Akron was founded by Simon Perkins, commissioner of the Ohio Canal Fund in 1825 and had its beginnings as a canal town. Many of the town's earliest residents were Irish migrants employed to build the nearby Ohio and Erie Canal.
The Ohio and Erie Canal was completed in 1827 and of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal in 1840, linking it with Pittsburgh.
Akron was chartered as a village in 1836, became the county seat in 1842, and was chartered as a city in 1865. From 79 acres of land donated by descendants of the community’s founder, the Perkins Woods Park first began in 1900.
Its location along the canal meant that many farmers brought their crops to Akron to be milled and then transported to other markets. The price of goods arriving from the East was much reduced due to the lower transportation costs. Manufacturing interests such as mills, furnaces, and textiles also emerged.
In 1852 the first railroad line was built for Akron, a branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh line. The abundant water supply and the arrival of the railroads prompted Benjamin F. Goodrich to move a small rubber factory to the site in 1871.
As the popularity of cars grew, Akron became known as the “Rubber Capitol of the World.” Akron's rubber industry includes B.F. Goodrich Tire, Firestone Tire, General Tire, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
Between 1910 and 1920, the city's population tripled as demand for tires for automobiles soared. The city earned the nickname "Rubber Capital of the World."
In 1870, The University of Akron was founded as Buchtel College by the Ohio Universalist Convention and opened in 1872.
Akron, Ohio in history
