Portage

Formed June 7, 1807 (26^th county)

Portage County (161,790), Ravenna (11,331), Kent (28,212)

The masonry and tan brick Modern courthouse was built in 1961 on Main and Chestnut streets.  Main Street is Ohio State Highway 59 in the town.  C. G. Kistler provided the building designs.  The current courthouse was remodeled in 2001.  Veteran memorials are in front on a park style grounds.  A classier courthouse was in Ravenna from 1881, the only county seat.  Portage County was organized on June 7, 1807 from Jefferson County as the 26^th county.  The county is named for a Native American trail which passed through the area.  The county seat is named for Ravenna, Italy.  Portage County is the birthplace of 1 Ohio Governor, Martin L. Davey. 

Portage County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Five Common Pleas Court Judges serve Portage County.  Portage County is in northeast Ohio.  Cleveland, Ohio is directly northwest and Youngstown, Ohio is directly east of the county.  The county center is 3.6 miles East-Northeast of Ravenna.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Stark, Summit, and Cuyahoga counties. 

The area of the county is 492.4 square miles.  It is 29 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 19 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 328.6 persons per square mile making it 18 out of 88 in the state.  Portage County has 50.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 76 crosses east to west in the county from Mahoning County to Summit County.  Interstate Highway 80 travels east to west from Trumbull County to Summit County.  United States Highway 422 clips the northeast corner from Geauga County, north, to Trumbull County, east.  The county is a rectangle.  Ravenna is located in the western third of the county.  Kent is on the western border of the county.  Ravenna is the county seat and Kent is the largest city.  Ravenna is 7.0% of the county population while Kent is 17.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced RA-VEE-NA.  This county is in the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area.