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Ohio Counties

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Ohio Counties

There is eighty-eight counties in the state of Ohio. The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities and villages do, but only Summit County has done so.

Lorain County, Ohio

Lorain County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Elyria
Year Organized: 1822
Square Miles: 493

Court House:

226 Middle Avenue
County Courthouse
Elyria, OH 44035-5628

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The county is named for the Lorraine region of France. Many of the county’s earliest white settlers were opposed to slavery.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

On December 26, 1822, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Lorain County. It originally was a portion of Huron, Medina, and Cuyahoga Counties. It also was a part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The county is named for the Lorraine region of France. Many of the county’s earliest white settlers were opposed to slavery. Oberlin College was the first institution of higher education in the United States to admit women and African Americans into the same classes as white men.

Lorain County is located in northern Ohio and covers 493 square miles, with its northern border lying on Lake Erie. The county has grown in recent years, as residents of nearby Cleveland in Cuyahoga County have moved to Lorain and surrounding counties to escape the busyness of the city. Between 1990 and 2000, Lorain County’s population increased by five percent to a total of 284,664 residents in 2000. Elyria is the county seat and the second largest community in the county, with 55,953 residents in 2000. The county averages 577 residents per square mile.

Lorain County is overwhelmingly rural, with only seven percent of the county deemed to be urban, but most residents earn their livings by working in manufacturing, sales, or service positions. Farming ranks eighth. Some county residents also earn their livings on Lake Erie, working in the city of Lorain’s harbor, sending products across the Great Lakes and around the world. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, steel was a major industry in Lorain County. The county’s average income was approximately 25,700 dollars per person in 1999, with 10.4 percent of the population living in poverty.

Most voters in Lorain County claim to be independents, yet in recent years, they have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates at the national level.

Ohio Governor Myron T. Herrick was born in the county. Scientist Charles Martin Hall and artist Archibald M. Willard were also Lorain County residents

Sources
Lorain County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1964&nm=Lorain-County

Neighboring Counties:

Across Lake Erie lies Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada (north)
Cuyahoga County (east)
Medina County (southeast)
Ashland County (south)
Huron County (southwest)
Erie County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Amherst	city	Incorporated Area
- Avon	city	Incorporated Area
- Avon Lake	city	Incorporated Area
- Brighton	township
- Brownhelm	township
- Elyria (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Grafton	village	Incorporated Area
- Henrietta	township
- Huntington	township
- Kipton	village	Incorporated Area
- Lagrange	village	Incorporated Area
- Lorain	city	Incorporated Area
- New Russia	township
- North Ridgeville	city	Incorporated Area
- Oberlin	city	Incorporated Area
- Penfield	township
- Pittsfield	township
- Ridgeville	township
- Rochester	village	Incorporated Area
- Sheffield	village	Incorporated Area
- Sheffield Lake	city	Incorporated Area
- South Amherst	village	Incorporated Area
- Wellington	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."