North Hill History
By Michael Kane
My dad instilled a love for history in me. I was hard pressed to find documented info on Forest Hill, but in a nutshell... The area was originally part of Tallmadge Township prior to Summit County being carved out of the four surrounding counties. Akron brought utilities to the "hill" around the turn of the century and annexed the area known as Forest Hill in 1918. We planted the Forest Hill sign in 1998 and held a 90th Anniversary rededication if you will. The house we live in was built around 1845 by the Fouse family, whom I'm told operated a vineyard on most of the Forest Hill land up to the late 1800's when they began to sell off the land. At some point the Fouse family sold land to the Cuyahoga-Akron transit authority to create what is known as Fouse Avenue. Winfred E. Fouse, the founding partner with Michael O'Neil of General Tire, was born in our house. He is mentioned on the Continental Tire web site and in the book "Wheels of Fortune". The two men who developed Forest Hill were members of the High Street Christian Church. During the winters it was too difficult for parishioners to get through the valley to attend (prior to the viaduct being built). The church sent a pastor to winter in Forest Hill and the developers donated land and built a satellite church on Damon Street. After the viaduct was built and there was no longer a need for the building the men donated it to the community where it still operates as the Forest Hill Community Church. The original two room Forest Hill Elementary was torn down in the 1920s and replaced with the typical red brick Akron school house. A small addition was added in the late 1980s. In 2008 the building was demolished having been replace with a brand new building on the north end of the property as part of the Akron Schools rebuilding project. It is now known as Forest Hill CLC (community learning center) and is the home of the Wildcats. I painted a large Wildcat and paw prints in the new gymnasium as a gift to the community. For the last two years I have held a men's open gym basketball program allowing people of the community to take advantage of the building. We've also had a community movie night and intend to add events as the years go by. The only cause for the name Forest Hill I can come up with is that there was a hill with a forest on it!
Michael Kane
Akron's first grammar school/high school building (at Mill, between Prospect and Summit streets) was used from 1847 to 1853. It was a dwelling house which was fixed up for a grammar school/high school. In 1853 Jennings School–-a new two-story brick high school--was built on this site for $9,250.
North High School was originally located at what is now Jennings Middle School. In 1931, the present North High School was built on Gorge Boulevard and housed students in grades 10-12.
Completion of the building was delayed 24 years because of the depression and two wars. In 1955 an auditorium, cafeteria and gymnasium were added. In 1970 a vocational wing was added. The school expanded to serve grades 9-12 in September 1972.
The old building has beautiful art deco tilework on its exterior. The tilework is both decorative and pictorial: a decorative theme of brightly colored and stylized flowers and
images of pre-industrial humans depicted in industrious scenes.
Giant Auto Parts
North Hill Post Office
1928
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