The church is in Romanesque Revival style built with Berea, Ohio sandstone. A keystone above the tower window represents the head of Christ. Keystones of six windows on either side are believed to represent the 12 apostles. The bell in the tower was cast in Baltimore and christened in 1886. The tower clock still sounds on the hour but the original clockworks have been replaced. The original stained glass windows were replaced in 1946.St. Vincent was also the home of Akron’s first Catholic school which was added in 1853. Other additions through the years include a brick rectory, a red brick school, a brick convent and a high school building and a gymnasium. A new copper roof and front steps were also added in the 1940s. The high school later merged with St. Mary’s. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School was the high school of NBA star LeBron James.St. Vincent Cemetery is located about on half-mile west of the church at the intersection of West Market Street and Merriman Road. It is small and is the final resting place for many Irish immigrants.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish is the oldest Catholic church in Akron.

Website

St. Vincent de Paul is Akron’s oldest Catholic Church. The parish began as a mission visited by Father Basil Shorb in 1837. It was first in the Diocese of Cincinnati. It was switched to the Diocese of Cleveland when it began in 1847. The cornerstone was laid for the present building in 1864. The first Mass was celebrated on Oct. 20, 1867. LeBron James graduated from here in 2003. He thrived as a freshman until the end of his senior season. Went through some adversity with accepting money and had to miss games his junior season but over came it. He won two state championships and one national championship during his time at St.Vincent de Paul. He was ranked #1 in the nation and was claimed as ''The King'' or ''Chosen One''.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish

This tour includes the historical highlights of Akron, with stops at a variety of monuments, markers, museums, and historical buildings. 

Akron University and Downtown Driving Tour

Classroom

It is one of the best preserved examples of the Second
Empire style in the country. It features an octagonal central hall. The house,
which has an exterior of brick, is has period furnishings and many items the
family collected from its travels around the world.

The Hower family lived in the home for more than 100 years.
It was deeded to the University of Akron in 1970. It was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is surrounded by 2.5 acres of lawn. The
home’s third floor includes a ballroom. It is supported by the University,
private donations and other organizations. 

Special events and activities take place throughout the
year. The home can also be rented for special occasions such as weddings and
parties. The Cellar Door gift shop is located in the house and features a
variety of Victorian era and other gifts.

Built in 1871 by Akron industrialist John Henry Hower. Architect Jacob Snyder helped design the house in the Second Empire Italianate style. The 28-room house is topped with a mansard roof and tower. The floor plan was based on the “Akron Plan,” which was used in often in church constructions between 1870 and 1917. It now belongs to the University of Akron and is open for public tours. 

The University of Akron Hower House

John and&nbsp;Elizabeth Buchtel donated $31,000 to build the college that would bear their name. This sum represented over half of the original cost to build the early college, while John Buchtel donated much of his time to overseeing many aspects of the college's operation. The cornerstone for the first campus building was laid in 1871.&nbsp;Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and one of the most influential men of the late 19th century, spoke at the ceremony celebrating the start of the college's construction.&nbsp;Buchtel College was closely tied with the community and
Universalist Church for its first few decades, but became a private, non-denominational school in 1907. In
1913, the trustees transferred the college and its assets to the city of Akron
thanks in part to their own&nbsp;financial challenges, but also as part of the city's recognition that the college could help its commercial development. The University of Akron was assisted
by city tax funds for the next 50 years, and enrollment grew from 198 to nearly ten thousand during these years.

The University's growth was related to the growth of the regional rubber industry. The university became the first in the world to offer a degree program in rubber chemistry-an essential commodity for both civilian industry&nbsp;and the military. Expansion followed World War II and Akron went from a municipal
to state university in 1967. In 1988, the University debuted the world’s first
College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering – now the largest academic
program of its kind in the world. 

By 2000, the University had added 22 new buildings, made
many major additions or renovations and added 34 acres of green space. UA
remains a public university focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and
investment in community and economic growth.

This statue honors local business leader John Buchtel, the leader of an effort to create a college at this location under the auspices of the Ohio Universalist Convention. The college offered religious training and a liberal arts education for members of the Universalist Church, but also sought to train future leaders of industry. As the institution grew, its emphasis on preparing local students for successful careers led to its gradual transformation. By 1913, Buchtel College had become the University of Akron, a municipally-supported institution that grew from less than 200 students in 1913 to 10,000 students by the late 1960s. In 1967, the university became part of Ohio's state-supported system of colleges and universities. Today, the University of Akron has more than 80 buildings on 218 acres and offers more than 300 undergraduate programs and has more than 23,000 students. 

