You've probably heard of the Cuyahoga River, but what about the Little Cuyahoga River?
The river was crucial for Akron’s early industrial history, according to Charlotte Gintert, Cultural Resources Specialist at Summit Metro Parks.
Gintert discussed the river's history while standing in a wooded area near Case Avenue, where it flows.
"The river behind me is the Little Cuyahoga River, which is kind of an unknown, forgotten-about stream but really, really important in Akron’s history,” Gintert said.
It’s a tributary of the Cuyahoga River.
“If it wasn't for the ‘little’ one, the city of Akron probably wouldn't have developed the way we recognize it today,” Gintert said.
In 1807, former sea captain Joseph Hart purchased land in what is now Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood, the city’s first settlement, she said. Hart started a grist mill.
“The Little Cuyahoga River had a natural waterfall at this location,” Gintert said. “That gravity pull of the water is what powered the early mills.”
The success of Captain Hart’s mill led to others, she added.
“There was a nail factory here, there was a blast furnace, and from there, a few years later, the clay companies started moving in, and that's Akron's first big industry,” Gintert said. “Having all those early industries along this little river here, because it had such a dramatic flow, it was able to power a lot in a small stretch of space.”
As time went on, other industries boomed in other areas of the city, such as factories and stores near the Ohio & Erie Canal, and later, rubber factories. The significance of the Little Cuyahoga was forgotten over time, she said.
Meanwhile, sewer overflows and industrial pollution soiled the river, Gintert said.
“The Little Cuyahoga River was considered one of the most polluted tributaries in the state and it was causing like 17% of the contamination of the big Cuyahoga River where it empties into,” Gintert said.
Gradual cleanup efforts have improved the river - but there’s still work to be done, she said.
“Having people become champions of the Little Cuyahoga River is something that is necessary,” Gintert said.
