My son Manny, who joined me for the Day 1 ride down from Cleveland, headed back to Cleveland. I continued alone heading south on the OTET, which, in Akron, is sometimes routed on a dedicated path next to a highway, and sometimes on city streets and sidewalks
Akron is in Summit County, and the summit of the towpath is 977 feet. The elevation of at the start of the towpath in Cleveland is about 571 feet, which means that canal boats were raised over 400 feet in elevation on their trip from Cleveland to Akron.
South of Akron, some of the original canal is filled with stagnant, algae-covered water.
In other spots, the canal is relatively clear and one can fish from the towpath. These fisherman caught Bluegill and Catfish.
At some points the towpath is completely shaded.
Farther south, the towpath runs alongside the Tuscarawas River
Coming into Massillon, the Ohio and Erie Towpath Trail continues south to New Philadelphia, but is renamed as the Congressman Ralph Regula Towpath Trail. The OTET splits off from the towpath and continues west through Massillon on the Sippo Valley Trail.
I skipped the start of the Sippo Valley Trail and took a parallel route through Massillon on the main street downtown called Lincoln Way. This street was part of the first route of the famous Lincoln Highway that ran from New York City to San Francisco. Here’s a snip from https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org. It’s not noted on the map, but the original highway passed through downtown Massillon.
(In 1926, Congress created a national numbering system for federal highways, and the Lincoln Highway essentially became US 30. Currently, US 30 is a 4-lane divided highway located about one mile south of downtown Massillon.)
The Lincoln Theater in Massillon is on Lincoln Way. An original Lincoln Highway marker is in front of the Massillon Museum, also on Lincoln Way.
I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid, and our troop did community service projects. Here’s a photo of my troop and me installing Lincoln Highway markers.
(Full disclosure: Although this is something my troop would have done, I have no specific memory of installing Lincoln Highway markers. While I looked like the boy wearing a hat, this photo came from the Massillon Museum, and may in fact not be my troop and me.)
The city of Massillon has an obvious fondness for football. This artwork honoring “A Century of Heroes” is the entire east wall of the Lincoln Theater.
This is a close-up of the quote in the artwork above.
“Don’t believe everything you read (especially on the internet), even if it is enclosed by quotation marks and the name of a famous person appears after the quotation.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Massillon is especially fond of the Massillon High School Tigers. Here’s a store front in downtown Massillon.
On top of a building downtown is the American flag. Of course. Right below it is the Massillon Tigers flag. Also, of course.
On a wall at a McDonalds: State champs, five years in a row. Seventy years ago.
