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Diamond Match
Historic District

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Diamond Match Historic District
Photo courtesy of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, photo by Jeff Winstel

Begun in 1894, the Diamond Match Historic District is a turn-of-the-century industrial complex that formed the Engineering Department of the Diamond Match Company in Barberton, Ohio. Barberton is located on the west side of the Tuscarawas River and the Ohio and Erie Canal. Two railroad lines ran through the area, one established in 1852 and the other in 1864. Barberton had the best transportation elements for developing a successful modern manufacturing enterprise and thus Akron manufacturer, Ohio Columbus Barber, relocated his Diamond Match Company from Akron to Barberton, (a town he founded in 1890). O.C. Barber was known as "America's Match King" and his Diamond Match Company was a pioneer of efficiency, mass production and innovation in the match industry.

Each of the two types of transportation in Barberton provided something the Diamond Match Company needed. Shipping large quantities of matches on the railroad was a potential fire hazard. The waterborne option provided by the canal was an effective solution. The four buildings that remain are two Machine Shops, a Foundry and Pattern Shop. The brown brick buildings are all commonly designed, two stories in height with gable roofs, divided into bays by attached columns separating the 12 over 12 light sash windows with segmental arch heads.

The Diamond Match Historic District includes 3, 21 and 27 Fourth St., NW and 8 Second St., NW, in Barberton. Public buildings are open during normal business hours.

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