The library offers a multitude of special services, computer
and Wi-Fi access, training classes and business services. There is a 425-seat
auditorium, public meeting rooms and a used bookstore. In addition, there is an
outdoor amphitheater and landscape park as part of the complex. A city-owned
parking garage is connected by an interior glass block walkway. 

The Akron-Summit County Public Library also offers mobile
services and has 17 branch locations throughout the county. The Main Library is
270,000 square feet and provides access to nearly 2 million items. 

The original building was built in the 1960s. It was
renovated and expanded thanks to a bond issue to develop and expand libraries
in the county. Richard Fleischman and Partners Architects was charged to lead
the project. They worked on the existing site and left the former building with
nothing but the concrete frame. An additional 160,000 square feet was added. The
new structure wrapped around the existing structure in seamless fashion.

The Akron-Summit County Public Library offers patrons access to nearly 2 million items. 

Website

The Main Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library opened in 2004. It has more than a million visitors each year. It features subject divisions on Business and Government, Culture and AV, Magazines and Newspapers, Science and Technology, Special Collections which includes local history, Teen and a Children’s Library. 

Akron-Summit County Public Library

This tour includes the historical highlights of Akron, with stops at a variety of monuments, markers, museums, and historical buildings. 

Akron University and Downtown Driving Tour

The Werner building was constructed in 1895; the building functioned as the administrative building for the Werner Publishing Company. The Werner Publishing Company was founded by Paul E. Werner, a German immigrant. Werner was originally born in Wurttemberg, Germany in 1850, in 1867 Werner immigrated to the United States. Werner began his career in printing in 1874, when he purchased the German newspaper in Akron called the Germania. Werner continued his career by founding the Sunday Gazette and the Akron Tribune. In 1886 Werner founded the Werner Printing and lithographing Company. The Werner Printing and Lithographing Company began publishing many various texts. One such text was the Werner Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This book was fraught with controversy, as this reprint was unauthorized. This reprint was banned from distribution in the United States due to it being an unauthorized text. The company was re-organized in 1983 and was renamed to the Werner Company. The company began facing financial difficulties in 1908, including a $1,000,000 loss due to the legal battles with the Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1909 the Werner Company officially went under.  Werner moved Kansas City in 1914 due to the public backlash against him for his pro-German rhetoric during World War 1. In 1926 he returned to Akron and attended a dinner in his honor by F.A. Seiberling. Werner published the Akron Germania until his death in 1931. A host of companies has occupied the Werner Building since 1909, most recently the building was the headquarters of the Famous Supply Company.

Akron's Werner Building was constructed in 1895 by Paul E. Werner. Werner, a German immigrant whose publishing company included local newspapers such as the Akron Tribune and the Sunday Gazette. Werner Printing and Lithographing Company also produced the Werner Edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The company started facing financial trouble in 1908 due to legal disputes with Encyclopedia Brittanica for producing the "Werner Edition" using content from the original publisher without authorization. After a loss of $1,000,000, the Werner Company went bankrupt and Paul E. Werner eventually left Akron and moved to Kansas City in hopes of escaping local backlash due to pro-German rhetoric regarding World War I.  Werner later moved back to Akron and continued publishing the Akron paper, Germania, until his death in 1931. The 20,000+ square foot building listed for sale in 2019 with an asking price of $775,000. 

Werner Company Building 

It is one of the best preserved examples of the Second
Empire style in the country. It features an octagonal central hall. The house,
which has an exterior of brick, is has period furnishings and many items the
family collected from its travels around the world.

The Hower family lived in the home for more than 100 years.
It was deeded to the University of Akron in 1970. It was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is surrounded by 2.5 acres of lawn. The
home’s third floor includes a ballroom. It is supported by the University,
private donations and other organizations. 

Special events and activities take place throughout the
year. The home can also be rented for special occasions such as weddings and
parties. The Cellar Door gift shop is located in the house and features a
variety of Victorian era and other gifts.

Built in 1871 by Akron industrialist John Henry Hower. Architect Jacob Snyder helped design the house in the Second Empire Italianate style. The 28-room house is topped with a mansard roof and tower. The floor plan was based on the “Akron Plan,” which was used in often in church constructions between 1870 and 1917. It now belongs to the University of Akron and is open for public tours. 

The University of Akron Hower House

John and&nbsp;Elizabeth Buchtel donated $31,000 to build the college that would bear their name. This sum represented over half of the original cost to build the early college, while John Buchtel donated much of his time to overseeing many aspects of the college's operation. The cornerstone for the first campus building was laid in 1871.&nbsp;Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and one of the most influential men of the late 19th century, spoke at the ceremony celebrating the start of the college's construction.&nbsp;Buchtel College was closely tied with the community and
Universalist Church for its first few decades, but became a private, non-denominational school in 1907. In
1913, the trustees transferred the college and its assets to the city of Akron
thanks in part to their own&nbsp;financial challenges, but also as part of the city's recognition that the college could help its commercial development. The University of Akron was assisted
by city tax funds for the next 50 years, and enrollment grew from 198 to nearly ten thousand during these years.

