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Chrysler Stamping Plant Opens, 1957

Chrysler had long sought a spot in Northeast Ohio to build a stamping plant. Brooklyn, Copley, and Macedonia had been front-runners for the plant at one time or another, but Twinsburg was projected as the most profitable. The site previously considered the favorite in Macedonia turned out to be quite problematic; the soil conditions were considered unstable and not fit for construction of a massive stamping plant. In November of 1955, it was decided Chrysler would build a two hundred-acre plant in Twinsburg at an estimated cost of $85 million dollars. The plant was built on land purchased from the family of future Twinsburg mayor, James Karabec.

Exterior of the Chrysler Stamping Plant, not long after it opened

Exterior of the Chrysler Stamping Plant, not long after it opened

According to an article appearing in the Plain Dealer on February 17, 1957, nineteen Ohio cities and thirty firms shared in building the Chrysler plant, accounting for the bulk of materials used. Thousands of workers across the state contributed to the plant’s construction with contracts awarded to companies ranging from a few thousand to millions of dollars. Three orchards and four houses came down to let bulldozers dig the plant foundation. Bedrock was fourteen feet below ground, close enough to brace presses that would reach 600 tons in weight with a stamping force of 1,800 tons.

This massive structure was located on Township soil, but the recently seceded city of Twinsburg annexed the land and property. The greatest catalyst for growth within the City of Twinsburg was the arrival of Chrysler. “The city built up because of Chrysler…that economic impact and the freeway 480 coming through here is what drove Twinsburg to develop. It provided jobs. It provided economic income for the city,” according to Mayor Procop. The opening of the stamping plant was cause for celebration. Nearly 1,000 of the 3,600 Twinsburg inhabitants braved blustery, winter weather to greet the great new employer of the masses at their groundbreaking ceremony.

Chrysler was the employer and generator of tax revenue for Twinsburg, at one point accounting for 75 percent of tax revenue. At its peak it employed around five thousand people (more than the population of Twinsburg when Chrysler first arrived). The plant employed people from as far away as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Glenwood Acres, a neighborhood comprised of 431 affordable houses, was constructed to house the influx of new arrivals to the area.

Over the course of the plant’s fifty-three year history there were numerous alterations in the methods of automotive assembly. As described by long-time employee Dale Franks, the plant in the mid-1980s was “rough…smoky, dirty, nasty.” By the time he left in 2006 it was “very clean”. When the plant was first built most of the labor was manual. Little-by-little robots became commonplace. The first A.I. employee was a small welding robot. After the introduction of the first robot there was more automation every year and less employees. “They [the robots] did displace people on the lines,” said Randy Addison, a thirty-eight year employee at the plant. “When I was there, door line would take eighty people. When I retired door line would take eight people.” Addison and many other employees were sent to Detroit to take classes on how robots worked.

The plant’s production was thoroughly concentrated on constructing car doors. For the vast majority of the plant’s lifespan production was phenomenal, as was the interpersonal relationships between employees. Dale Franks has described his former fellow Chrysler workmates as “family.” But all was not rosy at the stamping plant. Excruciatingly long hours (often eighty hour weeks and very few days off) lead to employee discontent.

There were a number of shootings and drug busts at the plant through the years, but possibly the most heinous act occurred in 1967 when a wooden cross was burned at the union hall. A lynch rope and a KKK sign also appeared in the plant. Racial tensions were running high amid concerns about poverty and problems in Twinsburg Heights, which was adjacent to the plant.

Strikes at the Twinsburg stamping plant and in Michigan greatly affected employees across the country. A strike at one plant would ripple through the company, causing layoffs at various other plants as production slowed. In November of 1983, 3200 United Auto Workers Local 122 members employed at the Twinsburg plant went on strike for a mere five days. The effect of the strike was widespread and considerable costly—half dozen assembly plants closed and twenty thousand workers were cut loose. Losses for the automotive superpower were estimated at $75 million. In 1967 a strike at Chrysler Auto Plants in Michigan “forced” the corporation to lay off five hundred Local 122 employees.

