 (-26.7)	−25 (-31.7)
Rainfall inches (mm)	2.49 (63.2)	2.28 (57.9)	3.13 (79.5)	3.40 (86.4)	3.95 (100.3)	3.62 (91.9)	4.01 (101.9)	3.67 (93.2)	3.42 (86.9)	2.53 (64.3)	3.07 (78)	2.98 (75.7)	38.56 (979.4)
Snowfall inches (cm)	13.3 (33.8)	9.0 (22.9)	8.0 (20.3)	2.6 (6.6)	0.1 (0.3)	0.0 (0)	0.0 (0)	0.0 (0)	0.0 (0)	0.6 (1.5)	3.5 (8.9)	9.6 (24.4)	46.7 (118.6)
Source: National Weather Service[57][58]

Environment

In 2007 Akron opened a biogas facility,^[59] which uses methane produced in the decomposition process of sludge to create electricity. It is the first such facility in the United States.^[60]

Cityscape

Architecture

Financial and legal offices, hotels, hospitals, government and other civic buildings are predominant in the downtown area. Commercial uses and light industry are the primary land uses south of Cedar Street, in Opportunity Park, and along Wolf Ledges Parkway. Parks along the historic Ohio and Erie Canal provide recreation opportunities. Downtown features adaptive re-use of historic structures such as the B.F. Goodrich plant, which in present times, is the Canal Place, combined with modern additions. These include the Canal Park baseball stadium, John S. Knight Convention Center, and National Inventors Hall of Fame. Residential redevelopment includes conversion of the Akron YMCA Building into modern apartments.^[61]

The city has a diverse heritage of restaurants and shopping centers.^[62] Quaker Square, located in the heart of Akron’s downtown, was redeveloped in the early 1970s as a downtown mall, created from the old Quaker Oats factory, which originally operated at that location. The grain silos had been transformed into round hotel rooms. Recently, the University of Akron purchased this complex for its own use, primarily as residence-hall space. Highland Square, located near West Akron and anchored by the historic Highland Theatre, is a well-known entertainment district, featuring antique stores, retail shops, and several unique restaurants and taverns. Other unique and historically significant Akron neighborhoods include Goodyear Heights and Firestone Park, originally developed and designed for employees of the large Akron rubber companies. Likewise, Northwest Akron is home to a number of large mansions, many of which, like Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, were built early in the 20th century for the upper management of these and other companies.

Neighborhoods

Akron consist of 24 neighborhoods, with an additional 3 that are unincorporated but recognized within the city. The neighborhoods of the cty differ in design largely due to expansions such as town merging, annexation, housing construction in various time periods, and rubber era.

Maple Valley covers the west end of Copley Road, before reaching I-77. Along this strip are several businesses using the name, as well as the Maple Valley Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. Spicertown falls under the blanket of University Park, this term is used frequently to describe the student-centered retail and residential area around East Exchange St. and Spicer, near the University of Akron. West Hill is roughly bounded by West Market on the north, West Exchange on the south, Downtown on the East, and Rhodes Ave. on the West. It features many stately older homes, particularly in the recently recognized Oakdale Historic District.

Suburbs

Akron's suburbs include Fairlawn, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Tallmadge, Silver Lake, and Mogadore. Akron formed Joint Economic Development Districts with Springfield, Coventry, Copley, and Bath (in conjunction with Fairlawn) townships.^[63]

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	3,266		—
1860	3,477		6.5%
1870	10,006		187.8%
1880	16,512		65.0%
1890	27,601		67.2%
1900	42,728		54.8%
1910	69,067		61.6%
1920	208,435		201.8%
1930	255,040		22.4%
1940	244,791		−4.0%
1950	274,605		12.2%
1960	290,351		5.7%
1970	275,425		−5.1%
1980	237,177		−13.9%
1990	223,019		−6.0%
2000	217,074		−2.7%
Est. 2008	207,510		−4.4%
[64]

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 217,074 people, 90,116 households, and 53,709 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,497.3 people per square mile (1,350.3/km²). There were 97,315 housing units at an average density of 1,567.9/sq mi (605.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.22% White, 28.48% African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population. The top 5 largest ancestries include German (18.1%), Irish (11.5%), English (7.2%), Italian (6.8%), and American (6.4%).^[65]

There were 90,116 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,835, and the median income for a family was $39,381. Males had a median income of $31,898 versus $24,121 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,596. About 14.0% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Akron has a metropolitan population of 694,960 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Akron is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which was the 14th largest in the country with a population of over 2.9 million according to the 2000 Census.

