The Akron Metropolitan Park District – now named Summit Metro Parks – was established in December 1921. The park's early board of commissioners – which included tire baron Frank A. Seiberling – hired the well-known landscape architect brothers, John and Fredrick Olmsted, to plan the new parks.
In 1926 Harold S. Wagner was named the first Director-Secretary of the new parks system. In Wagner's first five years leading the city's parks, he built the system up to 1,600 acres. Some of those early parks included the Gorge, Sand Run, and Furnace Run.
By the time Wagner retired in 1958, the park system had grown to 3,760 acres and was drawing out more than 800,000 people each year.
Today if you enjoy the 40,000 daffodils that bloom along the Wagner Daffodil Trail, you owe a debt of gratitude to Wagner and his wife, who planted the first bulbs in the 1930s.
The 60s and 70s saw great growth for the park system. The reservations increased to over 6,000 acres and included the F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm and Cascade Valley, among others. It was also during this time that the Fall Hiking Spree was first introduced – an event that is wildly popular to this day.
Now, Executive Director Lisa King manages the 14,300 acre-park system with over 125 miles of trails – including more than 22 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. With an average of 5 million visits each year, the Summit Metro Parks continue to grow and connect visitors with the great outdoors.
The Summit Metro Parks isn't Akron's only park system. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park runs through Akron as well.
When the Olmsted brothers first surveyed the area for Akron's new park system, they reported the recreational potential of the Cuyahoga Valley. About 40 years later that potential was threatened by development. John R Daily - then Director-Secretary of the Summit Metro Parks - helped acquire the land to save it from Akron's sprawl.
In 1974 President Gerald Ford advanced that protection by signing the bill that established the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. For the next 30 years, more land was purchased for the new park, historic structures were restored, and activities for public enjoyment were planned – all tirelessly championed by Congressman Ralph Regula. In the year 2000, Regula helped to change the park's name to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Today the park protects 33,000 acres of land and welcomes about 2.2 million visitors annually, making it one of the most visited National Parks. The park offers hiking, biking, wildlife watching, canoeing, and even a scenic railroad ride.
City life, or the great outdoors – the choice is yours in Akron.
In the autumn of 1887, a group of women got together to discuss ways they could help advance music appreciation in Akron and provide a performance outlet for women in the area. They called their group the Tuesday Afternoon Club. Out of that group the Tuesday Musical Club was born, and Akron has been a city that loves music ever since.
In the 1950s and 60s, Akron's Howard Street became known as “Jazz Corridor.” The great musicians of the time had played a circuit that would lead them from New York to Chicago, and often – even though they were regarded as the greatest musicians in the world at the time – often couldn't find hotels that would rent rooms to them because they were black. Akron was a convenient stop between the two major cities, and Howard Street was full of black-owned hotels that offered rest, and clubs that welcomed some of the greatest entertainers of the time, including Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and many others.
In the 70s and 80s as the punk movement began to grow, those bands followed a similar route as the jazz musicians did decades earlier. The punk rockers found kindred spirits in the young people of Akron at the time.
Also, something uniquely Akron was bubbling underneath the surface at that time. The members of Devo first came together in 1973 as art students enrolled at Kent State University. By the release of their first album, Q. Are We Not Men, A. We Are Devo in 1978, the band's lineup consisted of Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale, and Alan Myers. They gained national attention when they appeared on Saturday Night Live the same year. In 1980, the group released the Freedom of Choice LP which featured the hit single “Whip It.”
Around that same time, another budding musician – Chrissie Hynde – graduated from Firestone High School and went on to study at Kent State as well. At one point she even found herself in a band with Mark Mothersbaugh.
Hynde would go on to form The Pretenders in 1978, and they would release their first album in 1980. Over the years the band recorded hits such as “Back On the Chain Gang,” “Brass In Pocket,” and “My City Was Gone.” They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Throughout her career, Akron continued to play a role in Hynde's life. In 2007, she opened The VegiTerranean – an Italian-Mediterranian fusion restaurant that served vegan dishes. It was named one of the top 5 vegan restaurants in the country before it closed in 2011.
James Ingram – another musician born and raised in Akron – found success in 80s. Ingram graduated from Akron's East High School and cut his teeth playing with the Akron band Revelation Funk. They provided the song, “Time Is On Our Side,” for the soundtrack to the movie, Dolemite.
From Ingram's solo career, he was awarded two Grammy Awards in the 80s for the songs “One Hundred Ways” and “Yah Mo Be There” which he recorded with the help of Michael McDonald. He's probably best known for his duet with Linda Rondstadt, “Somewhere Out There” - the theme to the animated film, American Tale.
In the background during these times, local band Tin Huey featured saxophone player, Ralph Carney. Carney would go on to record and perform with Tom Waits, The B-52s, Elvis Costello, Les Claypool, and many others.
Before Carney passed away in 2017, he partnered with his nephew Patrick Carney to created the theme to the Netflix animated series, BoJack Horseman.
Prior to recording the theme to the cult favorite animated series, Patrick Carney and his musical partner Dan Auerbach came to prominence with they band they formed in Akron in 2001 – The Black Keys.
Auerbach and Carney self produced and recorded their early recordings and built a fan following by touring and playing small clubs all across the country. Their third album, titled Rubber Factory, gave a nod to their hometown and received critical acclaim. Their next release, Brothers – with its popular single “Tighten Up” placed them in the spotlight, winning two Grammy Awards. Their next album, El Camino, netted three more Grammy Awards.
The musical spirit of Akron still thrives. You can find artists performing classical music, jazz, hip-hop, and rock performing throughout the city. Taking in a live performance in Akron always offers the chance of seeing the city's next big name in music.