Barberton

The "Magic City," Barberton is the brainchild of Akron industrialist Ohio Columbus Barber. Founded in 1892, the planned community of Barberton anchors the southern end of the Portage Path, a link between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, and later was a canal settlement known as Johnson's Corners. Barber chose to move his industrial operations to this area due to its access to the canal and to the railroad. The town is laid out in a classic grid pattern around a round kettle lake, "Way Lake," which Barber renamed after his daughter Anna. Along with Lake Anna, Barbers legacy includes the Diamond Match Company buildings and the remaining structures of the Anna Dean Farm.