Charles Goodyear Park

Charles Goodyear Park is a small public park adjacent to the Summit County Courthouse and Ocasek Goverment Building. Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) was an American inventor and manufacturer. He is noted for discovering the process of vulcanization. Though he never visited Akron, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was named in his honor.

Inside the park is a figure of Charles Goodyear dressed in long pants, a vest, a jacket with tails, and wearing full sideburns, stands with his proper right hand extended out in front of him holding a piece of rubber, while his proper left hand hangs by his side. Behind the figure and base are three large slabs of granite forming a background.

Sculptor: Walter Russell (1871-1963). Dedicated Feb. 23, 1939.