Lake

Formed March 6, 1840 (78^th county)

Lake County (232,524), Painesville (20,307), Mentor (47,443)

The red brick Classical Revival facility was erected in 1908 and is on Park and Liberty streets.  United States Highway 20 passes one block to the northwest of the courthouse.  The county was organized on March 6, 1840 from parts of Geauga and Cuyahoga counties as the 78^th county with Painesville as the only county seat.  John Milton Dyer provided the designs.  An eagle sits on the tower and statues guard the front.  Veteran memorials are across the street.  There was an 1840 version earlier.  A County Administration Building was added in 1968.  Lake County is named for Lake Erie.  The county seat is named for founder Edward Paine. 

Lake County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Five Common Pleas Court Judges serve Lake County.  Lake County is in the northeast part of the state on Lake Erie.  Cleveland, Ohio is immediately southwest and Youngstown, Ohio is southeast of the county.  The county center is in Painesville 1.5 miles South of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Canada and Ashtabula, Geauga, and Cuyahoga counties. 

The area of the county is 228.2 square miles.  It is 88 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 11 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1018.9 persons per square mile making it 7 out of 88 in the state.  Lake County has 73.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 enters the county from Ashtabula County, northeast, and exits into Cuyahoga County, southwest.  United States Highway 6 clips the southwest corner from Geauga County to Cuyahoga County.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Ashtabula to Cuyahoga counties.  The county is an old pistol.  Painesville is located near the center of the county.  Mentor is located in the southwest quarter of the county.  Painesville is the county seat and Mentor is the largest city.  Painesville is 8.7% of the county population while Mentor is 20.4% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced MEN-TOER.  This county is in the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area.