Summit Metro Parks We're Your Back Yard

History

History of the Metro Parks

By Cheri Goldner, Librarian
Akron-Summit County Public Library

1917 - Congress creates the National Park Service

1925 - Seiberling accepts the first gift of land to the park system

1929 - The stock market crash and the Great Depression

1941 - The district adds Firestone Reservation

1950 - New challenges for the Akron Metropolitan Park District

1958 - The retirement of Harold S. Wagner as Director-Secretary

1965 - The district hires its second long-time director-secretary, John R. Daily

1998-2015 - Keith D. Shy serves as director-secretary

Present - The park district manages 15,000 acres