On the brighter side, if not for Chrysler Kent State University (KSU) would not have a presence in Twinsburg that it has today. In 1991, KSU opened a training center at the plant, to offer classes in business management, industrial trades, computers, quality certification and general education.

It was the largest stamping plant for any automotive corporation in the world, right up to the time of its demise. Talks of closing Chrysler plants were rampant in early 2009, even though Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. An announcement was made that no more plants would be permanently closed. It looked as if the Twinsburg plant was safe. Instead Chrysler broke their promise, closing five more plants, including Twinsburg, on the same day their empty promise had been made. Union employees, state legislators, and local government officials were caught off-guard by the abrupt decision to shut down the plant.

“President Obama forced Chrysler into federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday so it could pursue a life saving alliance with the Italian automaker Fiat, in yet another extraordinary intervention into private industry by the federal government. Flanked by his automobile task force of cabinet secretaries and business advisers in the White House’s grand entranceway, Mr. Obama announced a plan that would allow the United Automobile Workers, through their retirement plan, to take control of Chrysler, with Fiat and the United States as junior partners. The government would lend about $8 billion more to the company, on top of the $4 billion it had already provided,” according to a New York Times article published on April 30, 2009. It seems the federal government saw fit to bail out a billion dollar corporation, but not the city of Twinsburg.

 

Mayor Katherine Procop mentioned the company’s chief executive and several administration officials talked about bright futures for Chrysler cities, during conference calls the week prior to the permanent closings. “I feel so disheartened because I had been meeting with the UAW and with the management of the plant” discussing Twinsburg‘s future, Procop said, “To find out that we were on the chopping block from the very beginning, that goes beyond disbelief”. In fact, she was not even alerted by Chrysler brass about their decision to close, instead an early morning call from an AP reporter informed her of the decision.

There was a great fear the closed Chrysler plant would remain vacant for a substantial duration of time, creating an eyesore and continue to detrimentally affect the local economy; however in July 2011, the Plain Dealer reported two companies, “The DiGeronimo Cos. of Independence and Scannell Properties, based in Indianapolis, purchased the automotive complex for an undisclosed price.” Plans were set from the new owners to tear down sixty-five percent of the 2.2 million square foot plant.

The hard work of Mayors Karabec and Procop assured that Twinsburg’s financial loss would not be nearly as devastating as it could have been. Long before the plant’s closure, Karabec realized no city should so heavily rely on income from one company as Twinsburg had, for far too many years. He used tax abatement to bring additional industry to the area. Mayor Procop worked tirelessly to pass Issue 32 that would increase city income taxes a quarter percent for four years to offset the losses in tax revenue felt by the loss of Chrysler. It did pass, tax revenue loss was nullified, and city income tax was reset at its previous mark, two percent. An article that appeared in the July 18, 2010 edition of the Plain Dealer aptly describes how Twinsburg offset the plant closure: “The Twinsburg that Chrysler leaves behind used the automaker as a springboard to build an industrial corridor that includes Goodrich, Rockwell Automation and GE Energy plants. Along with those came medical, communications and technology businesses. Edgepark Surgical, a seven hundred-employee supplier of home health equipment, this summer eclipsed the waning Chrysler in writing the most paychecks in town.”

First Twins Day Festival

Twinsburg’s annual Twins Day Festival was created to commemorate the legacy of the city’s founding twins, Moses and Aaron Wilcox, and was kicked off with a flag raising and dedication of the Wilcox Monument. A comparatively inauspicious beginning (to the current incarnation), it launched in August of 1976 on a rather humble scale, as only 37 sets of twins participated in the inaugural event. It was an byproduct of the local bicentennial celebration, intended initially as a one-off event. In the years that followed, expansion was steady, so much so that today’s version bears little resemblance to the first iteration.

