The flashlight cast shadows as we descended the dark stairwell. Our footsteps echoed as we made our way to the bottom.

Down … down … down ...

It took 49 steps to reach the basement from the top floor. Below street level, the stairs grew narrow, and we found ourselves in a labyrinth of corridors and chambers.

Of all the buildings I have explored in pursuit of local history, few are as interesting as the one where I work: The Akron Beacon Journal.

I recruited Rich Stallsmith, deputy sports editor, to guide me through the rarely visited spaces beneath the newspaper office at 44 E. Exchange St. Years ago, former printer Mike Kernan had led Stallsmith on a similar tour of the nooks and crannies, so I was confident we wouldn’t get too lost.

Besides, Stallsmith is widely regarded as the Indiana Jones of Akron journalism, so I knew we were in for a great adventure.

We took a break from the newsroom one Friday night and ventured downstairs, exploring storage areas, old workshops and odd corners. It didn’t take long to find abandoned, out-of-the-way places with flaking paint, rusting pipes and dripping water. What were these rooms? Their original function was lost on us.

The Akron Times-Press constructed the building in 1930 on the former site of Music Hall. The Beacon Journal bought the rival newspaper in 1938 and moved into its prized building.

If you look carefully from Exchange Street, you can still make out faint letters spelling Times-Press.

As we explored the basement, the ghosts of the past stirred to life.

I wondered if legendary Publisher and Editor John S. Knight had ever visited these subterranean rooms. I doubted that Kenny Nichols had ever been down there. I doubted that Helen Waterhouse had ever been down there.

I doubted that Fran Murphey … oh, who am I kidding? Fran Murphey probably had been down there. Multiple times.

My flashlight shined on a dark room with debris strewn across the floor. As someone who grew up on Hardy Boys books, I didn’t discount the possibility of finding hidden treasure.

As we moved closer, we caught a glint. An abandoned toilet was resting on its side. A broken sink languished nearby.

Treasure hunting isn't always glamorous.

Safekeeping

Returning to a main hall, we saved the best for last. Two massive Allsteel safes built by the General Fireproofing Co. of Youngstown stood against a wall. They were gray giants — one about 6 feet tall and the other around 4 feet tall — and they apparently were built in the 1930s.

The Yale combination locks looked impossible to crack but someone apparently had jimmied these monsters long ago because the heavy doors swung open with only a twist of the handles.

Lo and behold, the two safes were stuffed with old documents. Shelves and drawers contained warranty deeds, pension notes, savings books, insurance policies, stockholder records, financial receipts and employee ledgers.

My jaw dropped as I sifted through the papers.

Some certificates dated back to the 1890s and were signed by newspaper executives George W. Crouse, Ira M. Miller and Charles H. Wright. Others had been signed in the early 1900s by Beacon Journal Publisher C.L. Knight and his wife, Clara, the parents of John S. Knight and James L. Knight.

According to one payroll ledger, John S. Knight earned roughly the same amount of money per week in the late 1930s as I do 80 years later. I choose not to adjust it for inflation.

Several documents traced the history of the East Market Street property where the Beacon Journal built its short-lived headquarters in 1927. Connecticut native Albert G. Mallison had platted it in the 1830s while surveying for Simon Perkins, Leicester King and Dr. Eliakim Crosby. The Beacon Journal turned over the land to the Akron Public Library for $1 in 1940, according to one document. Today, it’s the home of Summit Artspace.

Other documents were about Akron City Hospital, Central Depositors Bank & Trust Co., First National Bank, Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Co., Kasch Roofing Co. and other businesses. Among the papers:

• A 1938 receipt for $55,000 from the purchase of the Times-Press.

• A 1944 document on the merger of the Detroit Free Press into Knight Newspapers.

• An envelope filled with reserve stamps bearing the images of Alexander Hamilton, George M. Bibb and Levi Woodbury.

• A 1958 certificate noting ownership of 394 shares of the now-defunct Yeager's store.

Couple's lawsuit

A memo from lawyer Frank J. Rockwell, a former Akron mayor, detailed the Beacon Journal settlement of a 1932 lawsuit filed by a Barberton couple.

The newspaper had published an item April 1, 1932, reporting that Mrs. Opal Snodgrass was arrested on a charge of intoxication after being involved in a car crash. As it turned out, Opal was a man’s name. His wife, Otelia, wasn’t pleased to be identified as the guilty party.

As the correction later pointed out: “Mrs. Snodgrass, the Beacon Journal has been informed, was attending a church service at the time.”

The couple settled for $100.

After Stallsmith and I rummaged through the safes, it was time to return to 2019. I grabbed a stack of documents, and we climbed 49 stairs.

I took our discovery to Editor Bruce Winges, who was so astonished that he announced his decision the next week to retire March 1. OK, that may have been a coincidence. But he did take the documents to Publisher Bill Albrecht, and they agreed to contact the University of Akron’s Archival Services, where John S. Knight’s papers are stored.

S. Victor Fleischer, head of UA archives, visited the Beacon Journal to see the papers.

“I definitely think these materials are worth archiving,” he said.

Last week, he emptied the safes and deposited the contents into archival boxes to be inventoried at the Polsky Building, where the papers will be preserved for the general public.

As he filled the boxes, Fleischer was reminded of Geraldo Rivera.

“This is like back in the ‘80s — Al Capone’s vault,” he said with a laugh. “I still have a grudge against that guy.”

This time, the vault wasn’t empty. It contained a fortune in local history.

I don’t know if Stallsmith and I will ever venture back into the Beacon Journal basement, but that first adventure will be tough to top.

The Hardy Boys were right. Sometimes you do find treasure.

Mark J. Price can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.