A curious landmark sits next to the recently refurbished Fire Station #2 in the Middlebury neighborhood of Akron. It is possible that you have driven past it many times without noticing it was there. This little sandstone structure crowned with an old millstone is not an attention-grabber, but it commemorates a significant location of Akron’s history.
Middlebury’s origins as a mill town
The Middlebury neighborhood was once a separate village and predates the city. This makes it Akron’s oldest neighborhood. The first Euro-American settlers of Middlebury arrived in 1807; they were Joseph Hart, a former sea captain from Connecticut, and his family. Hart partnered with miller Aaron Norton from Hudson to build a grist mill on the Little Cuyahoga for grinding grain into flour.
Hart and Norton’s mill inspired other industries to take off, clay being the most famous. The Middlebury clay industry began in 1847 when the Merrill family opened their pottery, known for its smoking pipes and clay bottles. Other potteries soon followed, producing stoneware and other ceramic ware vessels. Later, the industry evolved to focus on sewer pipe and brick production. The clay products industry expanded and remained a bulwark industry of the Akron area into the early 20th century.
Originally, the village was known as Cuyahoga Mills, Tallmadge Mills or Hart and Norton’s Mills. The inspiration behind the Middlebury name is unknown and a source of some debate. The village plat was officially laid out in 1820 by Joseph Hart’s son William. By 1825, the population was about 500 people, incidentally about the same as Cleveland that year. This was also the year nearby Akron was founded, its plat laid out by Gen. Simon Perkins and Paul Williams.
Middlebury was eventually eclipsed by its neighbor, thanks to Perkins convincing the Ohio & Erie Canal commissioners to route the waterway through his Akron landholdings. Middlebury was annexed by Akron in 1872, becoming the original 6th Ward.
In 1898, Frank A. and Charles W. Seiberling founded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Middlebury between River and East Market Streets, just behind the Great Western Cereal Company. By 1921 Mohawk Rubber, Phoenix Rubber and Kelly-Springfield Tire & Rubber joined Goodyear in the neighborhood. By this time, the local clay deposits were exhausted, and rubber had taken over as Akron’s main industry. The bustling commercial strip along East Market Street near the Old Middlebury Square was lined with shops and restaurants. The healthy economy led to an explosion of house construction and neighborhood development.
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Joining forces to create a park
In 1950, after multiple business owners controversially lobbied to turn the historic site into a parking lot, civic leaders dedicated a small section of what was once Middlebury’s town square as Middlebury Square Park. The monument and park were a joint effort by the City of Akron, the Summit County Historical Society and city garden clubs.
The millstone was originally used at the Great Western Cereal Company. It was a nod to Hart and Norton’s mill that started it all. A bronze plaque was mounted below the millstone, and concrete benches and a drinking fountain were installed.
Middlebury struggled after the rubber industry and Akron’s economy began to decline in the 1970s. Businesses shuttered, and many buildings were torn down along East Market Street, Arlington Road and East Exchange Street. Employment rates dropped well below the city average, and the majority of the early 20th century housing stock became rental properties. Today, Middlebury is one of Akron’s poorest neighborhoods.
The park and monument eventually fell into disrepair and the plaque was stolen decades ago. However, in 2022, Neighborhood Network, a program of Habitat for Humanity of Summit County, organized and fundraised at neighborhood events to refurbish the monument. They installed a replacement plaque with the text of the original.
It reads, “The site of the public square of Middlebury, the oldest part of what is now the City of Akron. Settled in 1807 by Captain Joseph Hart, Middlebury became an important milling center as symbolized by this millstone. Here the first schoolhouse and town hall and Akron’s first church was organized.”
Middlebury today
The neighborhood is experiencing some revitalization with the development of the East End mixed-use district in the former Goodyear Headquarters and the Middlebury Commons senior housing and center. The Well Community Development Corporation and Neighborhood Network continue to lead housing improvement initiatives. Middlebury is home to the popular Compass Coffee Shop, Elizabeth’s Bookshop and Writing Centre and Alexander Pierce Restaurant.
You can visit the Middlebury Monument anytime at the intersection of East Exchange and East Market streets, across from the Broad Street intersection.
