Oak Place

Oak Place Mansion was built in 1870 and was the home of Akron inventor Lewis Miller. Today it is being preserved as an apartment building. This was the site of the wedding of Thomas Edison and Mina Miller, the daughter of Lewis Miller. The brick, gabled building is owned by real estate developer Michael Sapp.

Local history indicates that went Edison was courting Miller, he took her on carriage rides in nearby Glendale Cemetery. They were married in the mansion’s parlor on Feb. 24, 1886. Lewis Miller was an inventor and industrialist. He made his fortune in manufacturing farm equipment.  He held 92 patents, but it was his Buckeye Mower and Reaper that made him wealthy.

Miller’s other accomplishments including helping to found the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit cultural/educational retreat in New York, designing “The Akron Plan,” a Sunday-school building design popular in Protestant churches, and helping organize Mount Union College and serving as its long-time president.

Original features in the mansion that are still intact include 12-foot high ceilings, a wood spiral staircase and a marble fireplace. The mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places with the address of 142 King Drive though the address on the building is 127 Dawes Avenue.

Interesting Akron website, accessed on Dec. 8, 2016. https://interestingakron.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/oak-place-the-house-where-thomas-edison-was-hitche...

Katie Byard, "Historic, tucked-away mansion part of real estate deal," Akron Beacon Journal. Published Sept. 28, 2012, accessed Dec. 8, 2016. http://www.ohio.com/news/local/historic-tucked-away-akron-mansion-part-of-real-estate-deal-1.337870