History in human rights and relations

In 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered her "Ain't I A Woman?" speech in the city at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention. When active, Akron was part of the Underground Railroad. Abolitionist John Brown lived in Akron, and has two landmarks, the John Brown House and John Brown Monument, dedicated to him in the city. In 1905, a statue of an Indian named Unk was erected on Portage Path, which was part of the effective western boundary of the White and Native American lands from 1785 to 1805.^[67] During the 1900s, the Summit County Ku Klux Klan reported having 50,000, making it the largest local chapter in the United States. Members included many county officials, the sheriff, mayor of Akron, judges, county commissioners, and most members of Akron's school board. Wendell Willkie, after arriving in the city, took on the KKK and eventually ended its influence in Akron politics.^[68] Race took part in two of Akron's worst riots, both in the Riot of 1900 and the Wooster Ave. Riots of 1968. In 1920, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois gave a speech in the city on race and education.^[69] On December 3, 1997, President Bill Clinton came to the city for a televised national discussion on race.^[70] In 1971, Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc. was founded in Akron by the Eta Tau Lambda chapter, with James R. Williams as the chairman, to address housing for low-income families, individuals and senior citizens. The centerpiece, Henry Arthur Callis Tower, is located in the Channelwood Village area of the city. In 2008, Akron native Addie Polk became a poster child of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, after shooting herself.^[71]

Economy

National media began referring to Akron as "The Rubber Capital of the World" in the 1930s, in reference to the city's rubber and tire industries. The city has played an important part in the United States' economy through spawning many industries, major corporations, and inventions. In 1999, the United States Conference of Mayors awarded Akron with the City Livability Award, for creating the first Joint Economic Development District.^[9] The city was again awarded with it in 2008, for the idea of rebuilding Akron's schools to act as community centers. Akron won the All-American City award three times, making it into the National Civic League Hall of Fame. In 2001, due to its research and development of polymers, Newsweek named Akron one of ten “High-Tech Havens" on a list of communities that had become important in the Information Age.^[8] Akron is home to two Fortune 500 companies: the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and FirstEnergy. In addition, Akron is home to a number of smaller companies such as GOJO (makers of Purell), Advanced Elastomer Systems, FirstMerit Bank, Roadway Express (a subsidiary of Yellow Roadway), Myers Industries, an international manufacturer of polymer products, Acme Fresh Market, Sterling Jewelers, and Lockheed Martin, Maritime Systems & Sensors division. The Eastern Ohio Division of KeyBank, which has six branches in the city, broke ground in May 2009, for a regional headquarters in Downtown Akron. Relocation is scheduled for completion by the fall of 2010.^[72]

Wireless corridor

The OneCommunity Network collaborated with the city of Akron and Connect Akron to deploy a wireless network that provides free WiFi access to a 10-square-mile (26 km²) area centered in downtown. In June 2009, the project was successfully tested in a one-day demo and was completed in October.^[73] The corridor reaches out to parts of the Goodyear Heights, East Akron, North Hill, Firestone Park, Kenmore, and West Akron neighborhoods.^[74] Included in the area are places such as the Akron Public Library, John S. Knight Convention Center, and Transit Center.

Biomedical Corridor and health systems

The Biomedical Corridor is an innovation district for technology-based economic development in Akron. The area is located downtown, bounded by Akron General Medical Center on the west, Akron City Hospital on the east, and includes Akron Children’s Hospital near the district’s center, with Saint Thomas Hospital to the north of its northern boundaries. Since its creation in 2006, the project has attracted some companies to move their headquarters into the district, such as Akron Polymer Systems.^[75]

Akron's adult hospitals are owned by two health systems, Summa Health System and Akron General Health System. Summa Health System operates Akron City Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital, which in 2008, were recognized for the 11th consecutive year as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.^[76][77] Summa is recognized as having one of the best orthopaedics programs in the nation with a ranking of 28th.^[78] Akron General Health System operates Akron General Medical Center, which in 2009, was recognized as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.^[79][80] Akron Children's Hospital is an independent entity that specializes in pediatric care and burn care.^[81] In 1974, Dr. Howard Igel and Dr. Aaron Freeman successfully grew human skin in a lab to treat burn victims, making Akron Children's Hospital the first hospital in the world to achieve such a feat.^[82] Akron City and Akron General hospitals are designated Level I Trauma Centers.

Polymer Valley

Akron's economy has diversified itself to include liquid crystal and polymer research, development, and technology.^[83] The city is part of the "Polymer Valley," a five county region in Northeast Ohio that is the main center of polymer research and production in the nation.^[7] In 2001, more than 400 companies^[84] manufactured polymer based materials in the region. The University of Akron supports the industry with both the world’s first College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering,^[85] and a specialized laboratory and research facility accessible by Akron area business partners called the Goodyear Polymer Center. Operations will further be increased after construction of the National Polymer Innovation Center, which will be located nearby on campus.

