Kent, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio
and the largest city in Portage County
. It is located along the Cuyahoga River
in Northeastern Ohio
on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census. The city is counted as part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area
and the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area
.
Part of the Connecticut Western Reserve
, Kent was originally settled in 1805 and was known as Franklin Mills. Settlers were initially attracted to the area due to its location along the Cuyahoga River as a place for water-powered mills. Later development came in the 1830s and 1840s as a result of the village's position along the route of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
. Leading up to the American Civil War
, Franklin Mills was noted for its activity in the Underground Railroad
. With the decline of the canal and the emergence of the railroad, the village became the home of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
maintenance shops through the influence of Marvin Kent
. In 1864 the village was renamed Kent in honor of and in gratitude for Marvin Kent's efforts. Today Kent is a college town
best known as the home of the main campus of Kent State University
, founded in 1910, and as the site of the 1970 Kent State shootings
.
Historically a manufacturing center, education is the city's largest economic sector with Kent State University the city's, and one of the region's, largest employers. The Kent City School District and the Kent Free Library
provide additional education opportunities and resources. Many of Kent's demographic elements are influenced by the presence of the university, particularly the median age, median income, and those living below the poverty level. The city is governed by a council-manager system
with a city manager
, a nine-member city council, and a mayor. Kent has nearly 20 parks and preserves and hosts a number of annual festivals including ones related to Earth Day
, folk music, and the U.S. Independence Day
. In addition to the Kent State athletic teams
, the city also hosts a number of amateur and local sporting events at various times during the year. Kent is part of the Cleveland-Akron media market and is the city of license for three local radio stations and three television stations and includes the regional affiliates for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS). Although most residents commute to work in private vehicles, alternate transportation includes a public bus service
and hike-and-bike trails. As the home of the Davey Tree Expert Company
, Kent is known as "The Tree City" while residents are referred to as "Kentites". The city has produced a number of notable individuals, particularly in politics, athletics, and the entertainment industry.
, including the early Mound Builders. Around 1780, Captain Samuel Brady
achieved notoriety for his activities in the area, including his famous leap of 21 feet (6 m) over the Cuyahoga River
to avoid capture by an unknown band of American Indians. The site, known as Brady's Leap, is now a city park. Settlement by Europeans began in the late 1790s and early 19th century. As part of the Connecticut Western Reserve
, the area was divided into survey township
s in 1798 and almost all of what is now Kent was originally part of Town 3 Range 9, which would eventually be known as Franklin Township
. Aaron Olmsted, a wealthy Connecticut
merchant, had purchased the 16000 acres (6,475 ha) township and named it for his son Aaron Franklin Olmsted.
Franklin Township was surveyed in 1803 and settled in November 1805 when John Haymaker and his family moved west from Warren
to the banks of the Cuyahoga River. They were joined by John's brother George and their father Jacob Haymaker and their families early the next year, and built a gristmill
in 1807. Initial growth in the area was slow, but eventually two small villages would develop due to the potential for power generated by the Cuyahoga River that could be used in gristmills and manufacturing. The first village, known as Franklin Mills, or locally as the "Lower Village", developed mostly around the original Haymaker property. In 1818, Joshua Woodard arrived in the area and began constructing buildings just north of the village forming the "Upper Village" that would come to be known briefly as Carthage.
In the 1820s, Franklin Mills was included in the route of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
(P & O Canal). When construction began on the canal in the mid-1830s, land speculation was rampant in many areas of northeast Ohio along the canal, including Franklin Mills. As a result, an industrial and business region was established along the east side of the river in what is now downtown Kent. Factories and mills were either planned or constructed along the Cuyahoga River, some of which either were never built or ultimately failed, due mostly to effects of the Panic of 1837
. A lock and attached arch dam, however, was completed in 1836. The canal officially opened in 1840, but would only operate into the 1860s. By the 1870s the canal was completely shut down.
In the era leading up to the American Civil War
, Franklin Mills was an active stop on the Underground Railroad
, giving fugitive slaves shelter on their escape to Canada
. There were three notable stops in Franklin Mills, one of which still stands as of 2010. During this period, from 1835–1839, noted American abolitionist John Brown
moved to the village, operating a tannery along the Cuyahoga River with Zenas Kent.
In 1863 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
was constructed through Franklin Mills, due largely to the efforts of local businessman Marvin Kent
, son of Zenas Kent. Marvin Kent had started his own railroad company, the Franklin and Warren Railroad
, in 1851 after Franklin Mills, already home to several Kent family ventures and properties, was bypassed by the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad that same year. Kent was also successful in getting the village named as the location of the railroad's maintenance yards and shops in 1864. The geographic location along the railroad and being home to the shops reinvented and revitalized the village as an important stop on the east-west line between St. Louis and New York City
. The shops would open in 1865 and the railroad would play an important part of Kent's industry and development through the early 20th century before the shops were completely shut down in 1930. To honor Marvin Kent, the village was renamed Kent in 1864, although this change was not official until the village was incorporated on May 6, 1867.
John Davey
came to Kent in 1881 as head grounds keeper at Standing Rock Cemetery, and planted several trees, landscaped the cemetery, and performed experiments on trees. In 1901, he published his theories on tree surgery
with his book The Tree Doctor, and later established the Davey Tree Expert Company
in 1909. The efforts of Davey and the presence of Davey Tree led to the establishment of "The Tree City" as a nickname for Kent, which is reflected in the city's seal. The company continues to be headquartered in Kent and serves as the city's largest private employer.
After a fire destroyed the Seneca Chain Company in 1909, one of the city's main industries at the time, city leaders created the Kent Board of Trade in 1910, a forerunner to the Chamber of Commerce. The new Board was successful later that year in having Kent selected out of twenty northeastern Ohio cities as the site of a new teacher training college, which became known as the "Kent State Normal School
". The site for the school was on 53 acres (21.4 ha) of land donated by William S. Kent, son of Marvin Kent, on what was then the eastern edge of town. By 1929 the school was renamed Kent State College after the establishment of a college of liberal arts and degrees in the arts and sciences and in 1935 was renamed Kent State University
after it was given authorization to grant advanced graduate degrees. The bill giving Kent State university status was signed into law by Ohio governor and Kent native Martin L. Davey
, son of tree surgeon John Davey. During the 1950s and 1960s the growth of Kent State University combined with the effects of suburbanization
resulted in significant population growth for the city, rising from just over 12,000 residents at the 1950 census to over 28,000 by 1970. Black squirrel
s were brought to the campus from Canada in 1961 by Kent State University head groundskeeper Larry Woodell. The squirrels have become an icon for both KSU and the city and are often used as unofficial mascots and symbols.
In early May 1970, protests began on the campus of Kent State University over the United States' invasion of Cambodia in the Vietnam War
. These protests and demonstrations, which included rioting in downtown Kent on May 2, culminated in the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings
, where four students were killed and nine were wounded by the Ohio Army National Guard
. Several memorials have been placed at the site over the years and commemorations have been held annually since 1971. In 2010 the entire site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Also during the late 1960s and into the 1970s, construction of Haymaker Parkway, completed in 1975, brought changes to the city's layout while eliminating ongoing problems with traffic congestion and blocked rail crossings.
