Centennial spotlight: F.A. Seiberling, a driving force in a young park district
Megan Shaeffer, Ph.D., Cultural Resource Coordinator
Many people know Franklin Augustus Seiberling as one of the co-founders of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. F.A., along with his brother Charles, opened the first factory in Akron in 1898 and his innovations and patents helped the company fuel tremendous economic growth in Northeast Ohio in the early twentieth century.
What is less known is how Seiberling was a powerful force behind the creation of the Akron Metropolitan Park District, which we know today as Summit Metro Parks. Seiberling’s drive to preserve the green spaces of the Cuyahoga Valley stemmed from his desire to enhance the lives of his employees at Goodyear and to improve the quality of life in Akron and the surrounding area.
Seiberling played many important roles in the inception and early development of the fledgling park district. In 1924 he proposed the donation of a large piece of his estate, which formed the core of Sand Run Metro Park as we know it today. Seiberling also suggested this property as the location of what would become Sand Run Parkway. In 1925 he became a member of the park board; in that same year Seiberling accepted the park’s first official land donation, Courtney Park (a small triangle of land at the corner of Portage Path and Merriman Road), and oversaw a park plan developed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. These actions created the foundation of the park district we all enjoy today!
We are grateful to Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens for providing biographical resources that were used for this article.
For more stories like this, check out Green Islands Magazine, a bi-monthly publication from Summit Metro Parks. Summit County residents can sign up to receive the publication at home free of charge. #SMP100
