Attraction Type: Statue/Monument

The Matthews Hotel Monument, located at North Howard Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, honors one of Akron’s most important cultural landmarks.

Akron unveiled the 12-foot-tall Rubber Worker cast bronze statue in May 2021.

When Mark Anthony Cooper found himself $100,000 in debt in 1857 and his company, the Etowah Iron and Manufacturing Co., was about to be auctioned, he turned to his friends for help. With the help of 38 friends, Cooper raised $200,000 and purchased back his company. But, he didn’t forget his friends, and in 1860, after he repaid the debt, Cooper built a monument to thank them. The monument was originally erected on the town square of Etowah where his iron