Ohio inventions and firsts · Company innovation · 1870-1915
Akron becomes the Rubber Capital
B.F. Goodrich (Akron, 1870), Goodyear (1898), Firestone (August 3, 1900) and General Tire (1915) made Akron the 'Rubber Capital of the World'.
At a glance
- Year
- 1870-1915
- Company
- Goodyear / Firestone / B.F. Goodrich
- Place
- Akron, Summit County ZIP 44308 · Akron · Summit County
The story
In the late 1800s Akron was a mid-sized Ohio town. Rubber changed that. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich moved his rubber business to Akron in 1870, and others followed: Goodyear in 1898, Firestone in 1900 and General Tire in 1915.
The car supplied the growth. The decade 1910 to 1920 made Akron America's fastest-growing city, with a 201.8 percent rise in population. The workforce nearly tripled, with almost a third being immigrants and their children, along with people from West Virginia.
The companies built homes for workers. Frank Seiberling of Goodyear built Goodyear Heights, and Harvey Firestone built Firestone Park.
The boom did not last. In 1936 about 5,000 workers took part in a five-week sit-down strike that won recognition for the United Rubber Workers. By the early 1990s Goodyear was the last major tire maker still based in Akron, and the University of Akron now works on polymers.
Timeline
- 1870: B.F. Goodrich settles in Akron. (Akron, OH) source
- 1898-08-29: Goodyear is founded by Frank Seiberling. (Akron, OH) source
- 1900-08-03: Firestone is founded with 12 employees. (Akron, OH) source
- 1910-1920: Akron's population grows 201.8 percent. (Akron, OH) source
- 1915: General Tire and Rubber is founded in Akron. (Akron, OH) source
- 1936: A five-week sit-down strike of about 5,000 workers wins union recognition. (Akron, OH) source
What it changed
- Akron grew 201.8 percent in one decade (1910-1920).
- Four large tire companies were headquartered there.
Why it matters
Akron's production fueled the automobile era.
Worth knowing
Wikipedia's Akron article says Goodrich came in 1869, while its BFGoodrich article says 1870, after buying Hudson River Rubber a year earlier.
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.