The University's growth was related to the growth of the regional rubber industry. The university became the first in the world to offer a degree program in rubber chemistry-an essential commodity for both civilian industry&nbsp;and the military. Expansion followed World War II and Akron went from a municipal
to state university in 1967. In 1988, the University debuted the world’s first
College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering – now the largest academic
program of its kind in the world. 

By 2000, the University had added 22 new buildings, made
many major additions or renovations and added 34 acres of green space. UA
remains a public university focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and
investment in community and economic growth.

This statue honors local business leader John Buchtel, the leader of an effort to create a college at this location under the auspices of the Ohio Universalist Convention. The college offered religious training and a liberal arts education for members of the Universalist Church, but also sought to train future leaders of industry. As the institution grew, its emphasis on preparing local students for successful careers led to its gradual transformation. By 1913, Buchtel College had become the University of Akron, a municipally-supported institution that grew from less than 200 students in 1913 to 10,000 students by the late 1960s. In 1967, the university became part of Ohio's state-supported system of colleges and universities. Today, the University of Akron has more than 80 buildings on 218 acres and offers more than 300 undergraduate programs and has more than 23,000 students. 

John Buchtel Statue, University of Akron

The Selle Building was constructed in 1887; the building was 70,000 square feet. The Selle Gear Company officially incorporated on Sept. 25, 1886. The company derives its name for German immigrant Ferdinand Selle. Selle was an infamous inventor during the second industrial revolution; Selle’s patents had caught the eye of both Cleveland and Akron investors, which was the catalyst for the Selle Gear Company. Initially, the Selle Gear Company produced hardware for carriages. The company then evolved to produce parts for automobiles, such as the gauges for gas tanks. In 1903 the Selle Gear Company was purchased by Akron’s Hower Family, changing the name to the Akron-Selle Company. During the Second World War, the Akron-Selle Company began producing military products. The Akron-Selle Company continued to manufacture parts for automobiles in Akron until 1997, when the company officially left the building. The Selle Building underwent many changes since its original construction in 1887. In 1901, a one-story forging room was added to the building. In 1943, a small one-story loading dock was added to the building; however, tragedy also struck in 1943. A tornado tour through Akron, destroying part of the Selle Building, including the forging room as well as a Blacksmith room. Overall the Selle Building retained its architectural integrity throughout the decades. The Akron-Selle Company abandoned the Selle Building in 1997. The historic building was put up for sale in 1998; it remained for sale for the next five years. In 2003, the building was purchased by the Ohio Brewing Company, which still occupies the building to this day. The Akron-Selle company continued to operate after leaving their original building in 1997; however, in March of 2001, the Akron-Selle Company dissolved. Since 2003, the Ohio Brewing Company, which was established in 1997, has owned the Selle Building, and has opened a number of other locations in the Akron area.

The Selle Building was constructed in 1887 for the Selle Gear Company which was established in 1886 and produced components for carriages and later produced automobile parts. The company was purchased by the Hower family in 1903 and renamed the Akron-Selle Company. The Selle Building underwent many changes throughout the decades, as transportation changed from horse-drawn carriages to cars, trucks, and other vehicles. The Selle Company innovated from the production of wagon and carriage hardware, to gears and gauges for gasoline tanks, in addition to metal stamping parts for trucks, aircraft, and military ordinance until the early 1950s. In 1901, a forging room was added to the building and a small loading dock was also added to the building in 1943. Tragedy also struck in 1943 when a tornado demolished parts of the Selle Building. The Akron-Selle company occupied the building until 1997 when the company moved to another location. The Akron-Selle company closed its doors for good in 2001. The building was purchased by the Ohio Brewing Company in 2003, and that company still occupies the building today. 

The Selle Building (Ohio Brewing Company)