In 1995, Kent received national attention when the city's water was named "Best Tasting Municipality Water" at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting
. The water and mayor Kathleen Chandler
were featured on the March 3 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
. Since then, Kent has placed in the top five a total of six times with the most recent being a fifth place finish in 2011. In 2003, the 1836 arch dam was bypassed to meet water quality standards set by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. To preserve the historic dam, a small park was built behind the dam and the river was rerouted through the old canal lock. During warm-weather months, water is pumped over the dam. The park, known as Heritage Park, was formally dedicated in May 2005.
in Northeast Ohio
approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) northeast of Akron
and 30 miles (48.3 km) southeast of Cleveland. It is bordered by Franklin Township on the north and east, Brimfield Township
on the south, and Stow
on the west. Other nearby communities include Brady Lake
and Ravenna
to the east and Sugar Bush Knolls
and Streetsboro
to the north. It is included in the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area
and the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area
.
Located on the western end of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau
, the topography of Kent includes rolling hills and varied terrain. The Cuyahoga River passes through the city, cutting a gorge with a drop of nearly 40 feet (12.2 m) adjacent to the downtown area. The United States Geological Survey
lists the city's elevation at 1050 feet (320 m) above sea level at a point near Kent's geographic center. Elevations vary slightly within the city limits with several buildings on the Kent State University campus at altitudes in excess of 1160 feet (353.6 m) and points as high as 1200 feet (365.8 m). According to the United States Census Bureau
, as of 2010 the city has a total area of 9.3 square mile, of which 9.2 square mile is land and 0.1 square mile (1.2%) is water.
in the Dfa Köppen climate classification
meaning it typically has very warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters with moderate and variable spring and autumn seasons. The record high temperature is 103 °F (39 °C), set on July 7, 1988, with the record low of -22 F recorded January 17, 1982. During the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are fairly common and the area is susceptible to tornado
es, though the last recorded tornado in Kent occurred in 1973. Effects from tropical systems can also be felt, usually taking the form of increased humidity, rain, and wind, such as with the remnants of Hurricane Ike
in September 2008. During the winter months, snowfall is common and can occur in large quantities with considerable cloud cover
. Kent is not considered part of the Lake Erie snowbelt
, though lake-effect snow does occur at times. The city is in what is referred to as the "secondary snowbelt", meaning it will receive heavier snowfall totals from lake-effect snow when certain wind directions are more prevalent, but typically sees far less snowfall than areas to the north closer to Lake Erie
. While temperatures below the freezing point
are typical in the winter months, thaw periods where temperatures exceed 50 °F (10 °C) and even 60 °F (16 °C) are not uncommon in January and February.
, Kent's demographic and population statistics are greatly affected by the presence and growth of Kent State University. As a result, several statistics are noticeably higher or lower than state and national averages including median age and the percentage of residents in the 18–24 age bracket, families and individuals below the poverty line, and percentage of residents with a college degree.
Initial population growth in Kent was influenced by the location on the Cuyahoga River which led to the development of industrial and manufacturing jobs. Early settlers mainly came from the northeastern United States and were largely of German
descent. After the arrival of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in 1863, growth was steady into the early 20th century with the village battling Ravenna
for the position of Portage County's largest city. By the 1930 Census, Kent had passed Ravenna as the county's most populous city with even larger population growth in the 1950s and 1960s rising from 12,148 in 1950 to 28,183 by 1970. As of 2010, Kent remains the county's largest city. Most recent population measurements of the city have shown the effect of changes in the city's overall population coinciding with changes in the number of students living on campus as well as a reduction in the number of persons per housing unit.
As of the 2010 Census, there were 28,904 people residing in the city for a population density
of 3,150.5 people per square mile (1,216.4/km²). There were 11,174 housing units at an average density of 1,218.0 per square mile (470.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.1% White
, 9.6% African American
, 3.7% Asian
, 0.2% Native American
, 0.1% Pacific Islander
, 0.5% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. 2.2% of the population is Hispanic or Latino
of any race. Though slightly below the national averages for diversity, Kent is very close to the averages for Ohio and above the averages for the surrounding area. Between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the city saw slight increases in the number of minority residents.
There were 10,288 households out of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.5% were married couples
living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.3% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.2 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.4% ages 19 years and under, 44.1% from 20 to 39, 15.9% from 40 to 59, 8.0% from 60 to 79, and 2.5% who were 80 years of age or older. The median age was 22.7 years, which was well below both the median age for Ohio (38.8) and the United States (35.3). As of 2000, for every 100 females there were 84.6 males, well below the state average of 96.3 males and the national average of 94.4 males per 100 females. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males, again below both the state (91.1) and national (93.4) averages. This is in marked contrast to neighboring Franklin Township, which had 104.3 males for every 100 females and 101.4 males for every 100 females in 2000.
As of the 2000 Census, the median income for a household in the city was $29,582, and the median income for a family was $44,440. This compared with Ohio's median household income of $40,956 and $41,994 for the United States. Males had a median income of $32,063 versus $25,344 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $15,015. About 15.4% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over. This is higher than both the state and national averages, with 10.6% of individuals in Ohio and 12.4% in the United States being below the poverty line and 7.8% of families in Ohio and 9.2% in the United States.
Educationally, Kent is above the national, state, and local averages for residents who have attained a bachelor's, master's, or above a master's degree. At the 2000 Census, 37.1% of Kent's population above the age of 25 had obtained a college degree compared to 21.0% of the same population in Portage County, 21.2% statewide, and 24.4% nationally.
and its successors, which operated its main maintenance shops in the village; the Seneca Chain Company; and bus manufacturer Twin Coach
among others. A disastrous fire at the Seneca Chain Company in 1909 led to the creation of the Kent Board of Trade—an early Chamber of Commerce—which was successful in getting Kent selected in 1910 as the site of what would become Kent State University.
Changes in the structure of the railroad and declines in the manufacturing sector during the mid-20th century combined with the rapid growth of Kent State University following World War II led to the university becoming the city's largest employer and influenced the development of other areas of the city's economy. Beginning in the late first decade of the 21st century, the university, along with the city and private investors, began to play a more active role in the redevelopment of downtown Kent and has aided in the development of local high tech companies. Kent State operates Centennial Research Park, along Ohio State Route 59 in Kent's Joint Economic Development District
with Franklin Township, which houses two high tech
start-up companies in the liquid crystal
industry. Kent has an additional Joint Economic Development District with Brimfield Township
south of the city limits. Through the Kent Regional Business Alliance, the city also supports two business incubator
s.
As of 2008, the educational, health, and social services fields were the city's largest sector, and employed over 29% of Kent's workforce. This included the city's two largest employers, Kent State University and the Kent City School District, as well as Robinson Memorial Hospital
, which operates an outpatient surgery
center and general medical facility. 22% of the workforce is employed in arts, entertainment, and food service, with 15% employed in retail. Manufacturing accounts for 8.2% of the workforce with a Land O' Lakes plant being the largest employer in the sector. Kent is also home to the corporate headquarters of the Davey Tree Expert Company
, which serves as the city's largest private employer. In 2010 Davey Tree announced plans to relocate staff from its Davey Resource Group to Kent as part of a planned downtown development and has stated long-term goals include having all corporate offices in Kent.
76% of those employed commuted alone to work by way of a car, truck, or van with another 7% carpool
ing. 10.6% of workers walked to work with 1.8% using public transport
ation. The average commute time was approximately 19 minutes. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated unemployment at 8.7% in 2008 while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimated unemployment in Kent at 5.2% in 2008 and 8.2% in February 2010.