Rubber industry continuance

In late 2007 the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company agreed on a deal to keep its world headquarters in Akron for decades. The project involves the redevelopment of 280 acres (110 ha) in and around the operations off of East Market Street. Goodyear is the fifth-largest private employer in Summit County.^[86] In an agreement with Industrial Realty Group (IRG) of Downey, California, Goodyear will sell most of its Akron area property and facilities to IRG which would build a new world headquarters building and a new headquarters for the company's North American tire business. IRG also plans to make improvements to the company's technical center and research facilities. Goodyear plans to move into the new buildings in 2010.^[87] IRG envisions turning other parts of Goodyear's property into a project dubbed Akron Riverwalk, a retail and commercial development located within a short walking distance from the headquarters on the city's eastside.^[88]

Bridgestone agreed with the city to build a technical center, with state-of-the-art R&D labs, where the Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations will relocate to no later than 2012.^[89][90]

Culture and contemporary life

Museums and fine arts

The Akron Art Museum, located downtown, features art produced since 1850 along with national and international exhibitions.^[91] It first opened in 1922 as the Akron Art Institute and was located in the basement of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. It moved to its current location at the renovated 1899 old post office building in 1981. In 2007, the museum more than tripled in size with the addition of the John S. and James L. Knight Building, which received the 2005 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum^[92] while still under construction.^[93][94] The Akron Police Museum displays mementos from the city's history, including some from the notorious bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, who was arrested by Akron detectives.^[95][96] Also located downtown are the Akron Civic Theatre—one of five remaining atmospheric theatres in the United States^[97]—and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which has a collection of inventions from American inventors. The city is home to several other galleries and museums, including Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, American Marble and Toy Museum, and Don Drumm Studios & Gallery.^[98] The archives of the History of American Psychology are located on the campus of the University of Akron.^[99]

In popular culture

The city has been the subject of many different portrayals in media. From "Hell on Earth" in the television series I'm In Hell (2007) with Jason Biggs,^[100] to the whereabouts of a holy woman in The Virgin of Akron, Ohio (2007) with Laurie Metcalf.^[101] One of the first movies to bring Akron to the big screen, National Film Registry inductee, Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), is about two dancers from the city, which one is serious about a career in ballet and the other happy just getting by on her looks.^[102][103] Many films set in the Akron, involve or are based on real events in the city. The television film My Name is Bill W. (1989) with James Woods, tells the story of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson and includes his meeting Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, which led to the founding of the organization.^[104] Akron is also the setting in an episode of Prison Break in which Saint Thomas Hospital and The Big Book, came into play.^[105] The documentary film, More Than a Game (2009) with LeBron James, was about the Fab Five's journey to win a state championship on the St. Vincent – St. Mary High School high school basketball team.^[106] Akron has also appeared in other movies and television series including, ...All the Marbles (1981) with Peter Falk,^[107] M.Y.O.B. with Katharine Towne,^[108] Seinfeld with Jason Alexander,^[109] and My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater.^[110]

Native Chrissie Hynde wrote the Pretenders song "My City Was Gone", telling of the changes she saw in Akron during the early '80s after she had been away for ten years.^[111] The Black Keys album title Rubber Factory refers to an abandoned tire plant in the city where it was recorded.^[112]

Akron also shows up in several literary works. Thomas and Beulah, a book of poetry written by native and former Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, Rita Dove, tells the story of her grandmother and grandfather who separately moved from the South to the city, where they lived through the Great Depression and the rest of their lives.^[113] The city is also the setting for the novel The Coast of Akron, by former editor of Esquire, Adrienne Miller.^[114]

Akron serves as a setting in the first-person-shooter PC platform video game, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way, where U.N.I.T.Y. agent, Cate Archer, searches H.A.R.M. agent, Melvin Blitzny's, home to recover information about Project: Omega, when she then battles with ninjas in the middle of a tornado.^[115][116]

Cryptozoology

The Grassman, also known as the Ohio Grassman and Kenmore Grassman, is an alleged bipedal, ape-like creature reportedly seen in Akron, primarily around Kenmore.^[117] In 1995, the possible creature got its name when researchers from Cincinnati came to Akron due to claims of local residents who said an unusual creature was living in a swampy area of the Kenmore neighborhood off Manchester Road.

Tourism

Attractions in Akron include, the Akron Civic Theatre , the Archives of the History of American Psychology, Canal Park, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Derby Downs, Dr. Bob's Home, the Firestone Country Club, the Hower House , John Brown House, the Ohio and Erie Canal, Simon Perkins Mansion, and the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens.