<div>When a few Akron punk bands asked the owner of the Crypt if they could use the venue for punk shows, the owner simply gave the bar to members of Devo, the Rubber City Rebels, and the Bizarros and retired to Florida. The failing rubber workers bar on the edge of downtown became the home of Akron’s emerging punk scene and quickly grew an audience and attracted the attention of the music industry. In 1977, Devo and the Rubber City Rebels signed record deals and moved to Los Angeles, which led to the demise of&nbsp;the Crypt and left punk bands and fans without an Akron venue.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The scene that began at the Crypt moved closer to the heart of downtown in the Anthony Wayne Hotel at 316 South Main Street. The hotel, originally called the Bond Hotel, was built in 1917 and housed the Commercial Savings and Trust Company on the first floor. The bank closed in 1965, and in the late 1970s, lawyer Howard Allison opened the Bank Jazz Club in the empty space with the bar located in front of the original vault where he conventionally stored beer and liquor. Although the club featured big-name jazz acts, such as Jean-Luc Ponty and Keith Jarrett, it failed to attract a crowd in the blue-collar factory town and struggled financially. Allison reluctantly began allowing punk bands to play on slow Thursday and Sunday nights while Fridays and Saturdays were reserved for jazz performances.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Hailed by Melody Maker, the British music magazine, as “the new Liverpool” in the mid 1970s, Akron and its music scene became internationally known. The punk shows consistently brought a larger crowd and, consequently, a larger profit to the Bank, and Allison eventually gave up jazz to embrace the punk scene in the late 1970s and the New Wave scene in the early 1980s. Local bands Hammer Damage, Chi-Pig, and Unit 5 were rotating headliners at the club, but major acts, such as Devo, Chrissie Hynde, Rachel Sweet, and Tin Huey, often returned to their hometown to perform at the Bank. New York City music journalists frequently visited and wrote about the Akron scene, and theatrical New Wave artist Klaus Nomi traveled to Akron to perform with Chi-Pig at the Bank in the summer of 1980. Nomi’s sold-out show and tour of the city prompted&nbsp;Beacon Mag, the Sunday magazine of the&nbsp;Akron Beacon Journal, to feature Nomi on the cover with the headline “This Guy Thinks Akron is Pretty Unusual.”&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The Bank closed its doors without notice in the early 1980s, and the punk scene moved east to JB’s in Kent, Ohio. The Anthony Wayne Hotel was closed only a few years later in 1985, and the building was demolished in 1996 along with its neighbors to make room for the Akron Aeros (now RubberDucks) Canal Park Stadium. Few photographs and videos of performances at the Bank exist compared to similarly vibrant punk scenes around the country. Although some grainy images of performances by major acts can be found, the scene was generally undocumented by the working class locals and college students who comprised the venue's audiences. Despite this, the “Akron sound” remains an important part of music history and the Bank is still fondly remembered by bands and fans alike.</div><div> </div>

The Bank first opened as a jazz club in the former Commercial Savings and Trust Company in downtown Akron, Ohio. After the primary punk bar in the city closed in the late 1970s, the Bank became the local venue for Akron punk bands and fans and welcomed large acts such as Devo, Chrissie Hynde, Rachel Sweet, and Tin Huey. When the Akron punk scene declined, the bar shuttered its doors, the Anthony Wayne Hotel above the bar closed in 1985, and the building was demolished in 1996 to make room for the Canal Park Stadium.

The Bank

The congregation of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church was founded in 1861 by 23 German Catholic families who had grown dissatisfied with the Irish Catholic, St. Vincent de Paul’s congregation. The parish had originally occupied a Gothic Revival Church across the street from the current church. This original church was constructed in 1862 for the 23 families that formed the parish. The funding for this original church began with a $500 donation given to the parish by King Louis of Bavaria. The first mass of this new parish was celebrated on January 1st of 1863. The first pastor was Reverend Louis Thiele, In 1863, a school was opened under the parish’s second pastor, Father Peter Dannenhoffer.   The parish outgrew their original church and began the construction of St. Bernard’s in 1901. The church was designed by parishioner William P. Ginther who designed the church in a German-Romanesque revival style. The church broke ground in 1901, with the cornerstone being laid in 1902. The placement of the cornerstone was a day of celebration in the community. A parade of 400 Knights of St. John, the Goodrich Band, Knights of Columbus as well as members of local Catholic congregations and many other organizations marched through the community in celebration for the church. More than 7,000 people attended the festivities of St. Bernard’s. The church was consecrated in October of 1905 and its doors were officially opened with a final construction cost of $150,000. The parish had went strong since its founding in the 1860s however, after World War 2, the population of the church started decreasing dramatically. The parish population had dwindled from 1000 families to around 300 in 1949. In 1949 a new pastor came to the parish, Edward Wolf, who took it upon himself to rejuvenate the parish. He did this in many various ways, Wolf was pivotal in remodeling both the church and the school, Wolf also changed the schedule of church activities in order to make it more accessible to the common people of Akron. Wolf also launched a project which found homes for 800 displaced Germans, who had lost their homes due to the war, through the International Relief Organization. By 1962 5,400 people called St. Bernard’s their parish.  The church underwent major renovations in 1990s at a cost of $1 million, however, the church still retains its original architectural style. St. Bernard’s continues to serve the Akron community through a variety of ways. The church runs a food pantry which provides meals to those in need as well as offering a number of support groups. The historic church stands today as a reminder of Akron’s German and spiritual roots.