. The festival includes crafts, booths, entertainment, train rides, 5K and 10K races, and fireworks, drawing approximately 25,000 people each year. In October, Kent hosts the homecoming festivities for Kent State University, including a parade down East Main Street as well as other events and activities both on campus and around the city. Also in October, the downtown area hosts an annual, yet unofficial, Halloween
celebration, which usually takes place the last Saturday of October. The event typically draws thousands, largely Kent State students, and includes many who dress in costume. In 2007 Main Street Kent, a local organization that promotes downtown Kent, created a family-oriented Halloween event downtown that precedes the unofficial celebration. Since 2007, Kent has hosted an annual environmental festival known as "Who's Your Mama?" which takes place in conjunction with Earth Day
. The festival has events at various locations in the city, such as a vegan
chef competition, concerts, a film festival, guest speakers, and booths on environment-based topics. Through Main Street Kent, additional events downtown include the annual Haymaker Farmers' Market
, held every Saturday morning from May through October, as well as an ice cream social event in August, an outdoor concert series and "sidewalk cinema" between May and September, an art and wine festival in June, a cider festival in November, and the Festival of Lights Christmas
celebration in early December.
The Kent Stage
, located downtown, is a performance venue for a variety of arts performances in music and theater. It hosts around 90 concerts, four theatrical performances, and four film festivals or movie premiers per year, including local, national, and international performers. Since opening in 2002, it has been visited by approximately 120,000 patrons from all over Ohio, 38 U.S. states, and 3 countries. In April, it hosts events related to the "Who's Your Mama?" Earth Day festival and in September, it is one of the host venues for the Kent State Folk Festival, an annual event in folk music
since the late 1960s and the second-longest running folk festival held on a college campus in the U.S. The festival includes "Folk Alley 'Round Town" that features free concerts at venues throughout the city. Along with concerts at the Kent Stage, performances and workshops take place on the campus of Kent State University. The Kent Stage also hosts the Kent Blues Festival and a local artist music festival known as the Up From The River Music Festival.
Kent is also home to the Kent State University Museum, located in Rockwell Hall on the KSU campus. The museum focuses on the history of fashion design and decorative arts in the United States and around the world from the 18th century to the present. Each year in early May, the university hosts an annual commemoration of the Kent State shootings
, which typically features several speakers, forums, artwork, and other related events. Kent State began to develop a visitors' center in 2010 to cover the events surrounding the shootings. It will be housed in Taylor Hall on the site recently added to the National Register of Historic Places
and plans include three galleries covering art and media from the era of the 1960s leading up to the shootings, images from the actual event, and the local and national impact after the shootings.
In addition to the Kent State Shootings Site near the center of campus, there are also a number of additional sites and districts in Kent on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which are open to the public. The Kent Industrial District
is a historical district along the Cuyahoga River adjacent to downtown that includes an area and structures that were important in Kent's early history. On the northwestern part of the Kent State University campus is the Ohio State Normal College At Kent
district, which includes the school's five original classic revival
buildings dating to 1913. There is also the West Main Street District
just west of downtown that includes 20 private homes of architectural and historical significance from the post-Civil War and early 20th century periods. The district includes the Kent Masonic Center
, which was originally built in the early 1880s as the home of Marvin Kent and his family, and the former residence of Martin L. Davey
, who served as Governor of Ohio. Buildings in Kent listed on the register include three private homes noted for their architecture styles: the John Davey House
for the Second Empire style, and both the Aaron Ferrey
and Charles Kent House
s as examples of Gothic Revival
. Other buildings include the 1869 Kent Jail
, now used by the Parks and Recreation Department, and the 1837 Franklin Township Hall
, the site of eventual U.S. President James A. Garfield's first nomination for public office in 1859.
, who compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference
East Division. Several of Kent State's teams have enjoyed league and national success, the most notable being the men's basketball team's
run to the Elite Eight
in the 2002 NCAA Basketball Tournament
. The 6,327-seat Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
, commonly referred to as the MAC Center, is the site of a number of athletic events in multiple sports, including periodically hosting the Mid-American Conference's wrestling
and women's gymnastics
championships.
In addition to hosting the KSU football team
, Kent State's 20,500-seat Dix Stadium
has been a venue for high school football
games both in the regular-season and the state playoffs. The adjacent Murphy-Mellis Field is a location for Ohio High School Athletic Association
(OHSAA) field hockey tournament games and the Diamond at Dix is a site for OHSAA regional softball tournament games. From 1975 to 1981 the Cleveland Browns
held their training camp in Kent at Kent State University.
The Kent State University Ice Arena
serves as host to several local ice hockey
programs including youth leagues, high school and professional teams, and as a site for OHSAA high school tournament games and ice skating competitions in addition to being home of KSU's club team, which competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association
. The ice arena is also the home of the Kent Twisters, a member of the Pennsylvania-Ohio Women's Hockey Association, an adult amateur women's ice hockey league. Kent also plays host to the Portage County Open tennis
tournament, held annually at the tennis courts of Theodore Roosevelt High School.
The city operates nearly 20 parks and preserves, the largest of which is the 56 acres (22.7 ha) Fred Fuller park along the Cuyahoga River
, named after a former Kent Parks chairmain. The park includes the Kramer Fields baseball and softball complex, which contains four fields, two of which are lighted. Several of the parks along the Cuyahoga River are on or near areas of historical significance. Franklin Mills Riveredge Park, which follows the Cuyahoga River through downtown Kent, passes through a large portion of the Kent Industrial District along with Heritage Park and includes sites related to the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. Adjacent on the south is the John Brown Tannery Park, on the site of the former tannery John Brown
operated with Zenas Kent in the 1830s, while Brady's Leap park, adjacent to the north, is at the location of the famed leap over the Cuyahoga River by Captain Samuel Brady
circa 1780.
The parks and recreation department, in addition to operating and maintaining the city's parks and preserves, also operates a recreation center on the city's south side and offers several sports, arts, and education programs at various locations in Kent. The department also sponsors events throughout the year including Art in the Park, an ice-skating party, hayrides, and Santa's Arrival. The Kent City School District operates an indoor pool at Theodore Roosevelt High School that is available for public recreational and instructional use outside of its use by the school for athletics and physical education. The pool hosts swimming lessons and serves as a home venue for the Hudson
-based Hudson Explorers Aquatic Team, a competitive swimming program for ages five and above.
As of 2010, the Portage Hike and Bike Trail was under construction or in planning, with several phases already completed in Kent. The trail, when fully complete, will connect with the hike and bike trails in neighboring Summit County
and will link Kent with nearby communities in Portage County. The city is also home to the Tom S. Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve
, located in the southern edge of Kent. It is one of the most intact bogs in Ohio, with the southernmost and largest stand of tamarack trees in the continental United States.
Kent is governed by a charter
form of government with a council–manager system of nine council members and a mayor. The city is divided into six wards
and voters select a mayor, a council member representing their ward, and three at-large
council members in staggered four-year terms. The city charter, adopted in 1963, is reviewed by a charter commission every 10 years who then make recommendations for changes, the last review being in 2005. The city council hires a city manager
who oversees the day-to-day operations in the various city departments and enforces policies set by council. The mayor serves a largely ceremonial role as president of the council and votes only in the event of a tie. Kent voters approved the change from a mayor-council system to council-manager in 1975 and it went into effect in 1977. Jerry Fiala began his term as mayor January 1, 2010 and Dave Ruller began serving as city manager June 15, 2005.