Akron is home to many festivals throughout the year. In mid July, the National Hamburger Festival consists of different vendors serving original recipe hamburgers and has a Miss Hamburger contest.^[118] Lock 3 Park annually hosts the First Night Akron celebration on New Year's Eve^[119]. The park also annually hosts the Italian Festival and the "Rib, White & Blue" food festival in July.^[120] Founders Day is celebrated annually due to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous within the city.^[121][122] In Highland Square, Akron hosts a convergence of art, music, and community annually called Art in the Square, a festival featuring local artists and musicians.^[120]

Cuisine

Several residents of Akron have played a role in defining the American cuisine. Ferdinand Schumacher created the first American oatmeal and is a pioneer of breakfast cereal,^[123] also founded the Empire Barley Mill and German Mills American Oatmeal Company,^[124] which would later merge several times with other companies, with the result being the Quaker Oats Company.^[125] The Menches Brothers, are the disputed inventors of the waffle ice cream cone,^[126] caramel corn,^[127] and hamburger.^[128] The beer, BORIS The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout, brewed by the Hoppin' Frog Breweing Company located in the city, won 1st place in the Imperial Stout category of the 2008 Great American Beer Festival, and the company was named the 24th best brewer in the world for 2010 by RateBeer.com^[129] Native singer Chrissie Hynde owns The VegiTerranean restaurant in the Northside Lofts, and other notable eateries in Akron are Luigi's, Mary Coyle Ice Cream, Metro Burger, Swenson's, Ken Stewart's, The Diamond Grille, Tangier, Menches Brothers Restaurant, Louie's, New Era, The Office Bistro, Strickland's Frozen Custard, and Hamburger Station.^[130][131]

Spoken dialects

Although Akron is in northern Ohio, where the Inland North dialect is expected, its settlement history, puts it in the North Midland dialect area.^[132] Some localisms that have developed include devilstrip, which refers to the grass strip between a sidewalk and street, and the unofficial term Akroness.^[133]

Sports

Akron is currently home to two professional sports teams. The city plays host to the minor league baseball team known as the Akron Aeros of the Eastern League. The Aeros are the AA-class affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and moved to Akron in 1997. The franchise plays at Canal Park and has won three league championships and six division championships since moving to Akron including divisional and league titles in 2009. The Akron Racers are a professional softball team established in 1998 who play in the National Pro Fastpitch. The Racers play at historic Firestone Stadium and have claimed one league title in 2005.^[134] Akron is home to a roller derby team known as the Northeast Ohio Rock n Roller Girls.^[135] Additionally, as home to the University of Akron, the city is also home to Akron Zips, who compete in the NCAA in a variety of sports at the Division I level. The football team plays at recently-completed 30,000 capacity InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field. Before completion of the stadium, the Rubber Bowl was the team's venue, which hosted some preseason games for the Cleveland Browns’ and one regular-season NFL game for the team. The men's basketball team and several other sports play at the 5,500-seat James A. Rhodes Arena. The Zips men's soccer team, which plays at Lee Jackson Field, recently completed an undefeated regular-season and national runner-up finish in the NCAA soccer tournament. They have won 12 regular-season Mid-American Conference titles and 6 MAC tournament titles since joining the MAC in 1992.

Past sports teams

Historically, Akron has served as home for a number of professional sports teams. One of the first teams in the National Football League, the Akron Pros, played from 1920-1926 winning the first NFL championship in 1920 with an undefeated record. Fritz Pollard, the first African-American head coach in the NFL, co-coached the Pros in 1921.^[137] Akron also had a deaf semi-professional football team known as the Goodyear Silents during the early twentieth century. The city was home to a Negro League baseball team known as the Akron Black Tyrites in 1933. Akron's first professional basketball team, the Akron Wingfoots, won the first NBL title in 1938 and the International Cup three times (1967, 1968, 1969). Recently, Akron briefly served as home to an International Basketball League team known as the Akron Lightning in 2005.^[138] The Akron Americans, a minor league professional ice hockey team, played in the International Hockey League's south division for the 1948-1949 season.

