One of the largest rubber factories in the United States located in Akron, Ohio, the rubber center of the United States. This view shows plants number one and two and the steel products plant. It covers a great many acres and employs thousands of people.
“It takes energy, foresight and ability to pull against the current.” – Harvey Firestone Harvey Firestone was convinced that there was a large market to be tapped in automobile tires. His vision would become the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. By 1926, Firestone’s company was producing more than 10 million tires a year, about 25…
Firestone had its origins in the rubber city. Founded in1900, the company started operations with just 12 employees. Together, Firestone and Goodyear (also an Akron company) were the largest suppliers of automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906 Henry Ford chose Firestone for Model T original equipment tires.
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founder Harvey Firestone, had a personal friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market.
Harvey Firestone wanted to create a community near his factories where families of different income levels would live together. He wanted churches, schools, stores and his factories to all be within walking distance. Firestone hired his estate landscape architect, Alling S. DeForest, to design the layout for Firestone Park. Among the many projects was the…
The Rubber City Savings Bank became the Firestone Park Trust and Savings Bank in 1919. In 1944 it became the Firestone Bank. The pictured building was located on the corner of Miller Street and Main Street.
Akron’s Firestone Tire and Rubber Company participated in the Century of Progress – World’s Fair, in Chicago. Their Factory and Exhibition Building contained a complete production line of the most modern and efficient tire-making machinery in the world. Firestone produced Gum-Dipped Tires from raw materials to the finished tire at the exhibit. In the Exhibit Hall they…