As part of the city government, Kent also has departments of community development, health, human services, law, parks and recreation, public safety, and public service. The Public Service Department oversees a variety of construction and maintenance works as well as the city's water treatment and water reclamation systems while the Public Safety Department includes both the police and fire departments. The Kent Police Department is housed in the city's Safety Administration Building and includes 911 dispatch for Kent and Franklin Township
. Kent State University also operates its own police department, which mainly patrols the KSU campus and KSU property in and out of the Kent city limits. The two departments frequently communicate and for several years were headed by identical twin brothers: James Peach in the city and John Peach at the university. The fire department operates two stations, the main station adjacent to the Safety Administration Building and the West Side Fire Station along North Mantua Street on the western side of the Cuyahoga River. Kent Fire also provides fire and emergency medical service coverage for Franklin Township and the village of Sugar Bush Knolls.
The city's main sources of tax revenue come from income tax
, set at 2.0%, and property tax
. In 2009, the city operated on a budget of approximately $40 million. The largest percentage of the budget, 22.8% or $2.6 million, was spent on the Fire and Emergency medical services
and the city's Income Tax Safety Fund, respectively. Expenditures on Capital Projects accounted for 22.4% or $2.5 million of the budget, 17.5% or $2 million towards the city's General Fund, and $550,000 allocated for street repair and maintenance.
At the state level, Kent is in the 68th district of the Ohio House of Representatives
, represented since 2011 by Democrat
Kathleen Clyde, a Kent resident. In the State Senate
, Kent is part of the 28th district, represented since 2007 by Democrat Tom Sawyer
of Akron. At the Federal level, Kent is included in Ohio's 17th congressional district
, represented since 2003 by Democrat Tim Ryan of Niles
.
, elementary
, and secondary education
is mainly provided by the Kent City School District with the small portion of the city south of State Route 261 a part of the neighboring Field Local School District. The Kent district was created around 1860 and later merged with the Franklin Township and Brady Lake school districts in 1959. It serves most of Kent and Franklin Township, the villages of Brady Lake
and Sugar Bush Knolls
and a small part of southern Streetsboro
. Kent has five neighborhood elementary schools that serve students in grades K–5, Stanton Middle School
for grades 6–8, and Theodore Roosevelt High School for grades 9–12. The district also operates a preschool program housed at Davey Elementary School, and is a member of the Six District Educational Compact with five surrounding districts to facilitate vocational education with many of these programs housed at Theodore Roosevelt High School. In 1985, Theodore Roosevelt High School was given the United States Department of Education
Excellence in Education award and the school has consistently been rated "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education since 2004. In December 2009, it was named in US News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States, earning the publication's Bronze Medal designation. The Kent City School District has been consistently rated as "Excellent" or "Effective" by the Ohio Department of Education and in 2007 Walls Elementary School was named a "School of Promise" by the Ohio Department of Education, while Longcoy Elementary earned the U.S. Department of Education's prestigious Blue Ribbon School award.
Kent also has one private school, St. Patrick School, which serves around 300 students in grades K–8 from Kent and several surrounding communities. It is part of Kent's St. Patrick parish and is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
.
The Kent Free Library
is the main public library. It was established in 1892 after Kent became the first village in Ohio to use an 1892 state law which allowed municipalities under a population of 5,000 to tax residents for the upkeep of a library. Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 in 1901 for construction of a permanent home for the library, which opened in 1903. The 2006 expansion to the library brought available space to 55000 square feet (5,109.7 m²) with a book collection of 147,390 items as of 2010. It is a school district library associated with the Kent City School District and is also part of the Portage Library Consortium, connecting it with Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna
and the Portage County District Library, which maintains six branch libraries across the county and a bookmobile
.
The main campus of Kent State University is located in the southeastern part of the city. The campus itself occupies approximately 866 acres (350.5 ha) and the university owns thousands of additional acres adjacent to the campus. Additional facilities include a research park and golf course just east of the city limits in Franklin Township and the Kent State University Airport
, just west of Kent in Stow
. Founded in 1910 as a teacher training institution, the university has become a world leader in the development of liquid crystals through the Liquid Crystal Institute
and was the site of the first patent for the modern liquid crystal in the 1970s. Kent State also has a nationally recognized fashion design program and nationally ranked programs in library science
and business. As of 2010, the College of Nursing is the 5th-largest nursing school in the United States and largest in Ohio. In 2009 the university inaugurated the College of Public Health, the second public health
program in Ohio and 33rd in the U.S. The Kent State library system, which includes the 12-story main library and houses over 2.6 million volumes, includes six additional department libraries on the main campus and a branch at each of the seven regional campuses. The library system is a member of the Association of Research Libraries
, one of 3 in Ohio
and 124 in North America
. The university offers over 300 programs of study combined in the undergraduate and graduate levels and serves over 41,000 students in eight campuses across Northeast Ohio
with over 26,000 at the campus in Kent.
, which includes a 17-county region of Northeast Ohio. As of 2010–11 it ranks as the 18th-largest media market
in the United States according to Nielsen Media Research
. While most stations are located in Cleveland and Akron
, Kent is home to the offices and main studio of Western Reserve Public Media, the PBS
affiliate for Akron and Youngstown
. The studios for WAOH and W35AX
, local affiliates for the Retro Television Network
, are located just east of the city limits in Franklin Township
. TV-2, a Kent State University student-run production, is available on campus, on local cable, and online. Kent is also in range of the television stations that broadcast out of Youngstown.
For radio, Kent is part of the Akron Radio Market, though it is within range of major stations in the Cleveland Radio Market as well as many in the Youngstown-Warren and Canton markets. Three stations, two FM
and one AM
, are licensed to Kent. WKSU
, at 89.7 FM, broadcasts from the campus of Kent State University and is the main affiliate for National Public Radio in Northeast Ohio for the Akron, Canton, and Cleveland radio markets via repeaters
around the region. WNIR, at 100.1 FM, is broadcast from studios shared with sister station WJMP
and television stations WAOH and W35AX in Franklin Township. WNIR is centered on talk radio
and news and is a local affiliate of ABC Radio
and Westwood One
. It also the flagship station for Kent State football and men's basketball broadcasts. WJMP, which broadcasts at 1520 AM, is a daytime-only news/talk station. Black Squirrel Radio
is a student-run online station
from Kent State available online and on local cable.
The Record-Courier, a daily paper based in neighboring Ravenna which covers news for Portage County, is the main source of printed media for Kent. The Record-Courier was formed by the merger of the Ravenna Evening Record and the Kent Courier-Tribune and until 2008 maintained an additional office in Kent. The city is also served by Kent State University's Daily Kent Stater, which is available in select locations on and off campus and online via KentWired.com, a collaborative site with TV-2 and Black Squirrel Radio. The Akron Beacon Journal
and The Plain Dealer also serve Kent through regional coverage and delivery. Magazines published at Kent State include Fusion
, a magazine devoted to sexual minority issues; Kent State Magazine, an official publication of the University; and The Burr, a student-run magazine about events going on in and around Kent.
collection. Kent's original recycling program was developed in 1970 by the Kent Environmental Council and was Ohio's first comprehensive and self-supporting program. Local phone utilities are provided through AT&T
Ohio through the 330 and 234 area codes, electricity is supplied and lines are maintained by FirstEnergy
in the former coverage area of Ohio Edison, and natural gas is supplied and lines are maintained by Dominion Resources
East Ohio Energy. While residents are free to choose their own natural gas and electric suppliers, the city is part of the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, the largest government aggregation
in the United States.