Sporting events

On September 29, 2009, it was announced Akron will host some of the events of the 2014 Gay Games including the marathon, the men's and women's golf tournaments at Firestone Country Club, and softball at Firestone Stadium.^[139] The Soap Box Derby is a youth soapbox car racing program which has been run in the United States since 1934. World Championship finals are held each July at Derby Downs. Cars competing in this and related events are unpowered, relying completely upon gravity to move. The Rubber City Open Invitational, first played as the Rubber City Open in 1954, was the first PGA Tour event to be held at the Firestone Country Club. The tournament, last played in 1959, was discontinued as Firestone gained national prominence and attracted bigger events beginning with hosting the 1960, and hosting again in 1966 and 1975 PGA Championship, the American Golf Classic in 1961, and in 1962 the World Series of Golf now known as the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

The city annually hosts the Akron Road Runner Marathon, which has grown each year consecutively in participants and nearly 87% in 2009.^[140] The Akron & National Marble Tournament was created in 1923, by Roy W. Howard. The tournament was sponsored by The Akron Press, then later the Akron Times-Press, and the Akron District Marbles Tournament from 1923 to 1937. In 1938 the Akron Beacon Journal took over the tournament and ran it until the 1950s, and the American Legion continued it until the 1960s.^[141] Akron annually hosts LeBron James King for Kids bikeathon in June.^[142] Annually in November, the city host the Home Run for the Homeless marathon. In 1958, before relocatng its headquarters, the Professional Bowlers Association and bowling tournaments were located in the city.

Parks and recreation

Parks in Akron include, Lock 3, Lock 2, Malasia, Prentiss, Perkins, Saint Mary's Stadium, Sand Run, Schneider, Shady, Shadyside, Cascade Valley, Firestone, Goodyear Heights, Hampton Hills, Gorge, and the F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm.^[143]

Lock 3 Park in downtown Akron is the city's hub for entertainment. It is commonly used as an outdoor amphitheater hosting live musical entertainment, festivals, and special events year-round. The park was created in the early 21st century to provide green space within the city of Akron. The Ohio-Erie Canal can still be seen flowing behind the stage where there was once a boat yard and dry dock. Later, a pottery factory stood there until the O’Neil’s parking deck was built in the current location. More than 65,000 guests use the park for recreation annually. During Lock 3 Live, it holds concerts for almost every musical genre, including alternative, R&B, reggae, gospel, country, pop, jazz, and classic rock. Some festivals the park hosts throughout the year include Soap Box Derby opening ceremonies, firefighter competitions, charity events, tournaments, and animal events. From November through February, Lock 3 Park is transformed into an outdoor ice-skating rink.^[144]

Adjacent to the Derby Downs race hill is a 19,000-square-foot (1,800 m²) outdoor skatepark. The park features concrete ramps, including two bowls going as deep as 7 feet (2.1 m), a snake run, two hips, a stair set with handrail, many smaller quarter pipes and a variety of grind boxes. Positioned just a few feet from the Akron Skatepark is a Pro BMX course where organized races are often held in the warmer months.

The Ohio and Erie Canal towpath is a regional bike and hike trail that follows the canal. A bridge was completed in 2008, crossing Route 59/The Innerbelt, which connects the towpath proper with bike routes painted onto streets downtown, thus completing another step towards the connection of Cleveland and East Liverpool with a hike and bike trail. The State of Ohio plans to reconstruct the trail which once ran completely through Ohio, to New Philadelphia from Cleveland. The trail features a floating observation deck section over Summit Lake. It is a popular tourist attraction, as it attracts over 2 million visits annually.^{[145][146][147]}

Government and politics

The mayor of Akron is elected in a citywide vote, the city has reached its 59th mayor. They city is divided into 10 wards, each elect a member to the Akron City Council, while an additional 3 are elected at large. The mayor's cabinent currently consist of directors and deputy directors of administration, communications, community relations, economic development, intergovernmental relations, labor relations, law, planning & urban development, planning director - deputy, public safety, and public service.^[149] The city adopted a new charter of the commissioner manager type in 1920, but reverted to its old form in 1924.

The current mayor of Akron is Don Plusquellic, who is currently serving his fifth term and was the President of the United States Conference of Mayors during 2004. Plusquellic is also a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group dedicated to making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets.^[150] In 2008, he was selected along with other mayors, by President Barack Obama to work on solving the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009 at the local level.^[151] He defeated a recall attempt in 2009.

Education

Higher education

Akron is home to the University of Akron, which the Princeton Review listed among the Best in the Midwest, in 2008.^[152] The University is home to the Goodyear Polymer Center, and soon to be the location of the National Polymer Innovation Center.^[153] The E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall was built on the campus, opening in 1973. The University underwent a $300 million dollar construction project, which added nine new buildings and renovated fourteen, and closed parts of Carroll and Union Streets.^[154] The University also offers a combined B.S./M.D. program with the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. The Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium, is built on-campus as a replacement for the university's previous stadium, the Rubber Bowl.^[155] The University of Akron School of Law founded in 1921 as the Akron School of Law, is the law school at the University of Akron, offering both the J.D. and LL.M. degrees.

