Stark

Formed February 13, 1808 (27^th county)

Stark County (374,853), Canton (70,836)                

The stone Beaux Arts courthouse was built in 1895 on Central Plaza at Tuscarawas, 2^nd, Market, and Court streets.  Tuscarawas Street is Ohio State Highway 172 in this part of the city.  John Milton Dyer is the architect.  The building was renovated in 1995.  The structure features columns and a tower with a working clock.  Across the street is a Liberty Bell replica and an Administration Building.  There were 1817 and 1870 courthouses earlier in Canton, the only county seat.  Stark County was established on February 13, 1808 from Columbiana County as the 27^th county. 

Stark County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eight Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Stark County (judicial.)  The county is in the northeast part of the state.  Cleveland, Ohio is north and Youngstown, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is in Canton 1 mile North of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Portage, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Wayne, and Summit counties.  The county is named for American Revolutionary War hero John Stark.  The county seat is named for the French word for “district.”  An addition was added to the current courthouse in 1895. 

The area of the county is 576.1 square miles.  It is 11 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 8 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 650.7 persons per square mile making it 9 out of 88 in the state.  Stark County has 46.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 77 passes north to south through the county from Summit County to Tuscarawas County.  United States Highway 30 crosses east to west from Columbiana County to Wayne County.  United States Highway 62 goes northeast to southwest from Columbiana County to Holmes County.  United States Highway 250 clips the southwest corner from Wayne County, west, to Tuscarawas County, south.  William McKinley, the 24^th President, is buried in this county.  The county looks like a capital letter L lying on its back.  Canton is located slightly west of center in the county.  Canton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 18.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Minerva