Akron

City in Summit County, northeastern Ohio, on the Cuyahoga River, 56 km/35 mi southeast of Cleveland; population (2000 est) 217,100. Industries include chemical, plastic, and aerospace products. Known as the ‘Rubber Capital of the World’, it is still home to the headquarters of several tyre and rubber companies, although tyre production had ended here by 1982.

Founded in 1825 on the Ohio and Erie Canal, Akron is also a major trucking centre and the site of the University of Akron (founded as Buchtel College in 1870). US industrialist Benjamin Goodrich first established a rubber factory here in 1870, and the industry grew rapidly from 1910 in response to a rising demand for tyres. Akron is also the site of the Goodyear Aerospace Airdock (1929), where blimps were once manufactured. The city is home to the National Inventors' Hall of Fame (1995).