The construction of St. Bernards Catholic Church began in 1901, with the church opening its doors officially for years later.  The congregation was established in 1861 by German Catholic families who had moved to the city and wanted a church of their own. The structure is designed in a German Romanesque revival style reminiscent of German churches along the Rhine river. Architect William P. Ginther designed the church at a final cost of $150,000. After facing declining membership as families moved from the downtown area following World War II, pastor Edward Wolf renovated the church in 1949 and added new times for mass to accommodate working-class families. As a result, the church reached a size of 5,400 people by 1962. The church underwent another set of renovations in the 1990s at the cost of $1 million and retains its historic appearance while adding modern amenities. 

St. Bernard's Catholic Church 

<div>The theatre sits among other buildings downtown and aside from the marquee, the exterior looks like any other building. The inside though features Mediterranean d&amp;eacute;cor and is fashioned after a Moorish castle. It also includes medieval carvings antiques from Europe and Italian alabaster sculptures. &lt;br /&gt;</div><div>	In June of 2001, the Civic Theatre closed to begin the most extensive and detailed restoration in the history of the theatre. It remained closed for the next sixteen months and around nineteen million dollars was spent restoring the seventy year old theatres infrastructure which was essentially failing. The reconstruction also brought the theatre up to modern performance and patron standards. The theatre finally reopened in November 2002 and remained a leader in the revitalization of downtown Akron which still continues today. &lt;br /&gt;</div><div>	The Akron Civic Theatre remains a main attraction in Akron and offers a variety of shows and performances. Comedians, musicians, theatre companies and ballets are among some of the various attractions that can be seen at the theatre throughout the year.&nbsp; Since the theatre is located in downtown Akron it is also within walking distance of various other attractions in the city as well as nightlife and restaurants.</div>

Built in 1929 by Marcus Loew and designed by famed theater architect, John Eberson, the Akron Civic Theatre is one of five remaining atmospheric theatres left in the country where visitors can experience a star-lit sky as well as clouds moving across the horizon while sitting in the auditorium.  

Akron Civic Theatre

The Gothic Building was constructed in 1902; architect Frank O. Weary designed the four-story brick building. Weary was also responsible for preparing the drawings that would later become the Akron Academy of Music. Weary also helped rebuild Chicago after the great fire of 1871. The property that The Gothic Building is currently standing on was purchased in 1902 by Jennie A. Dobson and Grace B. McIntosh for $6,000. The contract for the land stipulated that architecturally, the building had to be a brick building with a front harmonious and in substantial conformity with the Mill Street facing side of the Colonial Theater. The contract also stated that the building shall be finished by October 1, 1902.  The building was set up to have a 1st story as a commercial space that could fit four various stores. The other three stories were used as housing for Akron citizens. The building was initially inhabited by the middle management and other professionals who worked for the city of Akron. Four stores were occupying the bottom floor/commercial center when The Gothic Building first opened. Those initial stores were a barbershop, a Savings and Loan Company, a cigar shop, and a restaurant. The building slowly changed from a residential and shopping building to a more office-oriented space. The second floor began to occupy multiple offices, such as an insurance company and a real-estate business.  In 1929 the fourth floor of The Gothic Building had been turned into a comprehensive school of music by the Akron Institute of Music. The purpose of this institute was to teach music theory, harmony, voice, and orchestra training. By 1931 all of the apartment floors in The Gothic Building had been occupied by the institute. The site later became home to Edfred’s Record Store in 1941 and All-Ohio Athletic Equipment in 1962. The Gothic Building has housed a variety of other businesses since. The Gothic Building still stands in Akron, occupying a similar purpose as to what it was initially constructed for. In 2007, Tony Troppe purchased The Gothic Building as part of Gothic City Revival Group LLC, a group of private investors. In recent years, the building has hosted numerous musicians as a venue and serves as the headquarters for Leadership Akron.

Constructed in 1902, this Akron building was constructed as a multi-level apartment complex as well as a commercial space. The first stores to occupy this building were a barbershop, a savings and loan company, a cigar shop, and a restaurant. Over the years, the building's conversion from retail to office space reflected the transition of the neighborhood and growth of Akron. By the 1920s, the second floor began to occupy multiple offices that reflected the city's growth, such as an insurance company and a real-estate business. In 1929 the fourth floor of the Gothic Building became a music school for the Akron Institute of Music. The Gothic Building later became home to Edfred’s Record Store in 1941 and All-Ohio Athletic Equipment in 1962. In the decades that followed, the building continued to serve as office and commercial space and was restored to more closely match its stately tunn-of-the-century appearance in recent years. 

The Gothic Building 

In 1936 the Quaker Oats Company built a new storage facility. The company was Akron Based and was founded in 1856 by Ferdinand Schumacher. The storage facility was fairly large with thirty six grain silos each standing 120' tall and 24' in diameter. The storage facility only remained open until 1970 when the company moved to Chicago. Since then the building has gone through many changes and renovations.

	Once Quaker Oats moved to Chicago, their storage building was purchased by private investors and completely transformed. Throughout the next five years it was transformed into a hotel, restaurant and shopping complex. It fully opened in 1975 and became known as Quaker Square. The thirty six silos were changed into 196 hotel room, 6 suites, and also included meeting spaces and dining areas. There were also two restaurant located within the building as well as Christmas store and a general store. 