The first festival, held on the square, was “very rural, very Mayberry/ RFD type of event.” (Andrew Miller). Attractions ranged from sack races to a firefighter battle of the barrels. A children’s parade was held, with the wee little ones riding their colorfully decorated bicycles in a pint-sized procession. There were a few food and arts and crafts vendors peddling goods. Most notable may have the appearance of the world’s only skydiving clown, Thunder Chicken. After he landed, a magic show was performed for the children and then he was whisked away in a Wizard of Oz themed hot air balloon.

The festival may have been diminutive in scale, but proved a huge success leading to plans for a second festival the following year. By the second installation of the event, the locale was moved to the park.

Ladies VFW Auxiliary

In 1946, the women of Twinsburg formed the Ladies Auxiliary to VFW 4929.  Since then they have had a long history of serving the community and supporting VFW 4929 in its many charitable activities.  Well run and efficient from its beginning, their history of the first year of the organization foreshadows what it would become.

PDF: VFW Auxiliary First Year History 

Fire Station Opening, 1957

On April 28, 1957 Twinsburg Township opened a new fire station to serve the community. That building is now being used by the Sheriff’s Office.

This is the program for the day’s festivities: Program for Fire Station Opening

The Twinsburg Fire Department was originally formed in May, 1919 with 25 original members. At that time they had a very minimal budget and were considered a “bucket brigade”, as they did not have a station. In 1912, the first equipment was purchased – a 2-wheeled cart. The first motorized piece of equipment was purchased in 1923 and was a 1924 REO.

Sesquicentennial School Play

In 1967, to celebrate the Sesquicentennial of Twinsburg, the schools put on a production to commemorate the region’s anniversary.  The production, coordinated by Richard T. Sunderland who was the Director of Music for Twinsburg Schools, featured children from virtually every grade.

Twinsburg Sesquicentennial Booklet

Reminderville, Early Years

Incorporated in 1955, Reminderville has a unique and interesting history. Years prior to officially gaining its moniker and becoming a village, it was already known to some as Reminderville, almost assuredly due to the great number of Reminders who resided in the area. In fact, as far back as the 1940s, truck drivers referred to the area as Reminderville, one trucker passing the name along to another so he would not mistakenly attempt to deliver his cargo to Twinsburg. The Township’s residents redirected many confused truckers to the marshy region nicknamed Reminderville.

The secluded, swampy land offered peace and quiet for urbanites attempting to flee the hustle and bustle of city life. It was a favorable destination for fishing, hunting, and freedom from the rat race of city life.

According to Lee Barthelman, known by many as Reminderville’s local historian: “In 1955 there were fifty-six families that lived over on the eastern side of Reminderville, right on the border of Summit County. The only way to get to Reminderville or to that group was to go out to what was called Orchard Road which takes you out to Aurora Road, and from Aurora Road you can go wherever you want to.” This kept the fledgling village largely isolated from the outside world, including neighboring towns.

To make matters worse, at the outset the independence of the area was negatively impacted by its reliance on the fire department of its neighbor to the north, Aurora. With permission from Aurora, in 1952, Reminderville was able to start a volunteer branch of the Aurora Fire Department. This benefited the village twofold: it helped forge a measure of independence and provided the residents with heightened safety and security, as it had often taken the fire department far too long to arrive while an inferno incinerated all in its path. The first fire engine was donated by the Aurora Fire Department, an outdated model that soon would be replaced.

The first year-round settler in what is now Reminderville was Peter Grimm. Born in Breitenbuch, Germany, he came to Cleveland as a teenager in the early 1920s before settling in the northeastern corner of Summit County. If not for the sheer number of Reminders who migrated to the area shortly before Grimm, the village may have been named Grimmville.

