Author: tconte
Music Hall
The German Music Hall was dedicated in 1904 with a concert by the Victor Herbert Orchestra. Paul E. Werner, a German-American immigrant and philanthropist who made his fortunes in the publishing industry (Werner Printing and Lithograph Company) financed the $65,000 building. Following construction, it was commonly known as the German-American Music Hall. Growing anti-German sentiments…
Navy Corsair Fighter over Rubber Bowl
A US Navy Corsair Fighter, built by Goodyear Aircraft flies over the Rubber Bowl Stadium. Goodyear Aircraft produced more than 4,000 Corsair fighter planes. During the height of production, it was common for Akronites to see these “warbirds” flying above the city.
Portage Hotel – Interior
The Portage Hotel was located at 10 North Main Street in Akron. The eight-story, 170-room hotel opened on June 12, 1912. In 1935, the Portage Hotel was host to the founding of the United Rubber Workers Union. The Portage closed in 1969 and was repurposed for a short time as a nursing home. The building…
Post Office
The brick building opened in 1899 as Akron’s main post office. Pairs of carved eagle medallions and bronze lanterns decorate its Market Street façade and a mosaic depicting a Pony Express rider is embedded in its lobby floor. The Akron Art Museum moved into the building in 1981 after a major renovation.
Akron Savings & Loan
Built in 1923, the Akron Savings & Loan building is 158-foot-tall 12-story high-rise. 1888 the Akron Savings & Loan began as the Akron Building and Loan Association (196 South High Street). The first officers were Hugo Schumacher, W.B. Gamble, A.H. Noah, William Buchtel, and P.M. Atterholt. 1891 The company moved to larger offices inside the…
First Second National Building
The First Second National Bank Building was built in 1911by Carmichael Construction. The building’s design came from George B. Post & Sons.This image shows the building before the four additional floors were added in 1919.
Silver Lake Park – Menagerie
Beginning in 1874, Silver Lake and the land surrounding it was a popular Akron area amusement park. The lake was acquired in 1876 by Ralph H. Lodge and he subsequently also purchased the land surrounding the body of water. It was originally a picnicking and swimming area, but before it closed Silver Lake Amusement Park featured animal…
Greyhound Bus Terminal
The Greyhound Bus Terminal in Akron was built at a cost of $600,000. It afforded patrons all the expected modern conveniences including a cafeteria. Up to fourteen busses could be docked simultaneously at the terminal. The building was connected to the Union Railroad Depot via an enclosed skywalk. It was also just one block from the…
Silver Lake Park – Bears
In 1888, Ralph Lodge was presented with a female black bear cub, Topsy, captured on the north shore of Lake Superior. In September of the same year, he purchased an eight-month-old male cub, Patrick, which had been caught in Central Michigan. Patrick went on to father 78 cubs at Silver Lake.
Airships – Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation
Goodyear built its first blimp in 1912. In 1928 the company was awarded a contract to build the Navy’s rigid airships Akron and Macon.
Firestone Research Building
“High on a hill overlooking the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company’s plants is the company’s new $2 million research laboratory, one of the world’s largest and most complete laboratories for rubber and plastics research. In this three story, sound-proof, air-conditioned brick building scientists have the privacy and seclusion they need for research that will make possible new…
Public Library
In 1874, the newly-formed Akron Public Library Board met for the first time, with John R. Buchtel serving as the first President. Later that same year, the Akron Public Library opened its doors at the corner of Mill Street and South Howard Street. The building shown here was constructed in 1904. Although the building no longer…
Portage Hotel – Akron Pharmacy Co.
The Portage Hotel was located downtown at Main Street and Market Street. The hotel replaced the former Empire House Hotel in 1912 and served as Akron’s leading hotel until being eclipsed by the modern art deco style Mayflower Hotel in 1931.
Main Street looking South – O’Neils
Michael O’Neil and his partner Isaac Dyas began serving Akron shoppers in 1877. Their first store was a dry goods store located at 114 East Market Street. Before being sold in 1912, O’neils had several locations in the Akron Canton Area.
Peoples Hospital
After construction in 1915, the hospital struggled financially. In those early years, the hospital relied heavily upon donations of money, supplies and volunteer hours in order to remain in operation.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. – Main Plant
By 1930 Goodyear had pioneered what would later become known as “tundra tires” for smaller aircraft — the “airwheel” aviation wheel-rim/tire sets were initially available in sizes up to 46 inches in diameter.
View of the Gorge Viaduct
The Gorge formed about 12,000 years ago as the Cuyahoga River carried water to Lake Erie. Most of the 100 mile river is shallow and slow-moving — but in the gorge, water descends 200 feet within a short two-mile section of the gorge.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Plant
USS Akron flys proudly over the Goodyear plant. She was the world’s first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, carrying F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes which could be launched and recovered while she was in flight. The Goodyear company is named after American Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanized rubber. The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron, Ohio, in…
Goodyear-Zeppelin Corp’s. Factory
“Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation’s Factory and Dock located on the grounds of Akron’s Municipal Airport (Akron Fulton International). This building is 1,196 feet in length, 325 feet in width and 211 feet high, equal to a 22 story building. There are 3,600,000 pounds of steel used in the doors and 5,350 tons of structural steel in the…
Kenmore – Business District
Kenmore was founded in 1908, as a residential community between the industrial cities of Akron and Barberton. The village which was strategically built along the streetcar lines between the two cities and grew so fast that it earned the nicknamed “fastest–growing city in the world“. Kenmore was annexed by Akron in 1928. Pictured: I.O.O.F. Lodge 927
Werner Company Plant – Publisher
Paul E. Werner established his dominance in publishing long before Akron’s rubber boom. By 1900, Werner’s publishing house, the Werner Company, claimed to be the largest and most complete book factory in America. Legal battles with Encyclopedia Britannica, of which Werner ultimately won, resulted in financial losses that destroyed the empire Werner had built.
Greetings from Akron
When a stockbroker, Bill W and an Akron surgeon, Dr. Bob S met they formed a group known today as alcoholics anonymous. Because both of the men felt comfortable talking with each other because they both were struggling with the same problem, they eventually worked on their drinking problem together. Because of these men in…
Portage Lakes – Sunset
Today’s popular recreation area formed as a result of the last ice age. The name Portage Lakes comes from an old Indian portage path that connected the Cuyahoga River flowing north to Lake Erie and the Tuscarawas River, a tributary of the Muskingum River, which flows south to the Ohio River. This proved advantageous for Indians and early settlers as navigation from Lake Erie to…