About Akron History Center

The leading edge of Akron’s 2025 Bicentennial celebration is an enduring, long-lasting, free museum-quality exhibit that welcomes visitors and inspires residents.  For the first time ever, there is one place where the stories of Akron’s 200-year history are illuminated by relics and artifacts of Akron’s past and interpreted through modern digital technology. 

Located in The Bowery on King James Way on the Towpath of the Ohio & Erie Canal at Lock 4, THE AKRON HISTORY CENTER celebrates Akron’s prowess in industry – cereal, clay products, farm machinery, rubber and polymer products, trucking, metalworking and health care.

Exhibits honor Akron’s leadership in public education, the abolition of slavery, the fight to establish organized labor, and the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and Victim Assistance.

The center presents an honest portrayal of the city’s untold stories of Indigenous People, African-born freedom-seekers, and the immigrants who tripled Akron’s population, 1910-1920.

The $45 million Bowery Development has invigorated Main Street, home to the $25 million investment in the Akron Civic Theatre and Knight Stage, the $25 million renovation of Lock 3, and the $20 million “Reimagining the Civic Commons.”

The Bowery is made up of six century-old buildings. “Old buildings are like old friends,” it is said. “They reassure us in times of rapid change… and encourage people to dream about the city.” 172 South Main Street was home to multiple mercantile enterprises of the 20th century. It has been restored and modernized using state and federal historic tax credits. The Akron History Center will be operated by the Akron-Summit County Public Library in a partnership that includes the Summit County Historical Society, the University of Akron, the Downtown Akron Partnership, and the Akron-Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Akron History Center Design Team

Barrie Projects created the original International Spy Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement in Las Vegas, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the National Museum of Psychology in Akron.

Communication Exhibits Incorporated (CEI) has offered premium face-to-face marketing services to B2B professionals across multiple industries for over 40 years.

Our History

Planning for a “Rubber Museum” in Akron began in 1979 when University of Akron president Dominic Guzzetta proposed construction of a new museum chronicling the history of the rubber industry in Akron. David Lieberth, then a 32-year-old trustee of the Historical Society, led a committee that conducted a comprehensive review of whether or not Akron could support such a new museum – given that prior initiatives (1959, 1963, 1970) were never executed. In 1987, when UA president William Muse was asked to help bring the National Inventors Hall of Fame to Akron, he and Lieberth dusted off the 1980 report. With a commitment from the Ohio Historical Society, this report was foundational to the decision by the National Council of Intellectual Property Lawyers to move the NIHF to Akron. Forty years later, the 1980 initiative continues to have currency, demonstrating the worthwhile benefits of showcasing Akron’s legacy of invention and innovation -not only in commerce and manufacturing – but in social movements as well and celebrating the many artists who have drawn inspiration from the city and achieved national recognition.

Board of Directors