Ohio State Carnation City

Alliance

Adopted on April 8, 1959.

The City of Alliance is located in northeast Ohio in Stark County. Alliance is situated in the northeast corner of the county, approximately 20 miles from the county seat of Canton, Ohio. The population of Alliance is approximately 24,000. It was adopted as the Ohio State Carnation City on April 8, 1959.
 

Alliance was formed in 1850 by the merger of three small settlements, Williamsport, Freedom, and Liberty. A fourth settlement, Mount Union, was added to the city in 1888. The name "Alliance" was chosen because of the "alliance" of the small settlements into a larger entity. It also reflected the soon to come junction of two major railroads of the time, the Ohio and Pennsylvania and the Cleveland and Wellsville.

The selection of the Scarlet Carnation as Ohio's state flower is rooted in Alliance history. In 1886, local green thumb and politician, Dr. Levi Lamborn propagated the flower from French seedlings, calling it "Lamborn Red." Opposing William McKinley for the 18th Congressional District a year later, Lamborn presented the future president with a Lamborn Red boutonniere before each debate. As McKinley's political star rose, he spoke of the scarlet carnation as a good luck charm. When he became president, he began wearing one at all times and presenting flowers from a bouquet on his desk to guests.

On September 14, 1901, moments after removing the flower from his lapel and giving it to a young admirer at the Buffalo Exposition, McKinley was struck down by an assassin's bullet. Following years of lobbying by Lamborn, the Ohio General Assembly passed a joint resolution naming the scarlet carnation the state flower on February 3, 1904. On April 8, 1959, the Ohio Legislature recognized Alliance as the "Carnation City". The Greater Alliance Carnation Festival is a weeklong family event for every age level, filled with parades, food, and games to honor the Carnation City.

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