Geauga

Formed March 1, 1806 (23^rd county)

Geauga County (95,403), Chardon (5,245)

The classic red brick courthouse was constructed in 1869.  There were 1811 and 1824 versions earlier in Chardon, the only county seat.  The county was organized on March 1, 1806 from Trumbull County as the 23^rd county.  The courthouse is located on a city square surrounded by Center, Main, Park, and Court streets.  United States Highway 6 passes beside the courthouse.  Joseph Ireland is the architect of this High Victorian Italianate courthouse.  The facility features a tower with a working clock and the grounds have veteran memorials.  A Courthouse Annex supports the courthouse.  Geauga County is named for the Native American word for “raccoon.”  The county seat is named for town founder Peter Chardon Brooks. 

Geauga County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Three Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Geauga County (judicial.)  The county is in northeast Ohio.  Cleveland, Ohio is directly west and Youngstown, Ohio is southeast of the county.  The county center is 7.1 miles South of Chardon nearer Burton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lake, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Portage, Summit, and Cuyahoga counties. 

The area of the county is 403.7 square miles.  It is 77 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 236.3 persons per square mile making it 26 out of 88 in the state.  Geauga County has 14.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 6 travels through the county east to west from Ashtabula County to Cuyahoga County.  United States Highway 322 goes east to west from Ashtabula County to Cuyahoga County.  United States Highway 422 enters from Cuyahoga County, west, and exits into Portage County, south.  The county resembles a house with a chimney.  Chardon is located in the northern quarter of the county.  Chardon is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 5.5% of the county population.  The county is pronounced GAU-GA.  The county seat is pronounced CHAR-DON.  This county is in the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area.