{"nrhp_refnum":"72001047","name":"Chuckery Race","other_names":["Gorge Metropolitan Park"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S of and in Cuyahoga Falls","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cuyahoga Falls","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.12075973350005,"lon":-81.49349469247225,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-12-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Conservation","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A water-power raceway in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio, built by 1844 for the planned manufacturing town of Summit City. A northern stone-walled section runs along the Cuyahoga River Gorge, and a longer earth-fill and excavation section extends south.","why_significant":"The race was an ambitious engineering project meant to supply water power to the planned industrial town of Summit City, and it required overcoming severe topography. The project was never fully completed because of stockholder disputes, legal problems and lack of funds. The raceway later served as the main walkway of High Glens Park, opened in 1882.","narrative":"Chuckery Race is a water-power raceway in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, begun in the 1830s to feed a planned manufacturing town called Summit City. Its northern section is a wall of hand-cut sandstone eight to ten feet high and about 1,300 yards long, quarried from the adjacent gorge wall and set about 30 feet from the rock face to form a channel eight feet deep. A dam and gate at the north end diverted river water into it. The southern section, about three miles long, was built by excavation and fill and has since eroded. Water was released through the full four miles on May 27, 1844, but the work was never finished because of disputes among stockholders, legal problems and lack of funds. The location of the county seat in Akron also contributed to Summit City's collapse. In 1882 the wall and bed became the Grande Promenade of High Glens Park. Highway drainage and road salt now threaten the remains.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date May 27, 1844)","architect_builder":"Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company (chartered 1837 to build the dam and canal)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated good condition. The northern stone wall section is largely intact, while the southern section has filled in and eroded, and part of it is used as a power line right-of-way. It is threatened by drainage and salt from a nearby highway under construction.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.245495-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/72001047.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991625","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/chuckery-race-72001047/"}