John Buchtel Statue, University of Akron

<div>The theatre sits among other buildings downtown and aside from the marquee, the exterior looks like any other building. The inside though features Mediterranean d&amp;eacute;cor and is fashioned after a Moorish castle. It also includes medieval carvings antiques from Europe and Italian alabaster sculptures. &lt;br /&gt;</div><div>	In June of 2001, the Civic Theatre closed to begin the most extensive and detailed restoration in the history of the theatre. It remained closed for the next sixteen months and around nineteen million dollars was spent restoring the seventy year old theatres infrastructure which was essentially failing. The reconstruction also brought the theatre up to modern performance and patron standards. The theatre finally reopened in November 2002 and remained a leader in the revitalization of downtown Akron which still continues today. &lt;br /&gt;</div><div>	The Akron Civic Theatre remains a main attraction in Akron and offers a variety of shows and performances. Comedians, musicians, theatre companies and ballets are among some of the various attractions that can be seen at the theatre throughout the year.&nbsp; Since the theatre is located in downtown Akron it is also within walking distance of various other attractions in the city as well as nightlife and restaurants.</div>

Built in 1929 by Marcus Loew and designed by famed theater architect, John Eberson, the Akron Civic Theatre is one of five remaining atmospheric theatres left in the country where visitors can experience a star-lit sky as well as clouds moving across the horizon while sitting in the auditorium.  

Akron Civic Theatre

In 1936 the Quaker Oats Company built a new storage facility. The company was Akron Based and was founded in 1856 by Ferdinand Schumacher. The storage facility was fairly large with thirty six grain silos each standing 120' tall and 24' in diameter. The storage facility only remained open until 1970 when the company moved to Chicago. Since then the building has gone through many changes and renovations.

	Once Quaker Oats moved to Chicago, their storage building was purchased by private investors and completely transformed. Throughout the next five years it was transformed into a hotel, restaurant and shopping complex. It fully opened in 1975 and became known as Quaker Square. The thirty six silos were changed into 196 hotel room, 6 suites, and also included meeting spaces and dining areas. There were also two restaurant located within the building as well as Christmas store and a general store. 

	The Quaker Square complex remained open and a popular attraction in Akron for many years until 2007 when it was purchased by the University of Akron which is located within walking distance. Before the university's purchase there was talk of the building being completely shut down but has been saved yet again. Soon the University of Akron's plans to turn the grain silos into a dorm that will house almost 400 students. This will be the second time in the history of the building that it will be completely transformed. The process of remodeling the rooms to become dorms is currently in the works. 

	Quaker Square is still a prominent fixture within the city of Akron. Although the interior is most likely closed to visitors, it is still worth a visit to see the exterior of an old silo used by the Quaker Oats Company. It is located within walking distance of downtown Akron and has been place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Quaker Square

The building itself was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1983. It was designed by James Wetmore in Roman Neo-Classical Revival
style. It features a granite terrace and Tuscan columnns on pedestals among
other architectural details. 

Neglect eventually caught up with the building and Sandvick
Architects were brought in to preserve and update the building. They redid the
67,000 square foot interior to house the medical offices in 2007. Improvements
included restoration of the front lobby and existing storefronts as well as
refurbishing the large lanterns at the terrace. 

&nbsp;

The old Akron Post Office and Federal Building is today privately owned and used as medical offices for Summa Health Systems. It was originally purchased in 1913 with federal funds to be a post office. However, it was built and opened until 1929 thanks to delays caused by World War I. It remained a Post Office until 1975. It was also a commercial display studio for several years before being turned into medical offices in the early 2000s. 

Akron Post Office and Federal Building

In the 1920s and 30s, the institute was still using borrowed space and struggling financially; however, they were able to offer exhibits and classes to the public. The original collection did not contain many items and were all gifted to the institute. In 1937, they moved to a permanent location, but unfortunately, the building burnt down and the institute lost many pieces of its collection. Following WWII, the institute began to rebuild and refocus with a new mission centered on educating the public in&nbsp;fine art and design. 
 In the mid-twentieth century, the institute-now also a professional school for fine art and design-moved back into the old Akron public library. The building was renovated to be able to house their collections and exhibits. Then, in the 60s, the institute refocused their mission again, this time converting into a museum of fine art. Their goal was to collect art that was made in and after 1850. The Akron Art Institute became the Akron Art Museum in 1980, and in 1981, the museum moved to its current location, the renovated post office building.

Today, the museum continues collecting fine art to be exhibited and has expanded its location along with its influence.&nbsp;It now features 20,000 square feet of gallery space that’s designated for art produced since 1850.o the display. The museum also hosts visiting shows from national and international collections which are quite fascinating. Major temporary exhibitions are housed on the second floor of the Knight Building which is &nbsp;63,000-square-foot &nbsp;building was designed by the Viennese architectural firm&nbsp;Coop Himmelb(l)au. The building along with the majority of the art is quite modern. The small museum has endured the struggles and is now a blossoming institute. They are doing so well, that on Thursdays admission is free to the public.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Established in 1922, Akron Art Museum has become a cultural institution serving the public in furthering the knowledge of fine arts. Despite several challenges, including the lean years of the Great Depression when the organization had to make do without paid staff and a fire that destroyed the museum's first permanent home, the Akron Art Museum has become one of the leading cultural institutions in the region and the museum's collections have expanded far beyond the capacity of the original two-room showcase in the basement of the former public library. Since 1981, the museum has been located in the city's former downtown post office. In 2007, however, the museum opened the Knight Building next to the former post office which was substantially renovated to reflect the Knight Building's modern design.  

