Metro Parks, Serving Summit County
Summit Metro Parks is a Metroparks system serving the citizens of Summit County, Ohio by managing 14,100 acres (5,700 ha) in 16 developed parks, six conservation areas and more than 125 miles (201 km) of trails, with 22.4 miles (36.0 km) of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.
The park district is fully supported by a levy, which voters are periodically asked to approve. Rangers are commissioned peace officers who provide safety and security by enforcing the park district’s rules, regulations, state, and local laws.
In times of war, people often look for ways to escape the news and demands of the era. During World War I, Americans increasingly looked to parks and natural areas for temporary diversions. Congress responded by creating the National Park Service in 1916, and the Ohio General Assembly made possible the formation of metropolitan park districts the following year.
In July 1917, Cleveland Metroparks became the first metropolitan park district in the State of Ohio. On December 31, 1921, Metro Parks (then called the Akron Metropolitan Park District) became the second park system established under Chapter 1545 of the Ohio Revised Code.
F.A. Seiberling, founder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, was named commissioner in 1925.
Progress was slow in the appointment of the first commissioners, perhaps due to the post-war economy. After more than a year, Summit County Probate Judge Lewis D. Slusser finally appointed James Shaw, Maude I. Milar and Charles B. Raymond. The trio’s first meeting was May 15, 1923. The board considered several recreation projects, but things were generally slow-moving until 1925, when Shaw was replaced by Edmund D. Eckroad, chief engineer for the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, a predecessor of Ohio Edison, and Raymond was replaced by Frank A. Seiberling, founder of Akron’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
With new board members in place, famous landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers were asked in May 1925 to create a countywide park plan and identify sites that were suitable for park use. Their famous father, Frederick Law Olmsted, designed major parks throughout the country, most notably New York’s Central Park. The accomplished Olmsted Brothers, John C. and Frederick Jr., worked on parks in Baltimore, Seattle and New York.
In June, as Akron celebrated its centennial, Seiberling publicly accepted the first gift of land – a small, triangular plot on N. Portage Path with 150 feet of frontage at the intersection of Merriman Road. The land, donated by Joseph Courtney of the Courtney Dairy Company, was named Courtney Park. A boulder and bronze plaque were later dedicated by the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate the site. This bronze relief at the intersection of North Portage Path and Merriman Road commemorates the site of Courtney Park.
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