We owe much of our rich history to the Native American tribes who first settled here—the Chippewa and Algonquin—as well as the European pioneers who followed. The German-heritage families who moved west from Pennsylvania continued to work the land, giving the area a strong agricultural base as its economic means. The construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1827 increased travel to the region.

The turn of the century demanded room for the Industrial Revolution to expand, so area citizens planned Barberton as an industrial community from the start. Thanks to industrialist Ohio Columbus Barber’s investment to expand his Diamond Match business here, other manufacturers followed.

Yet the citizens in Northeast Ohio certainly knew the value of a balanced life. To prevent this area from becoming all work and no play, Mr. Barber made a natural glacial lake the town’s focal point, and named it Lake Anna, after his daughter. Such insight has become the cornerstone of our future, binding us to the best lessons of the past.

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