What a coincidence. I was just going through some old newspapers the other day and ran across an article in a special sesquicentennial edition of the Akron Beacon Journal from June 29, 1975, that had an article about Middlebury. It was titled "MIDDLEBURY HAD A HEAD START ON FLEDGLING AKRON". The article states that in 1807 Capt. Joseph Hart bought 54 acres that were to become Middlebury. This was "in what is now the neighborhood of E. Market, Kent and Broad streets". Capt. Hart's daughter, Eliza, was born there on August 8, 1808. She later married Roswell Kent who "built one of Middlebury's finest homes". In 1825 Middlebury had a population of 500 and "was as big as Cleveland". Akron was established that same year. "On May 27, 1872, Middlebury became Akron's Sixth Ward".