Inventory of the Akron City Water Department Photographs, 1917-1937

History of Biography or History

Akron's first water system was formed in 1881 by the Akron Water Works Company, a private firm which was given a long-term franchise to supply the city's water in 1894. The company drew its water from wells and Summit Lake, but Akron's rapid growth soon made these sources inadequate. This situation was made worse by increasing industrial pollution of the company's water supplies.

In 1907 a movement began for the creation of a city-owned water system. After several years of indecision, the city decided to buy out the Akron Water Works Company. However, a controversial valuation of the company's worth and heavy lobbying by company owners, who wanted to preserve their franchise, caused the defeat of a needed bond issue in 1910. Mayor William T. Sawyer and the city council then pursued the possibility of creating a completely new system. An engineering team's report recommended that the city buy land and build a reservoir on the upper Cuyahoga River at a site just north of Kent. This would serve as the city's main water source with large pipelines running from the reservoir to Akron.

A continuing deterioration in water quality spurred Akron officials to pursue this plan. After successfully lobbying the state legislature for permission to build the reservoir, city council brought another bond issue up for public approval. In December of 1911, Akron voters passed the issue authorizing $815,000 and over the next four years approved issues totaling over $2,000,000. These monies were used for the purchase of land and water rights as well as construction costs for the dam, purification and pumping facilities, and pipe lines. The system became operable in August 1915 with additional feeder mains being added in the late teens and the twenties. Ironically, Mayor Sawyer lost some of the credit due to him for the project's success when the new reservoir was named for his successor, Frank Rockwell, who had also supported the new system.

Over the years Akron's water quality has been a positive factor in the city's growth. The Water Department, under the leadership of Wendell R. LaDue, has gained a nationwide reputation for innovation and efficiency. 1

1 Information for this historical background was taken from Karl H. Grismer, Akron and Summit County (Akron, Ohio: Summit County Historical Society, 1975?), George W. Knepper, Akron: City at the Summit (Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Co., 1994), and the Wendell R. LaDue Papers at The University of Akron Archival Services.

Scope and Content

The photographs of the Akron City Water Department contain several hundred 3 x 5 prints that record Water Department construction activities from approximately 1917 to 1937. The photographs were intended to serve as a record of various Water Department projects during this time period. These include major additions to the water purification plant, extensive pipeline and water main surveys and construction, as well as new water towers, standpipes, and pumping stations. While the photographs are basically technical in nature, they also include a great deal of incidental detail concerning Akron's streets and neighborhoods in the early twentieth century.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on access; except not available through interlibrary loan. Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Akron Building Department Blueprints

Wendell R. LaDue Papers

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Akron City Water Department Photographs, Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio

Detailed Description of The Collection