Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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54-,,,,-,H 5 C- V c an . f ,,.. GE ' .4 f3i'Z'5fonE A6 .Jam 1 if - -Q ' ,, V illl- nn 'E X T Qt . ' X -B . t 'Ov'-xi ' L bg: In A13 xumjx' sswxicf 'Exif -L Y STH - 1-' ffafffl ' Um-f L -If if . . rr .s f ' . . -. fi , - .t'31Q.' 5 - I 153 wi , l 've--. -glif I mv- z iw' .gywiv, ,., Q- ' ?fr3,,,1 5- Q., 'fsI,t--- ' 1 ll -gg. W.-f n l i,ll,l- lit: 1 ,if A4 g 4, r ca 3.11 -4 '. 75, ,gig J... . ll -:K W 1. -X., yn, , -. ' sis' ' I 1' E ati . 1 li 4' V- . -- f- -Yi' 'Ei .i ' , 19 gfr.: ,F 1643 ,, t... E' 1' L l' 1 FH 1. I in ' r wifi ink!! 51: 1 - - ,g Y , ,y Yvi 1 -5. , - ai , x . '722'a t ,. ' if Z B ww P ,.L,, eu t , ,r - M a ... ,' k-'Wa ' ,. f ' X' ,, H 7 1' j X - 'L V , - . Opposite page, first four buildings on campus, 1915. Science tKentJ Hall, right, is ' nearing completion. Administration Building is in center and Merrill and Lowry Halls ,A, . : ' are at left. tUniversity Archivesj ' ' .. i s - ' Q., 344 i H:xS,5p5g,,if33iff1, Lg, ' This page, top, College Book Store, where Campus Supply stands, bottom, summer . ,. school assembly hall, 1915, known as the Pavilion lt contained all the students .Tr ..v'. L F' ' gff'TE while building interiors were being completed. CUniversity Archivesj locks near the bridge. Canal men like 'Pod' Moore, who could bend a silver dollar with his fingers, passed through and left behind their stories. Moore, 6 feet 10, once single-handedly cleaned up on the crews of three other boats when one fool jeered, Hey, Fat Bellyl More important to the town's growth than the canal was the building of the railroad that linked Franklin Mills to the outside world. During the Civil War, Marvin Kent took the reins of leadership from his Father Zenas and persuaded the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad to run a trunk line through the village in 1863. Marvin even instigated building the line's repair shops here, which created a large and lasting employer for residents. Growth of business and industry spurted and a grateful citizenry named the town in honor of Zenas four years later. By the 1870's and 80's the town began to modernize. The village dentist announced his acquisition of 'laughing gas' for painless tooth extraction. Jennie Lind appeared at the 23

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YQ-- I 1 'f -'N-ss Franklin Mills, named for the township and the flour and sawmills built along the Cuyahoga Fiiver, was just a few scattered houses along the Ravenna-Stow road in the early 1800's. The village anxiously awaited a financial boom when plans for the establishment of a silk mill became reality. Mills were built and mulberry trees for feeding the silkworms were planted. But the uncooperative little caterpillars who were supposed to munch those mulberry leaves and produce silk fiber instead died, ending the village's first attempt at industry. 22 So Zenas Kent's grand brick block on the corner of Main and North Water streets was left vacant, except for a few cows who occasionally took refuge from the rain in the hotel. The village got another chance at commerce when the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal was built parallel to the river around 1836. Farmers could ship out goods and merchants could bring in goods via the Akron to Cleveland to Pittsburgh route. Travellers stayed overnight at Franklin Mills' inns or the hotel - cowless now - or guzzled a drink at a Water Street saloon while their canal boat waited its turn at the

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Eg-L-.Q R . I ,N - . . X, . 1 ir. . f a ' J 1 H I Ass xx 1 fan- I Lx X in I' M S V! , Q M! I- 7' yi ' A R. - V 17,5 l 1 I V 'Mil' , ,V J, , Lx ,,. . 9-.lf . it -. . . . as . .4 if A H5341 1 - X ff 1 . 4- 4 Y: ml' r , A 'P' KJ ,Ed gt I . - 1 l l l A town hall for a single performance. Two street lights were installed in the covered wooden Main Street bridge, which was replaced by the present stone structure in 1877. Professor Leon, a travelling showman, treated residents to a death-defying tightrope walk across the Cuyahoga as part of one July 4th celebration. The wandering cow ordinance of 1880, also applicable to horses and swine, effectively kept untended stock from the streets. The first electric lights flickered on here in 1887, with telephone service beginning shortly after. A trolley ride to Ravenna cost 10 cents, to Akron, 20 cents. 24 i' i l l At the turn of the century Kent was well on its way to becoming a city. In 1901, P. N. Eigner took a drive in the town's first car. I. D. Tuttle brought in the second car and almost immediately drove into a ditch - Kent's first auto wreck. More horseless carriages prompted Kent's first speed ordinance: an 8 mile per hour limit in the business section, and 15 mph allowed in residential areas. North Water was paved in 1903. In 1911, Calbrarth P. Rogers gave citizens a thrill: Their first glimpse of an airplane. Entering in royal style, Rogers