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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.

Portage County, Ohio

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

County Seat: Ravenna
Year Organized: 1807
Square Miles: 492

Court House:

449 S. Meridian Street
County Administration Building
Ravenna, OH 44266-2914

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The county was named for the Indian portage between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas Rivers.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

On February 10, 1807, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Portage County. It originally was a portion of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The county was named for the Indian portage between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas Rivers.

Portage County is located in northeastern Ohio and covers 492 square miles. The county has grown in recent years, as residents of nearby Cleveland in Cuyahoga County have moved to Portage and surrounding counties to escape the busyness of the city. Between 1990 and 2000, Portage County’s population increased by 6.6 percent to a total of 152,061 residents in 2000. Ravenna is the county seat and the fourth largest community in the county, with 11,771 residents in 2000. Kent is the county’s largest urban center, with a population of 27,906 people in 2000. Portage County averages 309 residents per square mile.

Portage County is overwhelmingly rural, with only three percent of the county deemed to be urban, but most residents earn their livings by working in manufacturing, sales, or government positions. Farming ranks a distant fifth. Many residents also work at Hiram College or Kent State University. The county’s average income was 24,146 dollars per person in 1999, with 8.7 percent of the population living in poverty.

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

United States President James Garfield and abolitionist John Brown rank among Portage County’s more notable residents. The county also was the site of the Kent State Riot, which occurred when Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on Vietnam War protestors in 1970.

Sources

Portage County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2002&nm=Portage-County

Neighboring Counties:

Geauga County (north)
Trumbull County (east)
Mahoning County (southeast)
Stark County (south)
Summit County (west)
Cuyahoga County (northwest corner)

Cities and Towns:

- Atwater	township
- Aurora	city	Incorporated Area
- Brady Lake	village	Incorporated Area
- Brimfield	township
- Charlestown	township
- Deerfield	township
- Edinburg	township
- Freedom	township
- Garrettsville	village	Incorporated Area
- Hiram	village	Incorporated Area
- Kent	city	Incorporated Area
- Mantua	village	Incorporated Area
- Mogadore	village	Incorporated Area
- Nelson	township
- Palmyra	township
- Randolph	township
- Ravenna (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Reminderville	village	Incorporated Area
- Rootstown	township
- Shalersville	township
- Streetsboro	city	Incorporated Area
- Sugar Bush Knolls	village	Incorporated Area
- Windham	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

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