The Reminders were the most prominent family in the village as well as major catalysts for its development. Probably the most important event in the evolution of Reminderville was the construction of Glenwood Drive. George Reminder, brother of the village’s first mayor, Clement Reminder, was extremely aggressive in pursuing the construction of the road that extended the dead end at Orchard Street off Route 43 through to Liberty Road to the west. In 1962, the road was completed, literally opening up new possibilities for Reminderville and its residents. Finally, there was easy access to the Township, Twinsburg, and the rest of Summit County and beyond.

George was known as the outspoken one who got things done, but it was Clement who was chosen as first mayor in April 1955. According to his nephew Charles Reminder, the thinking behind his nomination was “Uncle Clem was quiet, he’s smart and he wears a tie, so he can be mayor.” So the first mayor may have been selected because he was tight-lipped and had a propensity for sprucing himself up with neckwear. His mayoral reign lasted only a year, as he fell ill and had to step down from office.

National Spelling Bee, 1933

Little Alma Roach, of Twinsburg, not only participated in the 1933 National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., but won it. George Meltzer of Hoboken, New Jersey, failed to spell “propitiatory”. Alma corrected him and clinched the win by spelling “torsion”. The event was radio broadcast.

Alma later became a teacher for Solon Middle School.

Twinsburg’s Centennial

1917 marked the centennial of Twinsburg Township. Numerous committees worked feverishly to put together a celebration worthy of the area, its inhabitants, and the founders. The week-long festivities commenced on Sunday, August 4th with church services held in both the morning and early evening on the pageant grounds and concluded the following Saturday with the highly anticipated Pageant. Other activities and events included a dramatization of fifty year old pranks pulled by schoolchildren attending Bissel Academy, family reunions, log rolling, band music, and old time Virginia reels.

One of the highlights of Twinsburg’s Centennial was it’s pageant. The Pageant was a faithful portrayal of the highlights of the area’s first hundred years from the earliest settlers right up to the modern day (or at least what passed for modern at that time). Over a third of Twinsburg’s populance (350 of 900) participated in the pageant, with 1,200 others in attendance.

Billed as a history of a town, in dramatic form, for many it was the high point of the celebration.  The Independent, which was the newspaper of Northern Summit County in 1917, reported that many people “pronounced it the finest pageant they had ever seen.”

The production was so popular it was produced in Cleveland during the following month. It was directed my S. Gertrude Hadlow.

View the Pageant Book here.

The Township of the time was fiercely religious and so was the Centennial. Opening festivities were imbued with a spiritual fervor. Both the Congregational and Methodist churches had hour-long services to kick off the festival. An excerpt from The (Hudson) Independent sums up the religious tone: “Let us come to this service with a keen realization of the meaning of the hour and let the whole community, young and old, render unto God, their Captain, their deepest allegiance and pledge their unfailing loyalty to the great cause of humanity, and show that with malice toward none and charity for all we enter this struggle reluctantly, but as true Americans, obedient to the stern daughter of the voice of God—DUTY.”

According to an article published in the Akron Beacon Journal: “No town in Northern Ohio has greater unity and loyalty among its people.” Unity and loyalty was on full-display for the duration of the preparation and subsequent festivities.

First Trial by Jury

The first trial by jury in the history of the village of Twinsburg occurred on August 6, 1957. Presiding, was Mayor Alexander J. Day. The Prosecutor was Jerome W. Moss, and the attorney for the defense was Gerald Sims. Marie Switalsky had signed out a warrant for assault and battery against Albert Hock, Jr. The defendant, Hock Jr., was acquitted of all charges.

Area Epidemics

The winter of 1903 was a particularly stressful one for families in the Twinsburg area. A rash of scarlet fever cases spread across the region, forcing schools to close indefinitely. Children, more susceptible to the illness, were kept home to prevent the disease from infecting their classmates. Prior to the development of penicillin, scarlet fever was a debilitating illness commonly affecting those age five to fifteen with sore throats, high fevers, and a scarlet rash. Healthy students were also forced to stay home in 1918 and 1920 due to the spread of flu, with many taken ill. Spanish flu was a global event that caused illness and in some cases death for half a billion people.