. State Route 43 is the main north–south highway, mainly following North Mantua and South Water Streets. SR 43 connects Kent with Interstate 76, approximately 3 miles (5 km) to the south via exit 33 in Brimfield
and to the Ohio Turnpike
/Interstate 80 and the eastern terminus of Interstate 480
, approximately 7 miles (11 km) to the north via Turnpike exit 187 in Streetsboro. Both SR 43 and SR 59 are four to five-lane roads within the city limits. State Route 261 passes through the southern and eastern edges of the city and is a four-lane divided highway
for a short distance with the remainder a two-lane highway. It serves as a bypass between SR 43, SR 59, and Summit Street on Kent's south and eastern sides and to Tallmadge
on the southwest.
Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority
, known as PARTA, which is headquartered just outside the city limits in Franklin Township. PARTA serves Kent through a dial-a-ride
service, the Suburban and Kent Circulator routes completely within the city limits, the seasonal Black Squirrel route along SR 59 during Kent State University's Fall and Spring semesters, and the Interurban connecting with Stow and Ravenna. There are also two express routes, one to Akron connecting with METRO Regional Transit Authority via Brimfield
, and a Cleveland Express route connecting with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
via Streetsboro, Twinsburg
, and Maple Heights
. PARTA also includes Campus Bus Service, which provides three fixed routes on the campus of Kent State University. Plans were announced in 2010 for construction of an intermodal transit
facility in downtown Kent, known as the Kent Central Gateway, which aims to provide better integration of the existing bus system, hike-and-bike trails, and parking. The facility received a $20 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
(TIGER) grant in February 2010 and construction began in April 2011.
, which operates two facilities in the southern part of the city. Robinson maintains the county's only outpatient surgery
center as well as a medical arts building housing a medical imaging center and family medicine doctors. The 150-bed main hospital is located in Ravenna and the system operates additional facilities throughout Portage County. Free clinic
s include the Portage Community Health Center, located just east of the city limits in the Joint Economic Development District
with Franklin Township, and a clinic in the downtown area operated by social agency Townhall II.
group was formed, followed by a Congregational church in 1819. The first religious meetinghouse in Kent, which also served as the first schoolhouse, was built in 1817 and was used by several different denominations. Later, the Methodists built another building in 1828 that was also used by multiple denominations. The oldest church building in Kent still used as a place of worship is the Unitarian Universalist
Church on Gougler Avenue, which was dedicated in 1868. The former home of the Congregational Church was dedicated in 1858 and still stands along Gougler Avenue very near the Unitarian Universalist Church. It served as the home of the First Congregational Church—which became the Kent United Church of Christ
in 1964—until 1955. It was later purchased by a local business and used as their corporate headquarters.
As of 2010, within the city are two Roman Catholic parishes affiliated with the Diocese of Youngstown
, one a family parish and one a Newman Center
, as well as congregations of the United Methodist Church
, African Methodist Episcopal Church
, Free Methodist Church
, United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
, Church of the Brethren
, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
, Presbyterian Church (USA)
, Church of Christ, Episcopal Church
, and Jehovah's Witnesses
. There are also Unitarian Universalist, non-denominational Christian
, and Bahá'í Faith
congregations. Although there are no Jewish synagogue
s or temples, there is a Hillel
Jewish student center on the campus of Kent State University which serves students at both Kent State and the University of Akron
. Just outside the city limits in Franklin Township are the Kent congregations of the Church of the Nazarene
, Assemblies of God
, as well as Baptist and Free Will Baptist churches. The Islam
ic Society of Akron and Kent, which was founded in Kent, is based in nearby Cuyahoga Falls and includes a masjid
and school. Kent is also part of a ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rootstown
that was first organized in Kent and includes most of southern Portage County.
, a pioneer in tree surgery and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company moved to Kent in the 1880s. His son, Martin L. Davey
, would later serve as Governor of Ohio and a U.S. Representative. Other political figures to come from Kent include Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild
, former U.S. Representative Robert E. Cook
, and noted abolitionist John Brown
, who lived in what was then Franklin Mills from 1835–1839. Noted athletes to have come from Kent include former National Football League
players Mike Adamle
, Tom DeLeone
, and Stan White
and former Major League Baseball
player, manager, and executive Gene Michael. Two members of the band Devo
, which debuted in Kent in 1973 and was founded by Kent State University students, are natives of Kent: Peter Gregg
and Rod Reisman
. Other performing artists to come from Kent include singer Julianne Baird
, playwright Vincent J. Cardinal
, and voice actor Joshua Seth
. Lucien Price
, an author and writer for The Boston Evening Transcript
and The Atlantic Monthly
grew up in Kent and used the pseudonym
"Woolwick" for Kent in some of his stories. Kent was also the home of inventor Lucien B. Smith, regarded as the inventor of barbed wire
. Additionally, people who have lived in Kent while attending Kent State University include comedians Drew Carey
and Arsenio Hall
, actor Michael Keaton
, musician Joe Walsh
, and additional members of the band Devo. Athletes include football
players Antonio Gates
, Joshua Cribbs
, and Jack Lambert; Major League Baseball players Thurman Munson
, Rich Rollins
, and Andy Sonnanstine
; and college football
coaches Nick Saban
and Lou Holtz
.
, Dudince
, a small spa town
of about 1,500 people in southern Slovakia
. The relationship was established in 2003 through Sister Cities International
and resulted in the formation of the Kent-Dudince Sister City Association to promote learning and understanding of the Slovakian culture. The group meets regularly and organizes cultural exchanges and programs that feature Slovakian dance and music. Cultural exchanges have included a performance of a choir from Kent's Theodore Roosevelt High School in Dudince in 2004 and tour groups from Kent visiting in 2006 and 2008.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and the largest city in Portage County
Portage County, Ohio
Portage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 152,061 at the 2000 Census and 161,419 at the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Ravenna. Portage County is named for the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers...
. It is located along the Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
in Northeastern Ohio
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census. The city is counted as part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area
Akron metropolitan area
The Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties, Summit and Portage, in northeastern Ohio and is anchored by the city of Akron...
and the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
.
Part of the Connecticut Western Reserve
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut from 1662 to 1800 in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.-History:...
, Kent was originally settled in 1805 and was known as Franklin Mills. Settlers were initially attracted to the area due to its location along the Cuyahoga River as a place for water-powered mills. Later development came in the 1830s and 1840s as a result of the village's position along the route of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, also known as the P & O Canal, the Cross Cut Canal and the Mahoning Canal was a shipping canal which operated from 1840 until 1877...
. Leading up to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Franklin Mills was noted for its activity in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
. With the decline of the canal and the emergence of the railroad, the village became the home of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and the Franklin and Warren Railroad based in Franklin Mills, Ohio...
maintenance shops through the influence of Marvin Kent
Marvin Kent
Marvin Kent was a railroad president and businessman from Portage County, Ohio, USA, and namesake of the city of Kent, Ohio, which was previously known as Franklin Mills.-Biography:...
. In 1864 the village was renamed Kent in honor of and in gratitude for Marvin Kent's efforts. Today Kent is a college town
College town
A college town or university town is a community which is dominated by its university population...
best known as the home of the main campus of Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
, founded in 1910, and as the site of the 1970 Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
.