	The Quaker Square complex remained open and a popular attraction in Akron for many years until 2007 when it was purchased by the University of Akron which is located within walking distance. Before the university's purchase there was talk of the building being completely shut down but has been saved yet again. Soon the University of Akron's plans to turn the grain silos into a dorm that will house almost 400 students. This will be the second time in the history of the building that it will be completely transformed. The process of remodeling the rooms to become dorms is currently in the works. 

	Quaker Square is still a prominent fixture within the city of Akron. Although the interior is most likely closed to visitors, it is still worth a visit to see the exterior of an old silo used by the Quaker Oats Company. It is located within walking distance of downtown Akron and has been place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Quaker Square

The building itself was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1983. It was designed by James Wetmore in Roman Neo-Classical Revival
style. It features a granite terrace and Tuscan columnns on pedestals among
other architectural details. 

Neglect eventually caught up with the building and Sandvick
Architects were brought in to preserve and update the building. They redid the
67,000 square foot interior to house the medical offices in 2007. Improvements
included restoration of the front lobby and existing storefronts as well as
refurbishing the large lanterns at the terrace. 

&nbsp;

The old Akron Post Office and Federal Building is today privately owned and used as medical offices for Summa Health Systems. It was originally purchased in 1913 with federal funds to be a post office. However, it was built and opened until 1929 thanks to delays caused by World War I. It remained a Post Office until 1975. It was also a commercial display studio for several years before being turned into medical offices in the early 2000s. 

Akron Post Office and Federal Building

In the 1920s and 30s, the institute was still using borrowed space and struggling financially; however, they were able to offer exhibits and classes to the public. The original collection did not contain many items and were all gifted to the institute. In 1937, they moved to a permanent location, but unfortunately, the building burnt down and the institute lost many pieces of its collection. Following WWII, the institute began to rebuild and refocus with a new mission centered on educating the public in&nbsp;fine art and design. 
 In the mid-twentieth century, the institute-now also a professional school for fine art and design-moved back into the old Akron public library. The building was renovated to be able to house their collections and exhibits. Then, in the 60s, the institute refocused their mission again, this time converting into a museum of fine art. Their goal was to collect art that was made in and after 1850. The Akron Art Institute became the Akron Art Museum in 1980, and in 1981, the museum moved to its current location, the renovated post office building.

Today, the museum continues collecting fine art to be exhibited and has expanded its location along with its influence.&nbsp;It now features 20,000 square feet of gallery space that’s designated for art produced since 1850.o the display. The museum also hosts visiting shows from national and international collections which are quite fascinating. Major temporary exhibitions are housed on the second floor of the Knight Building which is &nbsp;63,000-square-foot &nbsp;building was designed by the Viennese architectural firm&nbsp;Coop Himmelb(l)au. The building along with the majority of the art is quite modern. The small museum has endured the struggles and is now a blossoming institute. They are doing so well, that on Thursdays admission is free to the public.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Established in 1922, Akron Art Museum has become a cultural institution serving the public in furthering the knowledge of fine arts. Despite several challenges, including the lean years of the Great Depression when the organization had to make do without paid staff and a fire that destroyed the museum's first permanent home, the Akron Art Museum has become one of the leading cultural institutions in the region and the museum's collections have expanded far beyond the capacity of the original two-room showcase in the basement of the former public library. Since 1981, the museum has been located in the city's former downtown post office. In 2007, however, the museum opened the Knight Building next to the former post office which was substantially renovated to reflect the Knight Building's modern design.  

