Completion of the Cascade Locks provided transportation through the steepest change in elevation along the Ohio and Erie Canal, where passing through fifteen locks in a single mile could take up to half a day. This delay encouraged the growth of saloons, brothels, hotels, and stores such as Mustill's to serve passengers during layovers, marking the beginning of Akron's rise. The dramatic change in height also supplied immense water power, which local inventors and businessmen harnessed through a separate waterway called the Cascade Race to run multiple mills along its route. Water power gave birth to industrial growth in Akron, but it did not remain the primary source of power, as steam and then electric power reshaped the area. The history of Cascade Locks Park and its industrial evolution includes the construction of the Cascade Locks in 1826–1827, the Cascade Race in 1832, Aetna Mill in 1838, Mustill House and Store in the 1850s, Schumacher's Cascade Mills in 1876, Valley Railway in 1880, American Tire and Rubber in 1912, the Great Flood in 1913, and Akron Steam Heating Company in 1927.