Pre-college

Elementary and secondary education is mainly provided by the Akron Public Schools, which are currently going through a 15-year, $800 million rebuilding process, remodeling some schools and entirely replacing others.^[157] The school board could not get a levy passed to pay for its portion of the construction expense so it worked out an arrangement with the city of Akron where the city will use the money from a new income tax to pay for Community Learning Centers, which will serve as schools but be owned by the city.^[158] Meanwhile the academic situation has improved as the city’s schools have been moved from “Academic Watch” to “Continuous Improvement” by the Ohio Department of Education^[159].

Private schools

Akron also has many private, parochial and charter schools. Akron Public Schools made headlines in 2004 when a freshman student of Akron Digital Academy, the district’s own online charter school, was not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, an event later covered and satirized by The Daily Show. St. Vincent - St. Mary High School, just west of Akron’s downtown, also made headlines when basketball star LeBron James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers first overall after his graduation in 2003.

Media

See also:

Akron is served in print by the daily Akron Beacon Journal and the weekly West Side Leader newspapers and the monthly magazine Akron Life & Leisure. The Buchtelite newspaper is published by the University of Akron^[160].

Akron is less than 40 miles (64 km) from Cleveland, and forms part of the Cleveland-Akron (Canton) media market, the 18th largest market in the US.^[161] However, WAOH-LP, WEAO (PBS), WVPX (ION), and WBNX-TV (CW) are licensed to Akron. WAOH and WEAO serve the city of Akron specifically, while WBNX and WVPX identify themselves as Akron-Cleveland, serving the entire Northeast Ohio market. Akron has no native news broadcast, having lost its only news station when the former WAKC became WVPX in 1996. WVPX and Cleveland's WKYC later provided a joint news program, which was cancelled in 2005.^[162][163]

For radio Akron is served by WZIP 88.1 (Top 40 / College – University of Akron), WAPS 91.3 (Varied formats: local artists, modern rock, blues, jazz and public radio), WAKR 1590 (Oldies), WKDD 98.1 (Adult contemporary), WHLO 640 (News/talk), WJMP 1520 (News/Talk), WKSU 89.7 (National Public Radio, operated from the campus of Kent State University), WONE 97.5 (Classic rock), WNIR-FM 100.1 (News/talk), WSTB 88.9 (Alternative), WARF 1350 (Fox Sports Ohio), WQMX 94.9 (Country), WRQK 106.9 (Rock), and WHOF 101.7 (AC).

Transportation

Airports

The primary terminal that airline passengers, travelling to or from Akron, use is the Akron-Canton Regional Airport, which in 2010, had its busiest January of all time with nearly 107,000 passengers.^[164] The Akron-Canton Airport is a commercial Class C airport located in the city of Green,^[165] roughly 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Akron operated jointly by Stark and Summit counties. Two low-fare airlines, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways, have begun serving Akron-Canton in recent years, making it an alternative for travellers to or from the Cleveland area as well. Akron Fulton International Airport is a general aviation airport located in and owned by the City of Akron that serves private planes. It first opened in 1929 and has operated in several different capacities since then. The airport had commercial scheduled airline service until the 1950s and it is now used for both cargo and private planes.^[166] It is home of the Lockheed Martin Airdock, where the Goodyear blimps were originally stored and maintained. The Goodyear blimps are now housed outside of Akron in a facility on the shores of Wingfoot Lake in nearby Suffield Township.

Railroads

Akron Northside Station is a train station located in the city at 27 Ridge Street along the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.^[167]

Bus and public transportation

Public transportation is available through the METRO Regional Transit Authority system, which has a fleet of over two hundred buses and trolleys and operates local routes as well as running commuter buses into downtown Cleveland. Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) also has a bus line running between Canton and Akron and the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA) runs an express route connecting the University of Akron with Kent State University.^[168] Metro RTA operates out of the Intermodal Transit Center located on South Broadway Street. This facility, which opened on January 18, 2009, also houses inter-city bus transportation available through Greyhound Lines.^[169]

Freeways

Akron is served by two major Interstates that bisect the city. Unlike other cities, the bisection does not occur in the Central Business District, nor do the Interstates serve the downtown region, rather The Akron Innerbelt and to a much lesser extent Ohio State Route 8 serve these functions.

• Interstate 77 connects Marietta, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio. In Akron, it features 15 interchanges, four of which permit freeway to freeway movements. It runs north-south at the southern part of the city to its concurrency with I-76 where it takes a westerly turn and after the concurrency takes a northwest turn.