Community Theatre

For the vast majority of the three communities’ two hundred years of existence, there was a lack of local theater in the area. That all changed in December 1996, when the Twinsburg Youth Theatre debuted with a production of Babes in Toyland. First conceived in 1994 by Meredith Shreve, the youth theater started its transformation into a multigenerational community theater in 2001 after many adults approached Shreve with their desire to perform onstage. Before the 2001 production of Annie, adults only worked behind the scenes, building sets, dropping backgrounds, and so forth.

Shreve, originally from Cleveland, moved to Twinsburg in 1993; soon after her arrival she started serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission, in part due to her realization that there was no community theater. In particular, she recognized the importance of a theater program for children. According to Shreve, “Theater is a very great way for kids to have some activity and earn self-confidence and grow within themselves and express themselves.”

Thousands of adults and children have been involved in the community theater over the first twenty years of its existence. Almost all of them have participated solely for their love of the arts and sense of community, as there has never been any financial compensation. It is a nonprofit endeavor that pays for all the necessities in putting on a top-flight musical production via ticket sales, concessions, program sales, and fees paid by performers. All of these proceeds go toward funding expenditures such as royalties, rigging systems, choreographers, costumes, and other related requirements.

The productions have often been mounted on a grand scale, with as many as 120 people working on a single musical. World-renowned Hall Associates Flying FX supplied their exceptional effects for the flying sequences in Peter Pan.

One of the drawbacks to the community theater is that it is financed in part by a pay-to-perform platform, as all performers must pay a fee of fifty dollars to act in a production. This reduces the opportunity of underprivileged youths to participate in the community arts program. For those who have had the good fortune to participate in the community theater, it has brought great joy, a sense of achievement, and lifelong rewarding relationships with their fellow performers.

If there is any doubt as to the community theater’s positive effect on Twinsburg, it should be quelled by Mayor Katherine Procop’s statement that she couldn’t think of  anyone who has brought more joy to the community than Meredith Shreve, through her devotion to the theater.

Twinsburg Community Theatre commemorated its twentieth anniversary in 2016 with a musical revue, a first for the theater. The production celebrates twenty years of Broadway, including fan favorites Wicked, The Little Mermaid, and Phantom of the Opera.

Joshua Miktarian, Police Dept.

Violent crime is almost nonexistent in the three communities. According to statistics compiled by the FBI there were only ten violent crimes committed in Twinsburg in 2012 (the latest statistic compiled). This makes the tragic and senseless events of July 13, 2008, all the more startling and harrowing.

Around two a.m. on that fateful day, Officer Joshua T. Miktarian, a Twinsburg police officer of eleven years, pulled over motorist Ashford Thompson, who was playing music at a deafening decibel level and possibly driving under the influence. The incident transpired right in front of a home at 2454 Glenwood Drive, near Route 91. What must have initially seemed like a relatively routine traffic stop soon turned serious and deadly: mere minutes after Officer Miktarian radioed for backup, he was shot several times in the head by Thompson. Miktarian’s beloved canine compadre Bagio watched helpelessly, locked in the patrol car and unable to intervene in the absurd altercation. Less than an hour later Miktarian was pronounced dead at MetroHealth Medical Center.

Police Chief Chris Noga has referred to the slaying of Officer Miktarian as “the darkest day of my career.” Noga and Miktarian had started in the department within a week of each other and were close friends. Seeing a fellow officer slain is never easy, much less someone you’ve worked side by side with for eleven years.

According to Katherine Procop, mayor at the time of the murder: “It was absolutely devastating to the police force, and community. There is truly not a day that goes by I don’t think about Josh.” Such was the effect that Josh had during his too-brief tenure on this Earth. Sporting a mischievous grin, infectious sense of humor, and magnetic personality, the devoted husband and father was beloved by his fellow police officers and the community as a whole. “Josh was one of the few young persons who used to really respect the older guys . . . like myself,” said retired police officer Joe Jasany.

