In 1935, in the Mayflower Hotel’s grand lobby, Bill Wilson made a famous phone call seeking help for alcoholism. It led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous with Dr. Bob Smith. Opened in downtown Akron in 1931, the Mayflower Hotel had 450 rooms. In June 1938, child actress Shirley Temple and her family rented out the 16th floor and dined on pork chops and split pea soup in the downstairs Puritan Room restaurant. By 1955, the hotel was purchased by the Sheraton Hotel Co., and eventually changed its name to the Sheraton Hotel. In 1956, the hotel transformed its dining room theme into the Merry Man, pictured here in the 1960s. In 1961, actors George Maharis and Martin Milner stayed at the hotel for the All-American Soap Box Derby. After struggling, the hotel closed in 1971. Today, the Mayflower is on the National Register of Historic Places. It operates as the renovated Mayflower Manor apartment complex, housing those who are 62 and older or are legally disabled — finding a new purpose by providing homes in an Akron landmark.
Summit Memory, Akron-Summit County Public Library