Akron Art Museum

The library offers a multitude of special services, computer
and Wi-Fi access, training classes and business services. There is a 425-seat
auditorium, public meeting rooms and a used bookstore. In addition, there is an
outdoor amphitheater and landscape park as part of the complex. A city-owned
parking garage is connected by an interior glass block walkway. 

The Akron-Summit County Public Library also offers mobile
services and has 17 branch locations throughout the county. The Main Library is
270,000 square feet and provides access to nearly 2 million items. 

The original building was built in the 1960s. It was
renovated and expanded thanks to a bond issue to develop and expand libraries
in the county. Richard Fleischman and Partners Architects was charged to lead
the project. They worked on the existing site and left the former building with
nothing but the concrete frame. An additional 160,000 square feet was added. The
new structure wrapped around the existing structure in seamless fashion.

The Main Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library opened in 2004. It has more than a million visitors each year. It features subject divisions on Business and Government, Culture and AV, Magazines and Newspapers, Science and Technology, Special Collections which includes local history, Teen and a Children’s Library. 

Akron-Summit County Public Library

Local history indicates that went Edison was courting Miller,
he took her on carriage rides in nearby Glendale Cemetery. They were married in
the mansion’s parlor on Feb. 24, 1886. Lewis Miller was an inventor and
industrialist. He made his fortune in manufacturing farm equipment. &nbsp;He held 92 patents, but it was his Buckeye
Mower and Reaper that made him wealthy. 

Miller’s other accomplishments including helping to found
the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit cultural/educational retreat in New
York, designing “The Akron Plan,” a Sunday-school building design popular in
Protestant churches, and helping organize Mount Union College and serving as
its long-time president.

Original features in the mansion that are still intact include
12-foot high ceilings, a wood spiral staircase and a marble fireplace. The
mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places with the address of 142
King Drive though the address on the building is 127 Dawes Avenue.

Oak Place Mansion was built in 1870 and was the home of Akron inventor Lewis Miller. Today it is being preserved as an apartment building. This was the site of the wedding of Thomas Edison and Mina Miller, the daughter of Lewis Miller. The brick, gabled building is owned by real estate developer Michael Sapp. 

Oak Place

The church is in Romanesque Revival style built with Berea, Ohio sandstone. A keystone above the tower window represents the head of Christ. Keystones of six windows on either side are believed to represent the 12 apostles. The bell in the tower was cast in Baltimore and christened in 1886. The tower clock still sounds on the hour but the original clockworks have been replaced. The original stained glass windows were replaced in 1946.St. Vincent was also the home of Akron’s first Catholic school which was added in 1853. Other additions through the years include a brick rectory, a red brick school, a brick convent and a high school building and a gymnasium. A new copper roof and front steps were also added in the 1940s. The high school later merged with St. Mary’s. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School was the high school of NBA star LeBron James.St. Vincent Cemetery is located about on half-mile west of the church at the intersection of West Market Street and Merriman Road. It is small and is the final resting place for many Irish immigrants.

Dr. Jedediah D. Commins came to Akron by way of western New York in 1832, establishing Akron's first drug store not long thereafter. In October 1837, his son Augustus died after a brief illness, and Commins felt like Akron had no suitable burial grounds, so he kept his son's remains at home for more than a year in a cask of alcohol. In 1838, he visited Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the goal of selecting a pattern for a tomb, and had the idea of establishing a similar cemetery in Akron. The cemetery was established the following year. after the state of Ohio granted the charter.The Caretaker's Lodge was added in 1869, while the Memorial Chapel was added in 1875. The Bell Tower was added in 1883. The cemetery’s Civil War Memorial Chapel, an 18,000-square-foot structure constructed in Gothic style, is prominent. It has recently been renovated. The gravesites of Akron’s founder Simon Perkins as well as Goodyear Rubber founder Frank A. Seiberling can be found here as well, as can the gravesite of O.C. Barber, the founder of nearby Barberton.The cemetery, once known as Akron Rural Cemetery, was initially in a rural area. There was a stream and two lakes - Willow Lake and Swan Lake. With increased development, the natural spring that fed the lakes dried up, and the area is now known as the Great Meadow. There had been a proposal to use the Erie Canal to re-water the lakes, but this plan was never brought to fruition.Glendale Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the early 2000s. Though it was in a rural area when it was formed, the city has grown around it. It is a popular spot for walkers and joggers and does host special events, including a summer jazz festival in the Great Meadow.