Historically a manufacturing center, education is the city's largest economic sector with Kent State University the city's, and one of the region's, largest employers. The Kent City School District and the Kent Free Library
Kent Free Library
The Kent Free Library is a public library located in Kent, Ohio, United States. Opening in 1892, it was originally the result of the first use of an 1892 Ohio law which allowed municipalities under 5,000 to tax residents for library support. In 1903 the library moved to its current location,...
provide additional education opportunities and resources. Many of Kent's demographic elements are influenced by the presence of the university, particularly the median age, median income, and those living below the poverty level. The city is governed by a council-manager system
Council-manager government
The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...
with a city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
, a nine-member city council, and a mayor. Kent has nearly 20 parks and preserves and hosts a number of annual festivals including ones related to Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
, folk music, and the U.S. Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
. In addition to the Kent State athletic teams
Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State University's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Golden Flashes or simply as the Flashes. The university fields sixteen varsity athletic teams, all of whom play in the Mid-American Conference and in the NCAA's Division I...
, the city also hosts a number of amateur and local sporting events at various times during the year. Kent is part of the Cleveland-Akron media market and is the city of license for three local radio stations and three television stations and includes the regional affiliates for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS). Although most residents commute to work in private vehicles, alternate transportation includes a public bus service
Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority
The Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as PARTA is the transit agency serving Portage County, Ohio. It is headquartered in Franklin Township just outside the Kent city limits. PARTA was formed in 1975 from an agreement between the city of Kent and Franklin...
and hike-and-bike trails. As the home of the Davey Tree Expert Company
Davey Tree Expert Company
The Davey Tree Expert Company is a privately held company that provides tree and lawn care services throughout the United States and Canada. It is the largest residential tree care company in North America. It was incorporated in 1909 in Kent, Ohio by John Davey, who is considered the father of the...
, Kent is known as "The Tree City" while residents are referred to as "Kentites". The city has produced a number of notable individuals, particularly in politics, athletics, and the entertainment industry.
History
The region was originally inhabited by various tribes of American IndiansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, including the early Mound Builders. Around 1780, Captain Samuel Brady
Samuel Brady
Captain Samuel Brady was a frontier scout and the subject of many legends in the history of western Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. He is best known for jumping across a gorge over the Cuyahoga River to escape pursuing Indians in what is present day Kent, Ohio...
achieved notoriety for his activities in the area, including his famous leap of 21 feet (6 m) over the Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
to avoid capture by an unknown band of American Indians. The site, known as Brady's Leap, is now a city park. Settlement by Europeans began in the late 1790s and early 19th century. As part of the Connecticut Western Reserve
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut from 1662 to 1800 in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.-History:...
, the area was divided into survey township
Survey township
Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side...
s in 1798 and almost all of what is now Kent was originally part of Town 3 Range 9, which would eventually be known as Franklin Township
Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio
Franklin Township is a civil township located in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The 2000 census found 5,276 people in the township...
. Aaron Olmsted, a wealthy Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
merchant, had purchased the 16000 acres (6,475 ha) township and named it for his son Aaron Franklin Olmsted.
Franklin Township was surveyed in 1803 and settled in November 1805 when John Haymaker and his family moved west from Warren
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
to the banks of the Cuyahoga River. They were joined by John's brother George and their father Jacob Haymaker and their families early the next year, and built a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
in 1807. Initial growth in the area was slow, but eventually two small villages would develop due to the potential for power generated by the Cuyahoga River that could be used in gristmills and manufacturing. The first village, known as Franklin Mills, or locally as the "Lower Village", developed mostly around the original Haymaker property. In 1818, Joshua Woodard arrived in the area and began constructing buildings just north of the village forming the "Upper Village" that would come to be known briefly as Carthage.
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, also known as the P & O Canal, the Cross Cut Canal and the Mahoning Canal was a shipping canal which operated from 1840 until 1877...
(P & O Canal). When construction began on the canal in the mid-1830s, land speculation was rampant in many areas of northeast Ohio along the canal, including Franklin Mills. As a result, an industrial and business region was established along the east side of the river in what is now downtown Kent. Factories and mills were either planned or constructed along the Cuyahoga River, some of which either were never built or ultimately failed, due mostly to effects of the Panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
. A lock and attached arch dam, however, was completed in 1836. The canal officially opened in 1840, but would only operate into the 1860s. By the 1870s the canal was completely shut down.
In the era leading up to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Franklin Mills was an active stop on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, giving fugitive slaves shelter on their escape to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. There were three notable stops in Franklin Mills, one of which still stands as of 2010. During this period, from 1835–1839, noted American abolitionist John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
moved to the village, operating a tannery along the Cuyahoga River with Zenas Kent.
In 1863 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and the Franklin and Warren Railroad based in Franklin Mills, Ohio...
was constructed through Franklin Mills, due largely to the efforts of local businessman Marvin Kent
Marvin Kent
Marvin Kent was a railroad president and businessman from Portage County, Ohio, USA, and namesake of the city of Kent, Ohio, which was previously known as Franklin Mills.-Biography:...
, son of Zenas Kent. Marvin Kent had started his own railroad company, the Franklin and Warren Railroad
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and the Franklin and Warren Railroad based in Franklin Mills, Ohio...
, in 1851 after Franklin Mills, already home to several Kent family ventures and properties, was bypassed by the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad that same year. Kent was also successful in getting the village named as the location of the railroad's maintenance yards and shops in 1864. The geographic location along the railroad and being home to the shops reinvented and revitalized the village as an important stop on the east-west line between St. Louis and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The shops would open in 1865 and the railroad would play an important part of Kent's industry and development through the early 20th century before the shops were completely shut down in 1930. To honor Marvin Kent, the village was renamed Kent in 1864, although this change was not official until the village was incorporated on May 6, 1867.
John Davey
John Davey (tree surgeon)
John Davey , considered the father of the science of tree surgery, was born in Stawley, Somerset, England. Although he did not learn the alphabet until his early 20s, his sharp intellect and analytical skills allowed him to become a skilled orator, author, publisher and inventor.John Davey...
came to Kent in 1881 as head grounds keeper at Standing Rock Cemetery, and planted several trees, landscaped the cemetery, and performed experiments on trees. In 1901, he published his theories on tree surgery
Arboriculture
Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science....
with his book The Tree Doctor, and later established the Davey Tree Expert Company
Davey Tree Expert Company
The Davey Tree Expert Company is a privately held company that provides tree and lawn care services throughout the United States and Canada. It is the largest residential tree care company in North America. It was incorporated in 1909 in Kent, Ohio by John Davey, who is considered the father of the...
in 1909. The efforts of Davey and the presence of Davey Tree led to the establishment of "The Tree City" as a nickname for Kent, which is reflected in the city's seal. The company continues to be headquartered in Kent and serves as the city's largest private employer.
After a fire destroyed the Seneca Chain Company in 1909, one of the city's main industries at the time, city leaders created the Kent Board of Trade in 1910, a forerunner to the Chamber of Commerce. The new Board was successful later that year in having Kent selected out of twenty northeastern Ohio cities as the site of a new teacher training college, which became known as the "Kent State Normal School
Ohio State Normal College At Kent
The Ohio State Normal College At Kent is a historic district in Kent, Ohio, United States. It consists of the five original buildings on the main campus of Kent State University, with the first, Merrill Hall, opening in 1913 and the last, Moulton Hall, opening in 1917. It was added to the...