His interests and activities were varied, as illustrated by his ownership of a Gionino’s Pizza restaurant and his dual duties as guitarist and songwriter for the heavy metal band Barium. He is survived by his wife Holly and their daughter Thea, only three months old at the time of the murder.

Twinsburg Banking Company

Twinsburg’s first bank opened on November 11, 1912. On that morning its first president arrived to find a leading citizen, A.J. Brown, waiting for him so he could have the honor of opening the first account at the bank for his grandson. J.C. Leland Brown. His account was still active when the Twinsburg Banking Company published the story of their first 50 years in 1962.

Twinsburg Banking Booklet Celebrating their 50th Anniversary from 1912-1962

Biker Gang Disturbance

The Twinsburg Village Police Department responded to a report of a disturbance at 9842 Chamberlin Road, about ten miles north of Akron, at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 18, 1967. When the police arrived at the abandoned picnic spot they were greeted with flying bottles, rocks, and screams of “Here come the cops” from the members of numerous motorcycle gangs partaking in a raucous party. Members of the Sundowners, Roaring Twenties, Grim Reapers, Red Raiders, and Misfits were among the culprits, many of whom sported long hair, black leather jackets, earrings, swastikas, and German-type helmets.

Guns, liquior, insgnia, and other apparel reside in the custody of Twinsburg Police following the arrest of dozens of gang members.

Guns, liquior, insgnia, and other apparel reside in the custody of Twinsburg Police following the arrest of dozens of gang members.

Police reinforcements arrived from Portage and Summit counties, including officers from Hudson Township, Twinsburg Township, Bedford, Macedonia, Solon, Stow, and Tallmadge. Many of the officers were equipped with riot guns, but luckily, and surprisingly, when the reinforcements arrived the bikers decided to leave quietly. According to Police Chief Glenn Osborn, evidence confiscated included a .22 caliber pistol, a large assortment of knives, chains, blackjacks, and a swastika flag. Thirty-nine adults and five juveniles were arrested, with the adult perpetrators being taken to Summit County Jail, while the youngsters were turned over to the county’s detention center. Many of the officers on the scene expressed shock and dismay to find that a number of the bikers (including nine of the incarcerated) were female.

Motorcycle Collision

Two lives collided along the byways south of Twinsburg on an early morning in 1913. Two men unaware of one another, raced toward an arbitrary spot where their lives would end at 90mph. As they headed toward one another, William Thompson of Akron, and Frank Novak of Cleveland, collided. Blame was placed on Frank Novak and his faulty motorcycle. Having left that morning from Cleveland intending to participate in an endurance run to Youngstown, the young Mr. Novak soon began experiencing mechanical problems. A short break outside Twinsburg gave him time to look over the motorcycle and make a few quick adjustments.

Assuming he had corrected the issue, he jumped back on his motorcycle and took off, intent on catching up to his fellow riders. At the moment Mr. Novak lost control, his bike veered into Thompson; the force of the collision sent each man flying from his machine. According to news reports, “Thompson was found by Mrs. Hoff unconscious and bleeding from a dozen wounds. Novak had retained consciousness, but was unable to speak.”

Residents in the vicinity of the collision reached Dr. R.B. Chamberlain by phone. He wasted little time, making it to the two men as quickly as possible. Thompson died quickly. Novak held on a bit longer, dying en route to the hospital.

Rudd Farm Fire

The Rudd Farm fire consumed everything, leaving William A. Rudd and James Miller with only a story to tell. In its wake, nearly four dozen horses and cows succumb to the flames, nearby farming equipment was destroyed, and the barn housing it all was reduced to a smoldering pile of ash. The barn belonged to Rudd while the contents were the property of Miller. Suspicion fell on the so-called “tramps” who road the railways and took shelter wherever a safe rest was likely to be had. In 1901, the financial loss was estimated to surpass $5000, a significant amount to watch disappear in a puff of smoke.