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Situated south of Cleveland, along the Ohio-Erie Canal, Akron was the fastest growing city
in America during the 19-teens and 20's. The rubber industry attracted people from
all over the world to work here. From 1910 to 1920, Akron's population went from
69,000 to 210,000. By the mid 20's, Akron's population was in the 300,000s.
| Akron: |
The
name "Akron" was derived from a Greek work meaning "high." History of Akron |
| State |
Ohio |
| County |
Summit |
| Current Population |
212,000 (2002-2003)
217,074 (2000) |
| City
size: |
62.41
square miles (2000) |
| Founded |
1825 History of
Akron |
| Weather: |
Moderate:
(cityrating.com)
Spring-Summer-Fall average 63.5 degrees
Fall-Winter-Spring average 35.9 degrees |
| Best Nickname: |
University of Akron "Zips" |
| 10 million people live within a 150 mile radius of Akron |
| 50% of American
population lives within a 500 mile radius of Akron |
| Fifth largest city in Ohio |
| Home of the Akron
Aeros, the Cleveland Indians AA Minor League baseball team. |
| Home to the Ohio Ballet |
| Home to the Akron
Symphony Orchestra |
| Once known as the "Rubber Capital of the World," now a
world-renowned center for polymer research and development. There are 400 polymer
related companies located in the Akron area. |
| Ranked ninth in the
nation by Site Selection Magazine for locating new manufacturing plants in 1994 |
| Ranked 16th by Farmers Insurance Group of Companies as the Most Secure Place to Live
(Large Metro Area) in June of 2005. |
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Akron is the home
of...
- Ice cream cones, hamburgers and caramel corn snacks were
invented in Akron by Charles E. Menches
- The first graded school system in the United States and
where the concept of a school superintendent was created
- The highest point on the Ohio-Erie Canal
- The first synthetic rubber tire, marketed in 1940
- The first balloon tire in 1924
- The first long distance electric railway in the world, the
ABC Line -- Akron, Bedford, Cleveland
- The birthplace of the trucking industry
- The world's largest model train display at the Depot, at
Quaker Square (former site of the Quaker Oats Co.)
- One of the largest buildings without interior supports, the
Loral Airdock -- where Goodyear once built blimps --- is 22 stories high and could
accommodate four football games at once.
Height and atmosphere actually produce rain inside.
- The first breakfast cereal, now Quaker Oats
- Processed cereals developed by Akron's Ferdinand Schumacher,
the oatmeal king
- Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in Akron by "Dr.
Bob" (Smith) and "Bill W." (Wilson) in 1935
- America's first toy company, S.C. Dyke Co., manufacturer of
marbles.
- The first automobile police patrol wagon, in 1899
- Derby Downs, home of the All-American Soap Box Derby, the
world's greatest amateur racing event
- The first artificial fish bait, made by Pfleuger Fishing
Tackle Company
- Abolitionist John Brown, and the site of Sojourner Truth's
"Ain't I a Woman" speech on freedom from slavery (1851)
- Inventure Place, the world's first transactive science
museum, and is the home of the National Inventors Hall of Fame
- The NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone Country Club every
August
- The largest small business incubator in the state and one of
the largest in the world.
- Stan Hywet Hall and Garden, considered the finest example of
Tudor Revival architecture in America, built by Frank A. Seiberling, founder of the
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
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Claims to Fame
- The Black Keys - a blues-rock duo from Akron - win 4 Grammy Awards in
February of 2011.
- Art Arfons - three time land speed record holder with his
green monster series of jet powered cars - born in Akron, Ohio (1926 - 2007).
- In 1982 Akron natives Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia wrote
and recorded the top 10 hit "Pac Man Fever." It sold over 3 million singles and
albums world wide and today remains a pop culture favorite. Jerry and Gary also produced
the hit recording of the theme to the long running television show, "WKRP In
Cincinnati." In 1985 Anne Murray reached the top 15 with a song written by Jerry
called, "On and On."
- LeBron James, number one overall selection in the 2003 NBA Draft,
joins the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron, born and raised in Akron, was drafted after
graduating from Saint Vincent - Saint Mary High School.
- Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders
- Devo
- Grammy Award-winning singer, James Ingram
- Clark Gable worked in Akron before making it big in
Hollywood
- Character actor and longtime "Maytag Repairman"
Jesse White
- "Third Rock From the Sun" actor John Lithgow lived
here
- Supermodel and actress Angie Everhart
- ABC's Hugh Downs
- Former Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian
- Former Miami Dolphins running back Larry Csonka
- Former NBA greats Gus Johnson and Nate Thurmond
- Guinness Book of World Records "Most Traveled
Person" Parke Thompson
- The late Challenger astronaut Judy Resnik
- Thomas Edison married an Akron woman, Mina Miller, in Akron,
Ohio
- Rita Dove, the Pulitzer Prize winning Poet Laureate
- Ruby and The Romantics
- Linda Lorenz-Sengpiel - The Akron yo-yo champion, never
defeated in during her lifetime, offered $100,000 to anyone who could match her skills. No
one ever collected.
- Actress, Melina Kanakaredes
- Philip Shawn (known in Akron as Jack "Pat" Waltz),
starred in the 1950 movie,The Sun Sets at Dawn. During the 1950s and 1960s Shawn
also made frequent TV appearances in shows such as Perry Mason, McHale's Navy,
Gomer Pyle, Lassie, The Twilight Zone, The Mod Squad
and many others.
- Punk-rock guitarist, Robert Quine (1942-2004)
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