Akron Art Museum

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in the year of 1797 in Ulster County, New York. Once she escaped&nbsp;to her freedom Truth became the first African American woman to win a lawsuit in the United States. This&nbsp;lawsuit, filed in 1827,&nbsp;was to free her son Peter from slavery as he had been illegally sold. Less than a decade later,&nbsp;in 1835 she&nbsp;won a second lawsuit against a newspaper for slander. By this point, Truth was already&nbsp;becoming a public figure. In 1844, she joined&nbsp;the utopian abolitionist organization the Northhampton Association for Education and Industry and became acquainted with famous abolitionist writers and orators such as Fredrick Douglass and William Llyod Garrison.&nbsp; After joining the Northampton association, her career as an orator took off. Although a captivating orator, Truth was illiterate had her grandson Sammy Banks accompany her on her travels to assist with reading and writing. In 1850, she dictated her autobiography to an acquaintance from the now disbanded Northhampton Association, Olive Gilbert. It was titled The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, A Northern Slave. In 1851 at a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio, she gave one of her most famous speeches, “And Ain’t I a Woman?” &nbsp;at the Universalist Stone Church, which is now a vacant building entitled the “Sojourner Truth Building.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Although the most famous version of this speech is still referenced today by writers and figures such as Toni Morrison, there is much controversy surrounding its publication. There was no original copy written by Truth since she could not write and the speech had impromptu references to ministers who had spoken before her. The two published references to her speech provide two very different accounts that differ in tone and dialect. The president of the convention, Frances Gage, published a version of the speech twelve years after it was given. This version, which is the one commonly used now, contains a southern dialect. Problematically, Sojourner Truth was born in New York and spoke Dutch until she was nine years old. It is unlikely she would have spoken with a Southern dialect. A second version, published by a reporter only a few months after, seems to present a more accurate version containing more of a northern dialect.&nbsp;Although it can never be proven which version rings truest, the speech is still an important piece of literature, used over centuries, to advocate for the equality and strength of African-American women. This marker was created in 1981 with the help of the&nbsp;Akron Women's Alliance, Alpha Phi Alpha, The Summit County Historical Society, "The Dinner Party" Board, and The Ohio Historical Society. It can be found on the empty Sojourner Truth Building that stands in the place that used to hold the Universalist Stone Church, where Truth's historic speech was given.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This building was constructed in 1916 and renovated in the early 1990s and named in honor of Sojourner Truth, the famous abolitionist and women's rights orator who is credited with making a speech challenging the exclusion of women of color from antebellum women's movement. Born into slavery in or around 1797,  Truth escaped with her daughter in 1826 and later made a living by traveling and giving speeches at conventions and selling portraits of herself at the gatherings. Truth was present at the women's rights convention that took place in this location in 1851 at the Universalist Stone Church which stood at this site prior to the construction of the present building that now bears her name. While Truth's exact speech was lost to history, an account of the proceedings published a month after the convention confirms that she did address the convention. A later account of the speech includes Truth's use of the phrase "Ain't I a Woman" as a refrain used to counter the exclusion of women of color from the antebellum women's movement and from notions of womanhood framed by whites. 

Sojourner Truth Building; of Sojourner Truth's Women's Rights Speech "Ain't I a Woman?" 

The Portage Hotel in Akron, Ohio, stood as the only example of the Georgian Revival style in downtown Akron. The Buffalo, New York architecture firm Esenwein &amp; Johnson in 1911. The building officially opened its doors on July, 11th 1912; the building derives its name from the nearby Native American portage trail. The eight-story, 250 room hotel cost $700,000 to construct. The hotel also housed a banquet hall that could seat 275 and a restaurant that sat 125. To furnish the rooms of this hotel, the financiers paid $125,000.  	The Portage Hotel was a significant site for labor relations during the rubber boom in Akron. This first occurred in 1913, when the hotel hosted the Ohio State Senate hearings on the International Workers of the World’s rubber factory strike. In the 1930s, the bar inside the Portage Hotel was known as a location for labor leaders to meet and work on strategy. The bar was named the Rubber Room and was host to many deals struck for unions. In 1935 the ‘Council of Unions’ met inside the Portage Hotel, to begin the process of creating an international rubber workers union. The next year in 1936, the ballroom in the Portage was host to the signing of the charter that created the United Rubber Workers of America. To further show the divide between the laborers and the owners, during labor negotiations, the union took up residence in the Portage while executives from Goodyear took suites in the newer Mayflower hotel.  	The building went through many changes throughout the years. In 1926 the original architecture group Esenwein &amp; Johnson designed an addition for the building in order to add more rooms. This new addition was built on top of the ballroom of the Portage. In 1963 the infamous Rubber Room bar was dismantled and replaced with a coffee shop. The Portage Hotel closed its doors for good in 1969. The building was repurposed as a nursing home. However, this endeavor ultimately failed and went under in 1978. In 1992 the Portage Hotel was demolished. The lot in which the Portage Hotel used to set is now home to the SummaCare building, which was constructed in 2002.

Constructed in 1912, the Portage Hotel was home to many historic moments in Akron's history. The hotel featured 250 rooms, the final cost for the hotel tallied in at $700,000. The most significant aspect of the Portage Hotel is the crucial role it played in labor relations during the rubber boom in Akron. Many important deals were struck inside the Portage, including hosting the Ohio State Senate hearings on the International Workers of the World’s rubber factory strike. The most infamous room housed in the hotel was the Rubber Room, this bar was home to many deals struck for unions. The building went through numerous changes throughout the years; an addition was constructed in 1926, in order to add more rooms to the hotel. In 1963 the Rubber Room bar was dismantled and replaced with a coffee shop. The Portage Hotel closed permanently in 1969 and was transformed into a short-lived nursing home.   In 1992 the Portage Hotel was demolished. The lot in which the Portage Hotel used to set is now home to the SummaCare building, which was constructed in 2002. 

