As Akron celebrates its bicentennial in 2025, we’re looking back at two centuries of headlines.
Be sure to check out BeaconJournal.com every Sunday morning throughout 2025 for the latest look back at the week in Akron history.
Here’s what happened this week in local history:
1825: Canal commissioners issued a report to the Ohio General Assembly on the practicality of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River. The report described potential routes, including one that could draw water from the Cuyahoga River, Little Cuyahoga River, Tuscarawas River, Wolf Creek, Portage Lake (later known as Summit Lake) and Long Lake.
1875: Working in bitter conditions, crews harvested ice from Summit Lake and the upper and lower basins of the Ohio & Erie Canal in Akron. The men used long saws and hoisted blocks onto loading elevators for icehouses. The ice was crystal clear with an average thickness of 7 inches. Workers expected to harvest 10,000 tons that season.
1925: Akron police arrested Arthur M. Richardson, 30, alias Robert Scott, who confessed to belonging to a Midwest gang that robbed banks, post offices and mail trains. He was reaching for a loaded gun when detectives raided his Arlington Street apartment. Authorities suspected him of participating in 15 heists in Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma.