The Howe House settled into its new quarters Friday afternoon, along the bank of the Ohio & Erie Canal near West Exchange Street, just east of Children's Hospital.
The Howe House made its way down Exchange Street last month. It sat at the top of the embankment for a few weeks while construction crews prepared the foundation.
The Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition took up the job of restoring the Richard Howe House to serve as a visitors' information center, meeting space and office facilities for the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition. The Coalition has raised $1,315,000 for the restoration of the Richard Howe House and needs raise $285,000 more for its capital campaign.
Howe's responsibilities included engineering and designing the canal prism and locks between Massillon and Cleveland, including the fifteen-step lift locks built in the Cascade Locks, the configuration of Summit Lake and the floating boardwalk and the portage of the Ohio & Erie Canal over the Continental Divide.
In addition to his association with the Ohio & Erie Canal, Richard Howe was also active in a variety of civic activities, including the construction of the Summit County Courthouse and Jail, Akron Rural Cemetery, Akron Lyceum and Library Association and led a group of Akron residents to California to search for gold in 1850. Richard Howe's influence on the transportation history of Akron and northeast Ohio is significant and has a lasting impact on the social and economic development of the region.
Both the exterior and the interior of the Richard Howe House have substantial architectural elements and fabric that directly relate to the era of the Ohio & Erie Canal. Nearly all of the extant exterior features, including the stone lintels, door surrounds, and window fenestration, illustrate high-style elements of Federal architecture.
For more information, please contact Dan Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer at Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition at (330) 434-5657.
