Stroll Past

Many locals know of the Portage Path where Native Americans carried their canoes from the Cuyahoga River to the Tuscarawas River more than 10,000 years ago because a statue commemorates it at a busy Merriman Valley intersection. It’s news to most locals, however, that there was a similar path in Cuyahoga Falls.

“The point where they would exit the river was actually along Front Street to portage around our falls and continue on to the Tuscarawas River,” says Jeri Holland, president of the Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society.

To share the city’s unique heritage, the society partnered with the Downtown Cuyahoga Falls Partnership and Triad to install seven signs for a walkable history trail. “Our goal was to teach people more about our history that isn’t so well-known,” she says.

The evolution of the river from industrial to recreational is a theme that flows through each sign. “The river is the backbone of the downtown,” says Kaylee Piper, executive director for the partnership.

Look out for themed walking tours in the summer, and eventually, the partnership hopes to add augmented reality features to bring it to life. Holland gives us a sneak peek.

Name Change: Cuyahoga Falls is the city’s second name. “We were once called Manchester after Manchester, England, because we were such a huge manufacturing center,” Holland says. “We made everything: pitchforks, rope, machine parts, clocks.” In the early 1800s, the river powered factories that produced 100,000 steel utensils and 525 tons of paper annually, six dozen units of shovels daily and more.

Equal Sign: In the mid-1800s, Cuyahoga Falls had an anti-slavery society that advocated for freedom seekers as part of the First Congregational Church, which is now the Pilgrim United Church of Christ. It had 50-some members who assisted freedom seekers, and Holland has seen traces of hiding places. “The Pilgrim Church has an underground room that still exists,” she says. “There’s also a tunnel.”

Thrill Seekers: Now a park and butterfly garden, High Bridge Glens was once home to an amusement park that had one of the first gravity-operated roller coasters, a dance pavilion and trails. “People would hike dressed to the nines,” Holland says, adding that they had to go down two levels, take Fenton Ferry across the river and then hike the Chuckery Race trail to Old Maids Kitchen. “They would do all of that in heels and wool dresses.” In 1912, a dam that was built to power a streetcar system flooded and destroyed the amusement park.