At the same time, the city will thank three Akron police officers whose persistence in restoring the tribute to one of Akron's very first residents will have been rewarded.

It was July 4, 1825, when the plat of the first Akron was filed in the Portage County courthouse (Summit did not become a county until 1840) by Gen. Simon Perkins, known by every Akron 4^th grader as the man who founded the city and who named it for its being a high point on the new Ohio & Erie Canal.  (Akros is Greek for "high place." Akron is almost 400 feet above Lake Erie.)

Missing from most people's memory is the man who owned one-third of the land on that original plat - Paul Williams, who, as did Perkins, came here from Connecticut. Unlike Perkins, Williams actually brought his family here and settled on the land that is now Akron.  Williams arrived in 1812 and built a log cabin near what is now the intersection of Buchtel Avenue and Broadway.

The City passed an ordinance in 1873  to remember Paul Williams by placing his name on the short dead-end street that runs south of Exchange Street, just west of Main Street, which was actually mis-named "William Street" by a clerk.  While there is the Perkins Mansion, Perkins Square, Perkins School, and Perkins Street named for the General, nothing has been named for the man who lived here and helped found the city.

Today marks the end of the quest by three Akron police officers to correct the oversight.  Sgt. Tom Dye of the Traffic Bureau, Patrolman Bob Noland, and Patrolman Jim Gilbride combined forces to assemble the research and persuade Akron City Council to re-name the short stretch "Paul Williams Street," which city council did January 23, 2006.

No one knows how or why the street was originally re-named, but Akron Beacon Journal writer John Higgins, writing in a December 2005 story, reported that his research of the old newspapers showed that the city council put names on streets en masse, in December, 1886, and included among them was the newly-named Orleans Avenue. Legendary Beacon Journal columnist Kenneth Nichols opined that the street was named "after a visiting French duke," but no one knows who or why.

Paul Williams bought 109 acres of land in 1812 for $2.50/ acre, and engaged in farming on land that is now mostly occupied by the University of Akron.  He died in 1828 and was survived by his widow, Sarah and two daughters, Clarissa and Hannah.  He was predeceased by a son, Barnabas.

Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville will preside over Monday's unveiling ceremonies, to be held at the corner of Orleans - - or Paul Williams Street - - and West Exchange in Downtown Akron.