The new Akron History Center opened on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in downtown Akron at 172 South Main Street. Its mission is to create an enduring, free, museum-quality exhibit about Akron’s history. Operated by the Akron-Summit County Public Library in collaboration with the Summit County Historical Society and the non-profit Akron History Center, incorporated in 2023, the Akron History Center features more than 60 exhibits showcasing more than 100 historical artifacts, accompanied by stories told on over 30 video screens. Akron History Center, governed by a 15-member board of volunteers, raised $2.2 million. The initial investment was a $500,000 grant from Akron, followed by support from Akron’s foundations, businesses and local residents. The Akron History Center became possible when the Bowery Development Group acquired six historic buildings on Main Street in 2016.
Barrie Projects of Cleveland Heights conceived the design of the center. Dennis and Kathy Barrie also created the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement in Las Vegas, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the National Museum of Psychology in Akron. Communication Exhibits of Canal Fulton designed and fabricated the exhibits. The company has created exhibits for industry and museums for more than 40 years.
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Benjamin O. Greene and Salmon Hoisington built this house circa 1830. The Perkins family, a well-known local family, rented it from 1835 to 1837 as their Stone House (now known as the Perkins Stone Mansion) was being built. Colonel Simon Perkins purchased the house, which was originally a two-room structure, in early 1844 and then rented it to abolitionist John Brown and his family. Brown, recovering from bankruptcy in 1844, entered into a wool partnership with Perkins. Brown lived in the house on and off from 1844 until 1854. The house was expanded over the years, and the Portage Golf Club, a Portage Country Club predecessor, operated in the house for more than two decades, starting in 1884.
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Colonel Simon Perkins, the son of Akron’s co-founder, General Simon Perkins, built the Greek Revival Perkins Stone Mansion, which was built between 1835 and 1837. Isaac Ladd of Warren, Ohio, possibly designed the mansion. The Summit County Historical Society purchased the mansion in 1945. The house, today a museum, interprets the Perkins family and Akron’s history.
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Akron unveiled the 12-foot-tall Rubber Worker cast bronze statue in May 2021. It stands in a roundabout at the intersection of Main and Mill streets. The statue depicts a rubber worker wrapping a tire and is based on the cover image of “Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron,” a 1999 book by David Giffels and Steve Love. The ceremony included Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Zanesville-based sculptor Alan Cottrill.