Akron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County.GR: 6 In 2007, its population was estimated to be 207,934. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles (96 km) west of the Pennsylvania border.

Akron is the principal city of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that covers Portage and Summit counties and had a combined population of 694,960 at the 2000 census.GR: 2

Akron was founded in 1825 near the Ohio and Erie Canal, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at a staircase of locks. The locks were needed due to the higher elevation of the area, which gave rise to the name Summit County as well as Akron, which is a rough translation of summit into Greek (Stewart, pg. 233). Akros, part of the original Greek word akrópolis, means highest. After the decline of heavy manufacturing in the 1970s and '80s, the city's industry has since diversified into research, financial, and high tech sectors.

Akron and nearby Canton are often referred to as a single region or considered twin cities. The Akron-Canton Regional Airport is one of many places near the city that is named for both places. While the U.S. Census Bureau still counts the two metropolitan areas separately, if combined, the total population of the Akron-Canton area would equal 1,101,894 people. In 1985 the Akron Fulton International Airport was recognized as the 3rd National Landmark of Soaring by the National Soaring Museum.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron in 1935. The city is home to The University of Akron, the Akron Aeros Double A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, the Soap Box Derby World Championships and the Firestone Country Club, at which the PGA Tour's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is played. The word "devilstrip" is also thought to be unique to, and have its origin in, Akron: it refers to the strip of grass between a sidewalk and the street.

Akron won the All-American City award three times making it into the National Civic League Hall of Fame. The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Akron as a Tree City USA.

Residents of Akron are usually referred to as "Akronites". Nicknames used for the city include "Rubber Capital of the World," "Rubber City," "City of Invention," "Summit City,"Barry Popik, Smoky City, barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005 and "Tire City."

History

Akron was established in December 1825 by Simon Perkins as a small village on the divide between the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi River drainage basins. The village was a 43-block square with its main intersection at Exchange and Main Streets; its northern limit was one block beyond State Street. The village was originally built mainly to serve people using the Ohio and Erie Canal as Akron was located in an area with a series of canal locks as the canal ascended from Cleveland to the Portage summit. In 1833, Eliakim Crosby established a "second" Akron just north of the existing village known as Cascade, which would also be referred to locally as "north Akron." Cascade developed around a construction project originally intended to provide increased water power for industries. In 1836 the villages joined under the Akron name. The completion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal along Main Street in 1839 started Akron on its climb to industrial importance. In 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered her Ain't I A Woman? speech at the Women's Convention. Coal, a major railroad, and manufacturing growth from the Civil War contributed to a population increase from 3,500 to 10,000 inhabitants between 1860 and 1870.