Release Date: December 8,2025
Akron History Center Is "Home Base" for Downtown Walking Tours
Akron, Ohio, December 8, 2025 - Winter visits to Downtown Akron presents families with an opportunity to discover all the historic markers, monuments and exhibits in Downtown “A good place to start is the Akron History Center,” says its president Dave Lieberth. “We have 62 exhibits, 30 flat video screens, 22 PowerPoints, and 150 artifacts on display.” The Center, located at 172 South Main - adjacent to Lock 3 and the Civic Theatre is open 10:30am – 1:30pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays.
A historic walking tour of landmarks, monuments and markers has been prepared by the Akron History Center. (Attached)
Through the end of the year, submissions are being accepted for Akron’s Bicentennial Time Capsule to be opened in the year 2050. Families may provide letters, essays or photos to be included in the capsule. Submissions are accepted at Lock 3 and at the Summit County Historical Society office at the Perkins Stone Mansion.
A Walking Tour of Historic Locations in Downtown Akron
• The Akron History Center, 172 S. Main, at Lock 4, adjacent to Lock 3 and the Civic Theatre • The canal Towpath continues to Lock 2 behind Canal Park stadium.
• At Lock 2, explorers can take the trail on the west side of the lock to the Considine Building on Bowery. Along the way there are two historic markers to Irish immigrants who built the canal, and who endured the difficulties of migration following the Irish potato famine.
• On Bowery Street at the corner of State Street, there is a plaque remembering the Polio Epidemic when Children’s Hospital played a major role for the State of Ohio.
• On West Exchange Street east of Bowery are the offices of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, an 1836 high-style Federal structure that was the home of Canal engineer Richard Howe. • On Main Street at Exchange, there is a plaque on the side of the Evans building marking the location of Henry Clark’s Tavern, where Akron’s first mayor was elected in 1836.
• On East Exchange at High Street, there is a plaque honoring the work of John S. Knight, publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal.
• On Broadway at Buchtel Avenue is the 1840’s “Old Stone School,” owned by the Summit County Historical Society and operated with the Akron Public Schools.
• On South High Street at University Ave is the Eternal Flame dedicated to Akron police officers who gave their lives in service to residents.
• At the cul-de-sac on University Avenue at the Goodyear Polymer Center is the historic marker commemorating the U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program during World War II.
• At the Summit County Courthouse on High Street, is the city’s memorial to those who died from Summit County in World War II. The plaques once graced the front of the University of Akron’s Memorial Hall until it was demolished for new development.
• On High Street at the Courthouse is the “Spirit of the American Doughboy” statue honoring veterans of World War I.
• On High Street at the Courthouse is the “Centennial Boulder” erected in 1925. • Inside the courthouse is a plaque honoring Wendell Wilkie, a lawyer advocate and a presidential candidate in 1940.
• Adjacent to the Courthouse there is a statue to Charles Goodyear, who never visited Akron, but whose invention of vulcanization led to the city’s becoming the world’s Rubber Capital. • On Mill Street at High is a state historic marker recalling the sit-down strikes by the United Rubber Workers. For many years this was the location of the URW’s national headquarters. • On North Main Street, adjacent to the Akron Public Schools Administration building, is a historic marker remembering the founding of the United Rubber Workers Union by John L. Lewis at the Portage Hotel in 1935.
• On North High Street at the United Way Plaza is the statue created by Akron artist Woodrow Nash dedicated to Sojourner Truth
• On Perkins Street at Prospect is a state historic marker to Wesley Temple AME Church. • On Perkins Street at North Howard Street is the monument to the Matthews Hotel that hosted America’s jazz music greats in the 1930’s and 40’s, and nearby is a state historic marker remembering Howard Street’s Jazz history.
• On North Howard at North Street is the Mustill Store and the Cascade Locks Park, with a memorial to Ferdinand Schumaker’s cereal mills.
For more information, go to www.akronhistorycenter.org