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 homebuilders 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 repaving 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 Road
Akron OH 44320
330.535.1120