by Ken Lahmers
Editor
It's been 10 years since a group of civic-minded Aurorans met monthly to plan the city's bicentennial celebration, which took place in 1999.
I was on that committee, along with a couple of dozen others, including co-chairmen Tom Dreher, now a City Councilman, and former Councilman Mark Cheplowitz.
The latter is a professional in the planning/promotion of big events. He's handled Super Bowl and Orange Bowl halftime shows, Cleveland's annual holiday kickoff and the opening of Detroit's Comerica Park.
Starting more than a year ago, Portage County commissioners called on him to chair the county's bicentennial efforts, which are being conducted this year.
A birthday party and huge and unique fireworks show took place in downtown Ravenna this past Monday.
I would've enjoyed attending the celebration, but had to complete putting together this week's Advocate.
Cheplowitz was on hand May 17 when the city honored three of its famous deceased residents at the main cemetery as part of each Portage community's heritage activities.
Back in 1999, when Aurora marked its bicentennial, the Advocate published a historical booklet and a special section focusing on local history.
Many longtime Aurorans are familiar with the history of the city, but might not be so familiar with some things that happened around the county.
PORTAGE COUNTY is the home of one Ohio governor. Martin L. Davey of Kent was elected in 1934 as the state's 53rd governor. He died in 1946 at age 61.
One of the county's oldest businesses was Cleveland Worsted Mills Co. Established in Ravenna in 1848, it closed in 1956. A large factory built in 1906 to house the firm still stands on South Prospect Street.
Zenas Kent bought 660 acres along the Cuyahoga River in Franklin Township in 1832. The town he founded originally was called Reidsville, then Franklin Mills and became Kent in 1867 -- named after Zenas' son, Marvin.
When Portage was designated a county in 1808, its townships were Aurora, Deerfield, Franklin, Hiram, Springfield and Hudson. Benjamin Tappan, a judge and Democratic politician, laid out Ravenna in 1808.
Parts of Portage, including Brimfield and Randolph townships, were stations on the Underground Railroad in the 1840s and 1850s.
Hiram College was founded in the 1850s, and James A. Garfield took over as its president in 1858. Garfield went on to become the 20th president of the United States.
President-elect Abraham Lincoln addressed Portage County residents in Ravenna in 1861 from the rear platform of a train. In 1865, his funeral train passed through Ravenna.
A LARGE stone courthouse was built in Ravenna in 1882. It remained until 1960, when the present courthouse was dedicated.
Picnic Lake, which was the predecessor of Geauga Lake Park, was established in 1888 in Aurora and Bainbridge Township. Brady Lake Amusement Park opened in 1891.
Gen. and later President Ulysses S. Grant's father, Jesse, lived in Deerfield and Ravenna in the 1860s.
Kent's first library was completed in 1903. It remains as the Ohio history section of the new Kent Free Library, which was completed early in 2007.
The Main Street bridge in Kent was completed in 1877. The Stow Street bridge was built in Kent in 1897. The latter is just about 600 feet from where I live.
William R. Day of Ravenna served as U.S. Secretary of State under President William McKinley in the early 1890s. He later was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Theodore Roosevelt.
The Davey Tree Expert Co. in Kent was incorporated in 1909. The first classes at Kent Normal School -- now Kent State University -- met in 1913.
It also was in 1913 that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. purchased 720 acres in Suffield Township, which eventually became Wingfoot Lake. The firm still owns it, and a Goodyear blimp is based there.
White Hospital opened in 1904 in Ravenna. It later became Portage County Hospital and Robinson Memorial Hospital, and has relocated twice since it was established.
HOTEL Franklin in Kent opened in 1920. For the last few years, it has been mired in controversy as owner after owner has tried to refurbish and occupy it.
The C.L. Gougler Machine Co. was established in Kent in 1920 to produce mining and quarry equipment. Gougler Industries became part of Furukawa Ltd. in 1991.
Ravenna High School was built in 1923. It is scheduled to be replaced by a new school in the next couple of years.
William and Frank Fageol established the Twin Coach Co. in 1927 in Kent. It made buses. The company is no longer in business, but the factory building remains.
Eleven buildings at the former Portage County fairgrounds in Ravenna were destroyed by fire in 1932. The grounds were phased out in 1948.
The federal government bought up 20,000 acres in 1940 for the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant, which housed 1,553 buildings, most of which have been razed in the last few years.
Roosevelt High School in Kent was completed in 1959, West Branch State Park opened in 1966 and four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard during protests at KSU in 1970.
The Quaker Oats Co. had its origins in Ravenna in 1877. It later moved to Akron. Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine was established in 1973 in Rootstown.
In 1934, Lamson and Sessions Co. donated 56 acres to Kent. It eventually became Fred Fuller Park and still exists.
E-mail:
klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155