Glendale Cemetery, originally known as Akron Rural Cemetery, is Akron’s oldest cemetery and dates back to 1839. It was founded by Dr. Jedediah D. Commins. It features 150 acres and is the final resting place of many of Akron’s prominent citizens. It includes many states, chapels and other memorials as well as the “Great Meadow,” which was once home to two small lakes, Willow Lake and Swan Lake. The lakes dried up and it was turned into a meadow. The cemetery itself, and four buildings adjacent to it - the Caretaker's Lodge, the Memorial Chapel, the Bell Tower, and the Cemetery Office - are all on the National Register of Historic Places.

Glendale Cemetery

The elder Simon Perkins is regarded as the founding father of Akron owing to the land surveys he supervised in the early 1820s.&nbsp;He began work as a surveyor much earlier, conducting surveys in western Connecticut for the Erie Land Company. Perkins helped prepare land surveys throughout this region of Ohio and and facilitated many of the important real estate transactions that led to Akron's growth in the early 1820s. He also served as a General in the War of 1812. He lived most of his adult years in Ohio, where he served as&nbsp;president of the Western Reserve Bank&nbsp;for over twenty years.&nbsp;Perkins' son, also Simon Perkins, followed in his father's footsteps. He took a leadership position in organizing&nbsp;Summit County in 1840. He promoted the area to developers and helped bring the Ohio and Erie Canal to Akron. Thanks to the canal, Akron became a center of industry with many mills producing products that could be shipped via the canal.&nbsp;The interior of the home was restored in 1986. The exterior
is rough faced sandstone. A notable highlight is the home’s two-story portico.
There are two chimney stacks and viewing platform in between. An office
building and a wash house with a windmill are also on the property. The home is available for guided public tours and hosts
several special events and school tours throughout the year. The home is on the
National Register of Historic Places.

The Summit County Historical Society also operates the John Brown House, home of the famous abolitionist, and the Old Stone School. The John Brown House is also open for tours. The Summit County Historical Society offers school outreach programs as well as school field trips and various educational programming.The Society also conducts exhibits at various locations and has an extensive collection of documents and photographs at the Akron-Summit County Public Library. The Society hosts special events throughout the year and works in partnership with other area historical societies and properties.

This historic mansion was built for Colonel Simon Perkins, son of Akron founder General Simon Perkins, in 1837. The home offers an outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture combined with elements of the Federal style. The mansion was occupied by the Perkins family until 1945. The home is now owned by the Summit County Historical Society and utilized as a museum that is open to the public. Summit County Historical Society was founded 1924 to preserve and interpret the area's local history. 

Perkins Stone Mansion and Summit County Historical Society

John Brown lived at this Akron residence between 1844 and 1854 and spent much of his life in Summit County. He was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800, and moved to this area and became involved in the wool trade. During a business trip to Springfield, Massachusetts, he met abolitionists and came to agree with their belief that slavery was contrary to God's will. By 1850, he became an active supporter of the anti-slavery network known as the Underground Railroad. He later moved to Kansas with the goal of supporting the opponents of slavery who were attempting to make Kansas a free state.While in Akron, Brown worked in the wool trade with Simon Perkins Jr., the son of Akron’s founder. Perkins later fired Brown and he moved on to New York. Brown later was famously involved in a bloody conflict over slavery in Kansas Territory. It is believed that people in Akron raised cash and weapons to help Brown’s cause.Brown fled the United States for Canada for a time but returned in 1859 to lead the famous raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in what is now West Virginia. The failed raid took place on Oct. 16, 1859. Brown was captured and later hanged for his actions. The controversy of Brown's trial helped fracture the Democratic Party, which helped lead to the election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.While African Americans praised Brown for his attempt to challenge slavery, white Americans were divided on both slavery and Brown's tactics. With white Southerners citing Brown's attempted revolution as evidence that Northerners represented a threat to their way of life, Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry fanned the flame of sectionalism that led to the Civil War.The John Brown House was built in 1830 by Benjamin Greene and Salmon Hoisington, and had a number of owners after Brown, including the Portage Country Club. The Summit County Historical Society has operated the house since 1971.

In 1844, this home on Diagonal Road in Akron became the home of John Brown, an abolitionist who later led attacks on pro-slavery partisans in territorial Kansas and attempted to lead a revolutionary raid against the institution of slavery in Harpers Ferry in what was then Virginia, an event that helped spark the Civil War. Today, the home is owned and operated by The Summit County Historical Society. The home is open for public tours and has been designated by the National Park Service as a Network to Freedom site. Learn more about Brown and the Summit County Historical Society by reading the description and clicking the links below. 

Akron University and Downtown Driving Tour

St. Vincent de Paul Parish

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information