Akron is the County Seat of Summit County. It was founded by
Simon Perkins in 1825 and platted in July.
The name comes from a Greek word meaning “high.” It was
located on the Ohio-Erie Canal which was being built at the same time,
and in 1837 the Pennsylvania-Ohio Canal was built through the town.
Factories and Cereal mills sprang up along the canals in Akron and
developed during the Civil War, such as those of Ferdinand
Schumacher, the “Oatmeal King,” later consolidated under the American
Cereal Co., aka Quaker Oats.
When the railroads
started replacing the canal system in the 1890s, the rubber industry
began under the leadership of Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, F. A. Seiberling, and
Harvey Firestone. Their companies, B. F. Goodrich Tire, Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Company, Firestone Tire, and General Tire caused Akron to become known
as the “Rubber Capital of the World.” were also located in Akron.
