A brief History of The Village of Lakemore as edited by:

David E. Carter.

In 1662, King Charles the Second of England, granted Connecticut a charter, giving them title to land across our country.

After the War of Independence, Connecticut gave up most of its land to the new United States Government. Connecticut kept three and one half million acres along Lake Erie, known as the Western Reserve. The present Village of Lakemore was just inside the southward boundary of this territory which was the forty first parallel. ( forty first parallel lies just five miles south of, what is now known as Pontius Road) The Western Reserve at this time was inhabited entirely by Native American Indians. The area was very attractive to the Indians for fishing and hunting around the crystal clear waters and streams. The Indians were therefore very hostile to anyone invading their territory.

By the latter half of the 19th century, the Indians had been driven further West by the white man. Part of the Reserve was purchased by the Connecticut Land Company and surveyed into one hundred and twenty nine, five square mile townships. In the center of one of these townships was a beautiful spring-fed lake, which was appropriately named “Springfield.” Large tracts of land were soon purchased by settlers and speculators around the lake. The City of Akron by 1890 was rapidly becoming a thriving industrial community. Workers from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and other nearby states began moving to the area seeking new prosperous jobs.

Around 1914, Springfield Lake became a popular summer attraction with the establishing of the Springfield Lake Amusement Park. The park was located on the Southeast shore and provided two roller coasters, a merry-go-round, swimming, boating, fishing, and more. Soon after the park opened a double decker steamboat was added which cruised the lake waters complete with an orchestra and dancing. The dance pavilion on shore also hosted the most famous big bands of the era. The merry makers of the day were provided almost hourly transportation to the park by the Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company. This interurban street car line, which ran its route between Akron and Canton made regular stops in Lakemore.

The popularity of the area encouraged construction of summer cottages around the amusement park. Ice was cut from the lake in winter and stored in sawdust until summer, when it was delivered door to door along with milk, by horse and wagon.

In 1914 the present Edwin Shaw Hospital began operating as the Springfield Lake Sanitarium. At the same time developers began surveying allotments and laying out streets. By 1915, electricity was made available and there were three telephones in the village.

In 1916 a one room elementary school house was started on Sunnyside Ave., and later a two room addition was completed.

In the month of August 1917, the Lakemore Civic League was formed by a small group of people who moved into the summer cottages year round. The civic organization was active in taking care of streets, keeping the peace and purchased the communities first soda-pressured fire truck. The first officers of the League were M. E. Cole, President, G. A. Faucett, Vice President, H. C. Baker, Secretary and Elmer E. Akers, Treasurer. The first meetings were held at Lutz Grocery and Peggs Pool Room. In 1921 the Village of Lakemore was formed and was incorporated.

The Village continued to grow and in 1924 Lakemore Elementary School was built on Wilson Ave. By 1931, the first area high school was built on Canton Rd. and Sanitarium Rd. This is known as the Central building at the High School.

When the depression hit in 1929, the Springfield Lake Amusement Park hit hard times. However, the real demise of the park was due to an accident. In 1930, the Blue Streak, the largest roller coaster in the park, crashed and eleven people were injured. The park was sued for $40,000. In 1932 the Blue Streak was dismantled under a bankruptcy court order. The famed Blue Streak roller coaster was sold for $100.00 and all other equipment for $2000.00.

Even though the depression was not kind to the area, the Village continued to progress. Early in the 1930’s the first two story Lakemore Municipal Building was constructed to house the Village Government and the Fire Department. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sewer lines in part of the Village, which residents paid $60,000 with a $100,000 grant from the Federal Government for the project. Due to engineering the lines were not put into service for several years. In 1948 the Village developed a plan for making the WPA sewers workable and an extension of the sewers throughout the Village at a cost of $700,000. By the early 1970’s, the entire village had sewer service. Then during this same time period, installed its own Municipal Water System, one of the few in the county, not dependent on Akron or Cleveland.

This summary is only a brief outline of our community's past. The true history of The Village of Lakemore is in the stories of the individuals and families. Residents of the Village that have given their time and efforts for over 75 years so that we could prosper. This is the history we need to cherish and preserve for the future.

A note from Mayor, David E. Carter: To the best of my knowledge all this material is correct.  If you have any kind of information that you would like to share with myself of any member of the Lakemore Historical Society, please contact me at the e-mail address below or call the Village of Lakemore at (330) 733-6125.

E-Mail address is: mayor@lakemoreohio.org

  While surfing the Web, I found a link that you might want to see.  It has information that pertains to the statue that can be seen in the Village of Lakemore's Memorial Park.  The Spirit of America Doughboy