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Highland Square: A
Brief History
by The Summit County Historical Society
as part of the Highland Square History Project
For nearly a century, Highland Square has been a
pleasant residential neighborhood for Akronites,
some of whom like publisher John S. Knight,
Senator Charles Dick, presidential candidate
Wendell Willkie, industrialist Paul W.
Litchfield, and Alcoholics Anonymous founder Dr.
Robert Smith, had national and international
reputations. Local people commonly think of
Highland Square as extending perhaps a mile in
each direction from the commercial center at
West Market Street and Highland Avenue. However,
the Highland Square History Project of the
Summit County Historical Society defines it as a
much larger area in order to conform to a City
of Akron redevelopment plan, bordered by West
Market Street, Merriman Road, Memorial Parkway,
Twin Oaks Road, Mayfield Avenue, South Rose
Boulevard, West Exchange Street and Maple
Street.
The region's oldest feature is the Portage Path
which passes along the street of that name. For
decades the statue of an Indian has watched over
this famous pathway. When first erected by Gus Kasch,
a colorful area real estate developer, the Indian
stood along the curb on West Market Street. The
refurbished statue now stands on a landscaped site
on the corner of Portage Path and West Market
Street. The Portage path was part of the effective
western boundary of the United States from 1785 to
1805.
The "old Medina Road" (West Market Street) was the
first "modern" road into the Highland Square
district. It appears in early sketches and
photographs and it is the district's principal
thoroughfare to this day. Rising up a steep grade
from the Ohio-Erie Canal, the road crossed Maple
Street where Akron Catholics erected the new St.
Vincent's church building in the 1860's. St.
Vincent's has served as the parish church for much
of Highland Square and many children of the area
have attended its elementary and high schools. From
Maple, West Market Street descended to the
intersection of Valley, North and Aqueduct streets
which enclosed Neptune Park, a lively and attractive
center during the late nineteenth century. From
Valley Street, West Market Street ascended a long
grade to its high point at the intersection with
Portage Path. Here, on the southwest corner, Samuel
Ritchie, the "Nickle King", built a spacious house
in 1906. Enthusiasts claimed one could see Lake Erie
from its roof -- an obvious exaggeration -- but the
high, well drained land along West Market was one of
the chief attractions to home builders in an era
when healthfulness was a prime consideration in
choosing one's homesite.
Street names tell much of the story of area
development. Balch, Bittman, Beck, Gale, Hall and
Rhodes are among those named for rest estate
developers; Merriman is named for a principal land
owner; Crosby, Conger and Edgerton for prominent
local people. The city limits lay just west of Balch
Street in 1875, and the area west of Maple Street
was part of the Third Ward. The city limits moved
westward to Marshall Street by 1891. Although West
Market Street was not yet paved, it had trolley
lines, and gas and water mains. A few other streets
also had some of these amenities. School children
were served by Grace and Crosby schools although
neither was located within the Highland Square
region.
By 1915 improvements had been extended throughout
the region. Nearly all streets were paved with
brick. Water and sewer systems were in place. A new
fire station was located at the corner of Maple and
Crosby street, but it was not until some years later
that another station, this one on Dodge Avenue, was
built to serve the more distant reaches of the area.
School children now attended Portage Path elementary
and West High schools. From 1910 to 1920 Akron was
known as the "fastest growing city in America" and
its school age population burgeoned accordingly.
Late in the nineteenth century churches started to
appear in residential neighborhoods. Church of Our
Saviour (Episcopal) and Woodland Methodist Episcopal
were located along Crosby Street near Balch. A
Christian Science congregation built on Marshall
Avenue, Monroe Presbyterian was located at West
Market and Rose, and the Seventh Day Adventists
built on West Market just west of St. Vincent's.
West Congregational Church and Temple Israel were
just outside the boundaries, but each drew heavily
from residents in the Highland Square district. The
Akron Jewish Center on Balch Street served Akron's
growing number of Jews, many of whom lived in the
area.
The Highland Square area was never dominated by any
particular ethnic group. People living there were
overwhelmingly white until some time after World War
II when Akron's black community started to extend
into the Highland area.
A unique characteristic of the Highland Square
region has been its concentration of apartment
houses. Throughout its history, Akron has been a
city of home owners, each living in their own single
dwelling unit. But during the boom years of the
World War I era, apartment houses were constructed
along West Market Street and later along the Portage
Path. Today these streets and certain intersecting
streets still have the city's largest concentration
of apartments.
Commercial developments proceeded hand in hand with
residential growth. The turn of the century was a
time of neighborhood stores. Clusters of commercial
activity developed at Five Points, at the
intersection of West Market and Valley streets
(which would soon boast the new Liberty Theater),
and the West Market-Merriman Road intersection.
Somewhat later the Highland-West Market and
Stadelman-West Exchange intersections became busy
business locations. Spotted throughout the area were
small grocery stores. With the advent of the
automobile and the bus, business activity spread
along West Market and West Exchange. After World War
II, spot zoning accelerated business encroachment
along former residential streets.
No one seems to know precisely when the name
Highland Square was first applied to the area
surrounding the intersection of Highland Avenue and
West Market Street. The name was in common use by
the 1930's, possibly because of the new Highland
Theater, Coyle's ice cream store, several well
patronized bars and restaurants and other commercial
activities called attention to it. The branch
library close by was called the West Branch, which
suggests that at the time it was established the
Highland Square designation was not as all-pervasive
as it would soon become.
Today larger parts of Highland Square remain much as
they have been -- livable areas close to the central
city. The district retains its neighborhood flavor,
and the City of Akron is working to preserve that
character through a three-pronged program of housing
rehabilitation, the upgrading of apartment
buildings, and the re-paving of streets, curbing,
and sidewalks. Low interest loans and outright
grants of federal funds make these programs
possible. The city's work is aided and extended by
the work of volunteer groups made up of residents
eager to protect and sustain the neighborhood. The
city's resources supplemented by the residents'
enthusiasm and determination can assure a promising
future for one of Akron's fine neighborhoods.
For more information about the history of Highland
Square or other local neighborhoods, please contact
The Summit County Historical Society
550 Copley Rd
Akron OH 44320
330.535.1120 |
