Summit County , named for its
location on the Portage Summit of the Ohio–Erie Canal line, was formed in
1840 by joining townships in Medina , Portage and Stark Counties.
Simon Perkins, Jr., the son of Akron 's co-founder and state senator, was influential
in the formation of the county and Akron as its county seat.
The word quickly spread to emigrants of varied backgrounds about the lush valleys
and abundant water. Early settlers in the Western Reserve organized the groundwork
for the successful first townships of Hudson , Stow and Tallmadge.
Plans for a canal system were prepared more than thirty years before Summit County
was formed.
General Simon Perkins, who later co-founded Akron , tried to get a canal started
as early as 1807.
Akron was platted in July 1825, and ground was broken the same month for the Ohio-Erie
Canal that connected Lake Erie with the Ohio River in one continuous waterway.
The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal , running parallel to the Erie Canal through Akron
and then east into Pennsylvania , was built in 1837. Summit County factories,
mills, and farmers depended on the canals to get their products to the more profitable
eastern markets. |
By the 1860s, railroads had
begun to eclipse the canals as the primary mode of transportation.
As the canal-dependent industries did before them, the railroad-dependent factories
located as close to the main line and spurs as possible.
The canals were replaced by railroads, the large flourmills replaced the sleepy
canal-supporting small industries, and farm implement manufacturers replaced barrel
factories.
During the twentieth century, new industries continued to blossom in Summit County,
such as the plethora of rubber products factories that were spawned by the larger
companies.
These days, Polymer science and aerospace design business and education have excelled
and provided Summit County with its current role as an innovative leader in Ohio
and the United States.
Summit County has flourished for over 160 years because of the hard work, inventive
nature and goodwill of its citizens.
Time and time again, it has set itself up as an example in the state by not only
being the site of the first free public school system and the first and only charter
government, but also a county that has prospered by its numerous industrial revolutions
|
