Welcome to Akron!
Akron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio
on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles (96 km) west of the Pennsylvania
border.
It was founded in 1825 near the Ohio & Erie Canal, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at a staircase of locks. The locks
were needed due to the higher elevation of the area, which gave rise to the name "Summit County" as well as "Akron", which is a rough translation
of "summit" into Greek (Stewart, pg. 233). After the decline of heavy manufacturing, the city's industry has since diversified into research,
financial, and high tech sectors.
The Akron-Canton Regional Airport is one of many places near the city that is named for both towns. While the U.S. Census Bureau still counts the
two metropolitan areas as separate metro areas, if combined, the total population of the Akron-Canton area equals 1,101,894 people.
Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron in 1935. The city is home to The University of Akron, the Akron Aeros Double A affiliate of the
Cleveland Indians, and the Firestone Country Club, at which the PGA Tour's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is annually played. The Akron Cougars, of
the Universal Basketball League will begin play in the 2007 season, after spending the 2006 season in Cuyahoga Falls and the International
Basketball League (2005-).
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