• Interstate 76 connects Interstate 71 to Youngstown, Ohio and farther environs. It runs east-west and has 18 interchanges in Akron, four of which are freeway to freeway. The East Leg was rebuilt in the 1990s to feature 6 lanes and longer merge lanes. The concurrency with Interstate 77 is eight lanes. The Kenmore Leg is a four lane leg that is slightly less than two miles (3 km) long and connects to I-277.

• Interstate 277 is an east-west spur that it forms with US 224 after I-76 splits to the north to form the Kenmore Leg. It is six lane and cosigned with U.S. 224.

• The Akron Innerbelt is a six lane, 2.24-mile (3.60 km) spur from the I-76/I-77 concurrency and serves the urban core of the city. Its ramps are directional from the Interstates so it only serves west side drivers. ODOT is considering changing this design to attract more traffic to the route. The freeway comes to an abrupt end near the northern boundary of downtown where it becomes Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The freeway itself is officially known as "The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Freeway". The freeway was originally designed to connect directly to State Route 8, but plans were laid to rest in the mid seventies due to financial troubles.

• Ohio State Route 8 is an original state highway that is a limited access route that connects Akron's northern suburbs with Interstates 76 and 77. State Route 8's southern terminus is at the central interchange where it meets I-76 and I-77. The second freeway in Akron to be completed, it went through a major overhaul in 2003 with brand new ramps and access roads. In 2007 ODOT began a project to upgrade the road to Interstate highway standards north of Akron from State Route 303 to I-271, providing a high speed alternative to Cleveland.^[170]

Notable residents

Akron has produced and been home to a number of notable individuals in varying fields. Performing artists to come from Akron include singers Chrissie Hynde, James Ingram, Liam Lynch, Jani Lane and Howard Hewett, music bands Devo, The Waitresses, The Black Keys, Rubber City Rebels, and Hammer Damage, actors and actresses Frank Dicopoulos, John Lithgow, Trent Ford, William Boyett, former Marlboro Man David McLean, Melina Kanakaredes, Elizabeth Franz, models, Melissa Baker and Angie Everhart, and former Playboy model Melinda Windsor. Noted athletes to have come from Akron include number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, LeBron James, Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, Gus "Dr. J" Johnson and Nate "The Great" Thurmond, seventh overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Stephen Curry, first draft pick in NBA history, Chuck Share, former New York Yankee Thurman Munson, former professional boxer, Ray Anderson, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Gorilla Jones, boxing manager, Suey Welch, and former Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian. Other natives or residents of Akron include Judith Resnik who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and had the Resnik crater named after her, retired American broadcaster, television host, producer and author Hugh Downs, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene ("buckyballs"), Richard Smalley.

Crime

Preliminary Ohio Crime Statistics show that in year 2007, aggravated assaults increased by 45% and had a slight increase in burglary and rape while all other crimes remained average.^[171] In a partnership deal with Israel’s Targetech Innovation Center, the city became the first in the United States to have officers trained and equipped with the high-tech Israeli gun, CornerShot, to aid officers in fighting crime.^[172]

Historically, organized crime operated in the city with the presence of the Black Hand led by Rosario Borgio, once headquartered on the city's north side in the early to mid 1900s and the Walker-Mitchell mob, which Pretty Boy Floyd was a member of.^[173] Akron has experienced several riots in its history including, the Riot of 1900 and the Wooster Avenue Riots of 1968.

Methamphetamine problem

Distribution of methamphetamine in Akron started as late as the 1990s. Around this time the motorcycle gang Hells Angels was known to distribute the drug from bars frequented by members.^[174] The city is located in Summit County, which ranked third in the nation in the amount of registered meth sites and is long reputed as the "Meth Capital of Ohio".^[175] Between January 2004 and August 2009, the city had significantly more registered sites than any other city in the state.^[176] The authorities say the decrease of Mexican meth being imported, after the disruption of a major operation in 2005, attributed to the increase in locally made meth.^[177] In 2007, Akron police received a grant to help continue its work with other agencies and jurisdictions to support them in ridding the city of meth labs.^[178] The Akron Police Department coordinates with the Summit County Drug Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration, forming the Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Response Team.^[179]

Sister cities

Akron has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

- Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany (since 20 April 1997) [180] - Kiryat Ekron, Israel

References

Further reading

• Akron Chamber of Commerce Year Book, (1913–14)
• The University of Akron Press
• Dyer, Joyce, Gum-Dipped: A Daughter Remembers Rubber Town, The University of Akron Press: Akron (2003)
• Endres, Kathleen, Akron's Better Half: Women's Clubs and the Humanization of a City, 1825–1925, The University of Akron Press: Akron (2006)
• Jones, Alfred Winslow, Life, Liberty, & Property: A Story of Conflict and a Measurement of Conflicting Rights, The University of Akron Press: Akron (1999)
• Russ Musarra and Chuck Ayers, Walks around Akron, The University of Akron Press: Akron (2007)
• S. A. Lane, Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County, (Akron, 1892)
• S. Love and David Giffels, Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron, Ohio, The University of Akron Press: Akron (1998)
• S. Love, Ian Adams, and Barney Taxel, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, The University of Akron Press: Akron (2000)
• F. McGovern, Written on the Hills: The Making of the Akron Landscape, The University of Akron Press: Akron (1996)
• F. McGovern, Fun, Cheap, and Easy: My Life in Ohio Politics, 1949–1964, The University of Akron Press: Akron (2002).