". The site for the school was on 53 acres (21.4 ha) of land donated by William S. Kent, son of Marvin Kent, on what was then the eastern edge of town. By 1929 the school was renamed Kent State College after the establishment of a college of liberal arts and degrees in the arts and sciences and in 1935 was renamed Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
after it was given authorization to grant advanced graduate degrees. The bill giving Kent State university status was signed into law by Ohio governor and Kent native Martin L. Davey
Martin L. Davey
Martin Luther Davey was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He was the 53rd Governor of Ohio.-Childhood:Davey was born in Kent, Ohio in 1884. His father was John Davey, better known as the tree doctor and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company. His mother was Bertha Reeves, the daughter of a...
, son of tree surgeon John Davey. During the 1950s and 1960s the growth of Kent State University combined with the effects of suburbanization
Suburbanization
Suburbanization a term used to describe the growth of areas on the fringes of major cities. It is one of the many causes of the increase in urban sprawl. Many residents of metropolitan regions work within the central urban area, choosing instead to live in satellite communities called suburbs...
resulted in significant population growth for the city, rising from just over 12,000 residents at the 1950 census to over 28,000 by 1970. Black squirrel
Black squirrel
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. They are common in the Midwestern United States, Ontario, Quebec, and in parts of the Northeastern United States and Britain.-Habitat:...
s were brought to the campus from Canada in 1961 by Kent State University head groundskeeper Larry Woodell. The squirrels have become an icon for both KSU and the city and are often used as unofficial mascots and symbols.
In early May 1970, protests began on the campus of Kent State University over the United States' invasion of Cambodia in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. These protests and demonstrations, which included rioting in downtown Kent on May 2, culminated in the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
, where four students were killed and nine were wounded by the Ohio Army National Guard
Ohio Army National Guard
The Ohio Army National Guard is a part of the United States National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Army. It is also a component of the organized militia of the state of Ohio, which also includes the Ohio Naval Militia, the Ohio Military Reserve and the Ohio Air National Guard...
. Several memorials have been placed at the site over the years and commemorations have been held annually since 1971. In 2010 the entire site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Also during the late 1960s and into the 1970s, construction of Haymaker Parkway, completed in 1975, brought changes to the city's layout while eliminating ongoing problems with traffic congestion and blocked rail crossings.
In 1995, Kent received national attention when the city's water was named "Best Tasting Municipality Water" at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting
Bath (Berkeley Springs), West Virginia
Bath is a town in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Morgan County. The town is incorporated as Bath, but it is often referred to by the name of its post office, Berkeley Springs. The population of the town was 663 according to the 2000 United States...
. The water and mayor Kathleen Chandler
Kathleen Chandler
Kathleen Chandler is a former Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives, who represented the 68th District from 2003-2010.-External links:*...
were featured on the March 3 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
. Since then, Kent has placed in the top five a total of six times with the most recent being a fifth place finish in 2011. In 2003, the 1836 arch dam was bypassed to meet water quality standards set by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. To preserve the historic dam, a small park was built behind the dam and the river was rerouted through the old canal lock. During warm-weather months, water is pumped over the dam. The park, known as Heritage Park, was formally dedicated in May 2005.
Geography
Kent is located in west-central Portage CountyPortage County, Ohio
Portage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 152,061 at the 2000 Census and 161,419 at the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Ravenna. Portage County is named for the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers...
in Northeast Ohio
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) northeast of Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
and 30 miles (48.3 km) southeast of Cleveland. It is bordered by Franklin Township on the north and east, Brimfield Township
Brimfield Township, Portage County, Ohio
Brimfield Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 7,963 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:...
on the south, and Stow
Stow, Ohio
Stow is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 32,139 at the 2000 census and 33,899 as of 2008. It is a suburban community that is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Stow is located adjacent to several other suburban communities in Summit and Portage Counties...
on the west. Other nearby communities include Brady Lake
Brady Lake, Ohio
Brady Lake is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 513 at the 2000 census and 497 in the 2006 estimate. Incorporated in 1927, it originally developed as an amusement park and summer resort that opened in 1891. It was formed from a small portion of Franklin Township...
and Ravenna
Ravenna, Ohio
* Chris Bangle; automobile designer* Bill Bower, last surviving pilot of the Doolittle Raid* David D. Busch; best-selling author* William Rufus Day; U.S. Supreme Court justice* Calvin Hampton; Classical organist* Robert B...
to the east and Sugar Bush Knolls
Sugar Bush Knolls, Ohio
Sugar Bush Knolls is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It was formed from portions of Streetsboro and Franklin townships in 1964. The population was 227 at the 2000 census. It is essentially made up of a single affluent subdivision...
and Streetsboro
Streetsboro, Ohio
Streetsboro is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is formed from the former township of Streetsboro, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is nearly co-extant with the former Streetsboro Township; the village of Sugar Bush Knolls was also formed in part from a...
to the north. It is included in the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area
Akron metropolitan area
The Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties, Summit and Portage, in northeastern Ohio and is anchored by the city of Akron...
and the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
.
Located on the western end of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau
Glaciated Allegheny Plateau
The Glaciated Allegheny Plateau is that portion of the Allegheny Plateau that lies within the area covered by the last glaciation. As a result, this area of the Allegheny Plateau has lower relief and more gentle slopes than the relatively rugged Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau...
, the topography of Kent includes rolling hills and varied terrain. The Cuyahoga River passes through the city, cutting a gorge with a drop of nearly 40 feet (12.2 m) adjacent to the downtown area. The United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
lists the city's elevation at 1050 feet (320 m) above sea level at a point near Kent's geographic center. Elevations vary slightly within the city limits with several buildings on the Kent State University campus at altitudes in excess of 1160 feet (353.6 m) and points as high as 1200 feet (365.8 m). According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, as of 2010 the city has a total area of 9.3 square mile, of which 9.2 square mile is land and 0.1 square mile (1.2%) is water.
Climate
Kent's climate is classified as a humid continental climateHumid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
in the Dfa Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
meaning it typically has very warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters with moderate and variable spring and autumn seasons. The record high temperature is 103 °F (39 °C), set on July 7, 1988, with the record low of -22 F recorded January 17, 1982. During the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are fairly common and the area is susceptible to tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es, though the last recorded tornado in Kent occurred in 1973. Effects from tropical systems can also be felt, usually taking the form of increased humidity, rain, and wind, such as with the remnants of Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
in September 2008. During the winter months, snowfall is common and can occur in large quantities with considerable cloud cover
Cloud cover
Cloud cover refers to the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds when observed from a particular location...
. Kent is not considered part of the Lake Erie snowbelt
Snowbelt
Snowbelt is a term describing of a number of regions near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores...
, though lake-effect snow does occur at times. The city is in what is referred to as the "secondary snowbelt", meaning it will receive heavier snowfall totals from lake-effect snow when certain wind directions are more prevalent, but typically sees far less snowfall than areas to the north closer to Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. While temperatures below the freezing point
Melting point
The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard atmospheric pressure...
are typical in the winter months, thaw periods where temperatures exceed 50 °F (10 °C) and even 60 °F (16 °C) are not uncommon in January and February.
Demographics
As a college townCollege town
A college town or university town is a community which is dominated by its university population...
, Kent's demographic and population statistics are greatly affected by the presence and growth of Kent State University. As a result, several statistics are noticeably higher or lower than state and national averages including median age and the percentage of residents in the 18–24 age bracket, families and individuals below the poverty line, and percentage of residents with a college degree.
