Thanks to the generosity and leadership of John R. Buchtel, business leaders and colleagues helped raise the funds needed to build and endow a college in Akron. Following construction of an impressive building, Buchtel College opened for business in 1872, with 46 students in the collegiate program and 171 in the academy, a preparatory program.
The streetlights outside the J. Koch Company, the Grotto, Lewis Jewlery and the Buchtel are all aglow on this chilly night in Akron. Main Street is busy with Interurban cars and trolleys shuttling Akronites in and out of town.
Mill Street looking west was a busy place. The five-story Hotel Buchtel was opened in 1884 on the southeast corner of Main and Mill Streets. It featured a hydraulic-powered elevator, electric lights in every room and bathrooms on every floor. – S.A. Freedlander Optician, Hotel Buchtel European Rooms
View of Main Street and Mill Street – Akron, Ohio.
Built by William Buchtel (1822-1914), the five-story brick and stone hotel opened in 1884 on the southeast corner of Main and Mill Streets. It featured a hydraulic-powered elevator, electric lights in every room and bathrooms on every floor.