The Portage Hotel (1912-1992)

The church is in Romanesque Revival style built with Berea, Ohio sandstone. A keystone above the tower window represents the head of Christ. Keystones of six windows on either side are believed to represent the 12 apostles. The bell in the tower was cast in Baltimore and christened in 1886. The tower clock still sounds on the hour but the original clockworks have been replaced. The original stained glass windows were replaced in 1946.St. Vincent was also the home of Akron’s first Catholic school which was added in 1853. Other additions through the years include a brick rectory, a red brick school, a brick convent and a high school building and a gymnasium. A new copper roof and front steps were also added in the 1940s. The high school later merged with St. Mary’s. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School was the high school of NBA star LeBron James.St. Vincent Cemetery is located about on half-mile west of the church at the intersection of West Market Street and Merriman Road. It is small and is the final resting place for many Irish immigrants.

St. Vincent de Paul is Akron’s oldest Catholic Church. The parish began as a mission visited by Father Basil Shorb in 1837. It was first in the Diocese of Cincinnati. It was switched to the Diocese of Cleveland when it began in 1847. The cornerstone was laid for the present building in 1864. The first Mass was celebrated on Oct. 20, 1867. LeBron James graduated from here in 2003. He thrived as a freshman until the end of his senior season. Went through some adversity with accepting money and had to miss games his junior season but over came it. He won two state championships and one national championship during his time at St.Vincent de Paul. He was ranked #1 in the nation and was claimed as ''The King'' or ''Chosen One''.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish

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. &nbsp;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.

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. 

Oak Place

Dr. Jedediah D. Commins came to Akron by way of western New York in 1832, establishing Akron's first drug store not long thereafter. In October 1837, his son Augustus died after a brief illness, and Commins felt like Akron had no suitable burial grounds, so he kept his son's remains at home for more than a year in a cask of alcohol. In 1838, he visited Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the goal of selecting a pattern for a tomb, and had the idea of establishing a similar cemetery in Akron. The cemetery was established the following year. after the state of Ohio granted the charter.The Caretaker's Lodge was added in 1869, while the Memorial Chapel was added in 1875. The Bell Tower was added in 1883. The cemetery’s Civil War Memorial Chapel, an 18,000-square-foot structure constructed in Gothic style, is prominent. It has recently been renovated. The gravesites of Akron’s founder Simon Perkins as well as Goodyear Rubber founder Frank A. Seiberling can be found here as well, as can the gravesite of O.C. Barber, the founder of nearby Barberton.The cemetery, once known as Akron Rural Cemetery, was initially in a rural area. There was a stream and two lakes - Willow Lake and Swan Lake. With increased development, the natural spring that fed the lakes dried up, and the area is now known as the Great Meadow. There had been a proposal to use the Erie Canal to re-water the lakes, but this plan was never brought to fruition.Glendale Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the early 2000s. Though it was in a rural area when it was formed, the city has grown around it. It is a popular spot for walkers and joggers and does host special events, including a summer jazz festival in the Great Meadow.

Glendale Cemetery, originally known as Akron Rural Cemetery, is Akron’s oldest cemetery and dates back to 1839. It was founded by Dr. Jedediah D. Commins. It features 150 acres and is the final resting place of many of Akron’s prominent citizens. It includes many states, chapels and other memorials as well as the “Great Meadow,” which was once home to two small lakes, Willow Lake and Swan Lake. The lakes dried up and it was turned into a meadow. The cemetery itself, and four buildings adjacent to it - the Caretaker's Lodge, the Memorial Chapel, the Bell Tower, and the Cemetery Office - are all on the National Register of Historic Places.

Glendale Cemetery

The elder Simon Perkins is regarded as the founding father of Akron owing to the land surveys he supervised in the early 1820s.&nbsp;He began work as a surveyor much earlier, conducting surveys in western Connecticut for the Erie Land Company. Perkins helped prepare land surveys throughout this region of Ohio and and facilitated many of the important real estate transactions that led to Akron's growth in the early 1820s. He also served as a General in the War of 1812. He lived most of his adult years in Ohio, where he served as&nbsp;president of the Western Reserve Bank&nbsp;for over twenty years.&nbsp;Perkins' son, also Simon Perkins, followed in his father's footsteps. He took a leadership position in organizing&nbsp;Summit County in 1840. He promoted the area to developers and helped bring the Ohio and Erie Canal to Akron. Thanks to the canal, Akron became a center of industry with many mills producing products that could be shipped via the canal.&nbsp;The interior of the home was restored in 1986. The exterior
is rough faced sandstone. A notable highlight is the home’s two-story portico.
There are two chimney stacks and viewing platform in between. An office
building and a wash house with a windmill are also on the property. The home is available for guided public tours and hosts
several special events and school tours throughout the year. The home is on the
National Register of Historic Places.

The Summit County Historical Society also operates the John Brown House, home of the famous abolitionist, and the Old Stone School. The John Brown House is also open for tours. The Summit County Historical Society offers school outreach programs as well as school field trips and various educational programming.The Society also conducts exhibits at various locations and has an extensive collection of documents and photographs at the Akron-Summit County Public Library. The Society hosts special events throughout the year and works in partnership with other area historical societies and properties.

