The Brightest Spot in the Underworld

Akron, 1940    |     photo courtesy of the Furnace Street Mission Collection-Summit Memory/Akron-Summit County Public Library

Dubbed “The Brightest Spot in the Underworld,” Furnace Street Mission had a glowing cross atop its original building that beckoned to lost souls in an Akron neighborhood where stabbings and shootings were nearly daily in the ’20s, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

Since 1929, the nonprofit distributed clothing and up to 6,000 holiday meals annually. Its late unorthodox founder, known as the Rev. “Crazy Bill Denton,” caught attention with extreme demonstrations like burning an RSV Bible to protest that translation. His preaching left a mark, and his WADC program is one of the oldest religious radio shows in the country. Furnace Street Mission expanded to youth programs, prison ministries and halfway houses, and Denton’s son took over and founded the Victim Assistance Program bringing national recognition to Akron and helping thousands.