External links

• Akron travel guide from Wikitravel
• Akron, Ohio at the Open Directory Project
• City of Akron
• Akron Public Schools
• Akron-Summit County Public Library
• History of Akron & Summit County

Municipalities and communities of Summit County, Ohio County seat: Akron Cities Akron | Barberton | Cuyahoga Falls | Fairlawn | Green | Hudson | Macedonia | Munroe Falls | New Franklin | Norton‡ | Stow | Tallmadge‡ | Twinsburg Villages Boston Heights | Clinton | Lakemore | Mogadore‡ | Northfield | Peninsula | Reminderville | Richfield | Silver Lake Townships Bath | Boston | Copley | Coventry | Northfield Center | Richfield | Sagamore Hills | Springfield | Twinsburg CDPs Montrose-Ghent | Pigeon Creek | Portage Lakes Unincorporated communities Ghent | Hammond's Corners | Montrose Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

All-America City Award: Hall of Fame Akron, Ohio • Anchorage, Alaska • Asheville, North Carolina • Baltimore, Maryland • Boston, Massachusetts • Cincinnati, Ohio • Cleveland, Ohio • Columbus, Ohio • Dayton, Ohio • Des Moines, Iowa • Edinburg, Texas • Fort Wayne, Indiana • Grand Island, Nebraska • Grand Rapids, Michigan • Hickory, North Carolina • Independence, Missouri • Kansas City, Missouri • Laurinburg, North Carolina • New Haven, Connecticut • Peoria, Illinois • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Phoenix, Arizona • Roanoke, Virginia • Rockville, Maryland • Saint Paul, Minnesota • San Antonio, Texas • Seward, Alaska • Shreveport, Louisiana • Tacoma, Washington • Toledo, Ohio • Tupelo, Mississippi • Wichita, Kansas • Worcester, Massachusetts

Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Ohio     Michael B. Coleman (Columbus) Frank G. Jackson (Cleveland) Mark L. Mallory (Cincinnati) Michael P. Bell (Toledo) Don Plusquellic (Akron) Gary Leitzell (Dayton)

State of Ohio Columbus (capital) Topics History · Geography · People · Government · Delegations · Economy · Demographics · Education · Colleges and universities · Visitor Attractions · Portal Regions Allegheny Plateau · Appalachian Ohio · Black Swamp · The Bluegrass · Extreme Northwest Ohio · Glacial till plains · Lake Erie · Lake Erie Islands · Miami Valley · Northwest Ohio · Western Reserve Metro areas Akron · Canton · Cincinnati · Cleveland · Columbus · Dayton · Findlay-Tiffin · Ironton · Lima · Mansfield · Steubenville · Toledo · Youngstown-Warren Largest cities Akron · Canton · Cincinnati · Cleveland · Columbus · Cuyahoga Falls · Dayton · Elyria · Hamilton · Kettering · Lakewood · Lorain · Mansfield · Mentor · Middletown · Parma · Springfield · Toledo · Youngstown Counties Adams · Allen · Ashland · Ashtabula · Athens · Auglaize · Belmont · Brown · Butler · Carroll · Champaign · Clark · Clermont · Clinton · Columbiana · Coshocton · Crawford · Cuyahoga · Darke · Defiance · Delaware · Erie · Fairfield · Fayette · Franklin · Fulton · Gallia · Geauga · Greene · Guernsey · Hamilton · Hancock · Hardin · Harrison · Henry · Highland · Hocking · Holmes · Huron · Jackson · Jefferson · Knox · Lake · Lawrence · Licking · Logan · Lorain · Lucas · Madison · Mahoning · Marion · Medina · Meigs · Mercer · Miami · Monroe · Montgomery · Morgan · Morrow · Muskingum · Noble · Ottawa · Paulding · Perry · Pickaway · Pike · Portage · Preble · Putnam · Richland · Ross · Sandusky · Scioto · Seneca · Shelby · Stark · Summit · Trumbull · Tuscarawas · Union · Van Wert · Vinton · Warren · Washington · Wayne · Williams · Wood · Wyandot