This historic mansion was built for Colonel Simon Perkins, son of Akron founder General Simon Perkins, in 1837. The home offers an outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture combined with elements of the Federal style. The mansion was occupied by the Perkins family until 1945. The home is now owned by the Summit County Historical Society and utilized as a museum that is open to the public. Summit County Historical Society was founded 1924 to preserve and interpret the area's local history. 

Perkins Stone Mansion and Summit County Historical Society

John Brown lived at this Akron residence between 1844 and 1854 and spent much of his life in Summit County. He was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800, and moved to this area and became involved in the wool trade. During a business trip to Springfield, Massachusetts, he met abolitionists and came to agree with their belief that slavery was contrary to God's will. By 1850, he became an active supporter of the anti-slavery network known as the Underground Railroad. He later moved to Kansas with the goal of supporting the opponents of slavery who were attempting to make Kansas a free state.While in Akron, Brown worked in the wool trade with Simon Perkins Jr., the son of Akron’s founder. Perkins later fired Brown and he moved on to New York. Brown later was famously involved in a bloody conflict over slavery in Kansas Territory. It is believed that people in Akron raised cash and weapons to help Brown’s cause.Brown fled the United States for Canada for a time but returned in 1859 to lead the famous raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in what is now West Virginia. The failed raid took place on Oct. 16, 1859. Brown was captured and later hanged for his actions. The controversy of Brown's trial helped fracture the Democratic Party, which helped lead to the election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.While African Americans praised Brown for his attempt to challenge slavery, white Americans were divided on both slavery and Brown's tactics. With white Southerners citing Brown's attempted revolution as evidence that Northerners represented a threat to their way of life, Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry fanned the flame of sectionalism that led to the Civil War.The John Brown House was built in 1830 by Benjamin Greene and Salmon Hoisington, and had a number of owners after Brown, including the Portage Country Club. The Summit County Historical Society has operated the house since 1971.

In 1844, this home on Diagonal Road in Akron became the home of John Brown, an abolitionist who later led attacks on pro-slavery partisans in territorial Kansas and attempted to lead a revolutionary raid against the institution of slavery in Harpers Ferry in what was then Virginia, an event that helped spark the Civil War. Today, the home is owned and operated by The Summit County Historical Society. The home is open for public tours and has been designated by the National Park Service as a Network to Freedom site. Learn more about Brown and the Summit County Historical Society by reading the description and clicking the links below. 

John Brown House, Summit County Historical Society

The Westmont building was constructed in 1930; the building was commissioned by Dr. Fred M. Capron. Cleveland architect Lymann Walker designed the Tudor style building. Walker was known for his designing of apartment complexes. The Westmont was designed in the Tudor Revival style, evident in its embellished masonry work and its projecting glass bay windows.  	The Westmont was constructed to be an apartment complex for the residents of Akron, Ohio. Its construction came during a boom of apartment complexes occurring in Akron at the time. Four new apartments were constructed over the course of three years, each with its own distinct style, Neo-Gothic for the Ambassador, Spanish Renaissance for the Seville and Hispano-Moresque for the Alcazar. The Westmont was constructed near the improving and expansive trolley lines in Akron. However, the Westmont offered a two-level parking garage for the cars of those living inside the Westmont.     	Dr. Norman F. Rodenbaugh bought the building in 1934. Dr. Rodenbaugh's family owned the Westmont for the next 50 years. The building was bought from the Rodenbaugh family in 1983 by Harold Rasmussen Jr. Rasmussen began a restoration of the building maintaining the architectural style of the Westmont while still updating the building. The Westmont is now set to undertake a new purpose, NBA star Lebron James plans to convert the Westmont into the "I Promise Village by Graduate Hotels" for students and families of the I Promise School. The building is set to re-open in 2020, starting a new chapter for this historic building.

The Westmont building was and currently is an apartment building in Akron, Ohio. The Westmont was constructed in 1930 under its owner Dr. Fred M. Capron. Architect Lymann Walker designed the building in the Tudor Revival style. The Westmont was erected near the extensive Akron trolley lines; however, a key feature of the Westmont was its two-level parking garage. The building was sold to Dr. Norman F. Rodenbaugh in 1934; the Rodenbaugh family continued to own the building for the next 50 years when it was then sold to Harold Rasmussen Jr.  Rasmussen renovated the building while still keeping the original style.  The Westmont is now set to undertake a new purpose, NBA star Lebron James plans to convert the Westmont into the "I Promise Village by Graduate Hotels" for students and families of the I Promise School. The building is set to re-open in 2020, starting a new chapter for this historic building. 

Akron University and Downtown Driving Tour

Akron-Summit County Public Library

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information