Summit County History

The year was 1840 and the son of General Simon Perkins, the founder of the City of Akron, was on his way to the State Legislature hoping to follow in his father's footsteps: to found a county from townships in three existing counties.

Simon Perkins, Jr., a member of the State Senate, knew he would have to draw on every bit of his considerable powers of persuasion to achieve his goal. There was plenty of resistance from the citizens of Medina County to the west, Portage County to the east and Stark County to south. Firstly, the townships preferring to be part of the new county wanted to break from the counties in which they resided, Medina, Portage and Stark. Secondly, the three counties preferred to see this abundant tract of land remain available to them. Senator Perkins had other ideas.

His impassioned pleas to the State legislature reached just enough of his colleagues so that, on February 28, 1840, the formation of the new county was narrowly approved. The governor signed it into law on March 3, 1840. The new county would be called "Summit" recognizing its high point along the canal route.

The controversy didn't end in Columbus. A county seat needed to be named. It came down to Cuyahoga Falls or Akron. A suggestion was made to create a neutral town to be called "Summit City" that would serve as county seat. That suggestion was quickly dismissed.

Akron was finally designated as the county seat when General Perkins ended the dispute by donating a parcel of land on which a courthouse would be built, the very site where the County Courthouse stands to this day. 

With its advantageous location along the canal system, Summit County experienced rapid growth. The county would become a leader in a variety of industry: farm implements, cereal, matches, pottery, paper products, wool, boat construction, and of course, rubber. The rubber industry opened in Summit County in the 1890's and it carried the local economy for nearly 90 years.

Summit County continued to grow and prosper, routinely maintaining it’s standing as the fifth largest county in Ohio. But trouble began to loom in both the rubber industry and Summit County government. The rubber companies began moving out of town causing thousands of people to lose their jobs. At about the same time, there were reports of wrongdoing in some segments of county government, causing thousands of people to lose their faith in their government.

Throughout the 1970's, a citizens group had tried to convince county voters to convert to a charter form of government and abolish the three-commissioner structure. Each time, the issue was defeated at the polls. However, by 1979, with county government mired in controversy, the electorate was willing to change. On January 1,1980, Summit County became Ohio's first charter county government.

As an infant government, the charter form of government has had its uncertain moments. But it has also had moments of triumph, proving the voters were correct when they approved the change two decades ago. Many things have been accomplished recently that have improved county government and the community it serves; changes that could not have been achieved if the charter had not been in place.