Where the rubber hits the sky

The “Rubber Capital of the World” was home to such famed companies as Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Firestone Tires, and BFGoodrich Tires. Those were the manufacturers that delivered tires to the burgeoning car industry, connected to Akron by an engineered canal system, and so turning it into an industrial center

Today, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s headquarters are still located in Akron. Goodyear was co-founded in 1898 by Charles and Frank Seiberling, who opened the first factory there. Frank’s presence makes itself known in street names, buildings, and parks, but nowhere as impressive as in his manor, a Tudor revival mansion named Stan Hywet (Old English for “stone quarry”). Completed in 1915, it is now a National Historic Landmark, known as Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, and open to the public. The mansion is preserved the way its owners conceived it from staircases, windows, and a whole bedroom imported from English manors, to a huge indoor swimming pool—and one galvanized chest from Charles Goodyear, who invented the process that made rubber a useful material for tires and after whom the company was named.

Akron is home to basketball player LeBron James, who founded the LeBron James Family Foundation’s House Three Thirty. Repurposing an iconic Akron landmark, the Tangier, it is now a multi-use facility featuring restaurants, a theater, event space for rent, and shops. It offers opportunities to disadvantaged families and students, mentoring and employing them to serve their community and train for their futures. The basement is home to a reproduction of LeBron James’ home. Throughout the day, tours of the building are offered to even the smallest groups.

Aviation enthusiasts will be drawn to the MAPS Air Museum. It displays more than 40 historic aircraft, ranging from an A–4A Skyhawk, a F–4S Phantom, a Lim–2 Midget, to a T–37B Tweet in a hangar and outside at a static display. Some of the aircraft interiors are accessible to visitors and there’s also a (privately owned) M.A.S.H. unit, complete with stretchers, operation theater, and surgical instruments. Display rooms in the hangar focus on individual’s stories, and visitors can admire a relic from the U.S.S. Arizona and a Goodyear blimp gondola.

Located a couple of minutes outside of Akron at Wingfoot Lake in Mogadore, Ohio, are Goodyear airship operations. The facility is not open to visitors; however, a museum is in the works and there are currently stands allowing spectators to see the airships departing and arriving.

Akron has grown a reputation for innovation and supporting small businesses. It’s developed a vibrant cultural scene, with art venues, musical events, plenty of diverse eateries (Kimchi kraut balls, anyone?) and offers themed tours through the city, like the Summit Brew Path, including the Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, founded by German immigrants, or The Drip Drive, dubbed the “Greater Akron Coffee Experience.” The city is also home to the renowned Akron Children’s Hospital and the Akron Zoo, which features more than 2,000 animals and 200 different species. Its architecture is a charming mix of Tudor Revival, Art Deco, and Neo-Classicism like Quaker Square, the site of what used to be the Quaker Oats Cereal Factory.

And in case you didn’t know—the local baseball team is aptly named Akron Rubber Ducks.

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