Without Trains, Akron History Would Look Very Different

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, it feels like the right moment to look back at the infrastructure that helped shape a young nation into something far greater than the sum of its parts. In Northeast Ohio, that story runs through the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where the historic Ohio & Erie Canal and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad trace a shared path through time.

Without Trains, Akron History Would Look Very Different
The role of trains in the growth of Akron as an industrial hub in the late 19th century cannot be overstated. In fact, trains provided the literal engine that was required to help Akron evolve from a canal town to a global industrial power.

While the Ohio and Erie Canal was a tremendous accomplishment and helped put Akron and Cleveland on the map with the ability to move goods north and south throughout the state, canal commerce had its limits both in speed, weight and capacity. It also didn’t help that the canals froze in the winter and tended to dry up in the summer.

Black and White Image of Canal Boat Towed by Horses

Ohio & Erie Canal barges moved on average 2 to 4 miles per hour. Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons

Trains changed all of that.

Ironically, in many cases, rail companies actually bought the land on which the canals had been built and then drained the canal beds, filled them with gravel and topped them with steel tracks.

Two examples of how trains changed the face of Akron were the growth of the Quaker Oats Company (originally called the German Mills American Oatmeal Company) led by Ferdinand Schumacher -- the “oatmeal king” and the massive growth of the rubber companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Quaker Oats

Quaker Oats and Trains were a marriage made in heaven (or in this case Akron). Recognizing the limitations of the canals, Ferdinand Schumacher specifically built his second mill in a downtown location that was already heavily integrated with emerging rail lines to ensure that he could enjoy year-round, uninterrupted production and shipping. During the Civil War, demand for Schumacher’s Oats grew exponentially as a good and convenient source for feeding the Union troops.

But Schumacher was not just a visionary in the manufacture of oats. He was also a master marketer. He created the “Quaker Battery” which utilized the expanding railroad network to take his product to the masses. The “Quaker Battery” was actually an entire train with beautifully designed and decorated cars filled entirely with Quaker Oats samples. This train traveled throughout the country introducing the concept of a standardized breakfast cereal. This idea worked beyond his wildest dreams and the result was a brand name that was quickly known throughout the land.

Back home in Akron, the Quaker Square factory complex was designed and engineered entirely around rail transit and featured complex rail-siding sheds built alongside the iconic 120-foot grain silos so bulk grain cars could be easily loaded with millions of bushels of grain.

Tan building with signature silos against a cloudy sky

View of Quaker Square and the former Quaker Oats factory in Akron, Ohio, from the bridge on Mill Street.

The Birth of the Rubber Capital of the World

Even though oats and rubber and two very different products, it is trains that tie the two industries together. Were it not for the rail network created for Quaker Oats, Akron would not have been in position to support the massive rubber boom that was to come starting in the late 19th century with the founding of B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear and Firestone rubber companies.

3 colored postcards of factory buildings

Promotional postcards of B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear and Firestone Factories in Akron, OH. Images via Wikimedia Commons

Raw sulfur and rubber are two integral components of tire making. These raw materials are very heavy and transporting tons of it at a time could not have been accomplished without the benefit of trains which were the only way that these heavy materials could have been transported from international shipping ports to Akron.

Once tires and other rubber products were manufactured, they again needed the rails to move products to market. Fleets of railroad freight cars were required to move these products daily from Akron to the Detroit auto manufacturers and global markets.

It Wasn’t Just Oats and Tires

While large industries like oats and tires were key to Akron’s growth, the railroads also provided key connections between Akron and other key cities like Cleveland. The Valley Railway was key for regional farmers who benefited by being able to ship fresh dairy and produce into and out of Akron’s growing urban center. Other commuter lines including the Akron, Bedford, and Cleveland Railroad which was, for a time, the longest electric commuter line in the world, connected downtown Akron to Cleveland’s Public Square in just two and a half hours (unheard of at the time).

Black and white image of Electric Railcar

Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Motor Car with Trailers Operated in 1895. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Suffice to say that trains were the key to industrial growth in Northeast Ohio and without the trains, there would have been no “Rubber Capital” for Akron and no “Best Location in the Nation” slogan for Cleveland.

Learn more about the history of Northeast Ohio in our recent blog posts commemorating America's 250th birthday!