Initial population growth in Kent was influenced by the location on the Cuyahoga River which led to the development of industrial and manufacturing jobs. Early settlers mainly came from the northeastern United States and were largely of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
descent. After the arrival of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in 1863, growth was steady into the early 20th century with the village battling Ravenna
Ravenna, Ohio
* Chris Bangle; automobile designer* Bill Bower, last surviving pilot of the Doolittle Raid* David D. Busch; best-selling author* William Rufus Day; U.S. Supreme Court justice* Calvin Hampton; Classical organist* Robert B...
for the position of Portage County's largest city. By the 1930 Census, Kent had passed Ravenna as the county's most populous city with even larger population growth in the 1950s and 1960s rising from 12,148 in 1950 to 28,183 by 1970. As of 2010, Kent remains the county's largest city. Most recent population measurements of the city have shown the effect of changes in the city's overall population coinciding with changes in the number of students living on campus as well as a reduction in the number of persons per housing unit.
As of the 2010 Census, there were 28,904 people residing in the city for a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 3,150.5 people per square mile (1,216.4/km²). There were 11,174 housing units at an average density of 1,218.0 per square mile (470.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.1% White
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, 9.6% African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 3.7% Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, 0.2% Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, 0.1% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
, 0.5% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. 2.2% of the population is Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
of any race. Though slightly below the national averages for diversity, Kent is very close to the averages for Ohio and above the averages for the surrounding area. Between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the city saw slight increases in the number of minority residents.
There were 10,288 households out of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.3% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.2 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.4% ages 19 years and under, 44.1% from 20 to 39, 15.9% from 40 to 59, 8.0% from 60 to 79, and 2.5% who were 80 years of age or older. The median age was 22.7 years, which was well below both the median age for Ohio (38.8) and the United States (35.3). As of 2000, for every 100 females there were 84.6 males, well below the state average of 96.3 males and the national average of 94.4 males per 100 females. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males, again below both the state (91.1) and national (93.4) averages. This is in marked contrast to neighboring Franklin Township, which had 104.3 males for every 100 females and 101.4 males for every 100 females in 2000.
As of the 2000 Census, the median income for a household in the city was $29,582, and the median income for a family was $44,440. This compared with Ohio's median household income of $40,956 and $41,994 for the United States. Males had a median income of $32,063 versus $25,344 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $15,015. About 15.4% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over. This is higher than both the state and national averages, with 10.6% of individuals in Ohio and 12.4% in the United States being below the poverty line and 7.8% of families in Ohio and 9.2% in the United States.
Educationally, Kent is above the national, state, and local averages for residents who have attained a bachelor's, master's, or above a master's degree. At the 2000 Census, 37.1% of Kent's population above the age of 25 had obtained a college degree compared to 21.0% of the same population in Portage County, 21.2% statewide, and 24.4% nationally.
Economy
Kent's location along the Cuyahoga River and later the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal and multiple railroad lines made it attractive initially for the establishment of small gristmills for the production of flour and various factories. Progressively larger factories later developed due to increased power available from the river and eventually due to the ease and lower cost of transportation of goods to other markets. During the latter half of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, the city's largest employers were all industrially based, including the Atlantic and Great Western RailroadAtlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and the Franklin and Warren Railroad based in Franklin Mills, Ohio...
and its successors, which operated its main maintenance shops in the village; the Seneca Chain Company; and bus manufacturer Twin Coach
Twin Coach
Twin Coach was an American vehicle manufacturing company from 1927 to 1955, based in Kent, Ohio, and a maker of marine engines and airplane parts until the 1960s. It was formed by brothers Frank and William Fageol when they left the Fageol Motor Company in 1927. They established the company in...
among others. A disastrous fire at the Seneca Chain Company in 1909 led to the creation of the Kent Board of Trade—an early Chamber of Commerce—which was successful in getting Kent selected in 1910 as the site of what would become Kent State University.
Changes in the structure of the railroad and declines in the manufacturing sector during the mid-20th century combined with the rapid growth of Kent State University following World War II led to the university becoming the city's largest employer and influenced the development of other areas of the city's economy. Beginning in the late first decade of the 21st century, the university, along with the city and private investors, began to play a more active role in the redevelopment of downtown Kent and has aided in the development of local high tech companies. Kent State operates Centennial Research Park, along Ohio State Route 59 in Kent's Joint Economic Development District
Joint Economic Development District
A Joint Economic Development District is an arrangement in Ohio where one or more municipalities and a township agree to work together to develop township land for commercial or industrial purposes. The benefit to the municipality is that they get a portion of the taxes levied in the JEDD without...
with Franklin Township, which houses two high tech
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
start-up companies in the liquid crystal
Liquid crystal
Liquid crystals are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different types of LC phases, which can be...
industry. Kent has an additional Joint Economic Development District with Brimfield Township
Brimfield Township, Portage County, Ohio
Brimfield Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 7,963 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:...
south of the city limits. Through the Kent Regional Business Alliance, the city also supports two business incubator
Business incubator
Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts...
s.
As of 2008, the educational, health, and social services fields were the city's largest sector, and employed over 29% of Kent's workforce. This included the city's two largest employers, Kent State University and the Kent City School District, as well as Robinson Memorial Hospital
Robinson Memorial Hospital
Robinson Memorial Hospital is a general hospital located in Ravenna, Ohio, USA. The 150-bed facility is the only hospital in Portage County, Ohio...
, which operates an outpatient surgery
Outpatient surgery
Outpatient surgery, also known as ambulatory surgery, same-day surgery or day surgery, is surgery that does not require an overnight hospital stay. The term “outpatient” arises from the fact that surgery patients may go home and do not need an overnight hospital bed...
center and general medical facility. 22% of the workforce is employed in arts, entertainment, and food service, with 15% employed in retail. Manufacturing accounts for 8.2% of the workforce with a Land O' Lakes plant being the largest employer in the sector. Kent is also home to the corporate headquarters of the Davey Tree Expert Company
Davey Tree Expert Company
The Davey Tree Expert Company is a privately held company that provides tree and lawn care services throughout the United States and Canada. It is the largest residential tree care company in North America. It was incorporated in 1909 in Kent, Ohio by John Davey, who is considered the father of the...
, which serves as the city's largest private employer. In 2010 Davey Tree announced plans to relocate staff from its Davey Resource Group to Kent as part of a planned downtown development and has stated long-term goals include having all corporate offices in Kent.
76% of those employed commuted alone to work by way of a car, truck, or van with another 7% carpool
Carpool
Carpooling , is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car....
ing. 10.6% of workers walked to work with 1.8% using public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
ation. The average commute time was approximately 19 minutes. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated unemployment at 8.7% in 2008 while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...
estimated unemployment in Kent at 5.2% in 2008 and 8.2% in February 2010.
Culture
Cultural elements in Kent include various arts, environmental, and entertainment events during the year, as well as the Kent State University Museum. The Kent Heritage Festival is held every July in the downtown area, coinciding with the U.S. Independence DayIndependence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
. The festival includes crafts, booths, entertainment, train rides, 5K and 10K races, and fireworks, drawing approximately 25,000 people each year. In October, Kent hosts the homecoming festivities for Kent State University, including a parade down East Main Street as well as other events and activities both on campus and around the city. Also in October, the downtown area hosts an annual, yet unofficial, Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
celebration, which usually takes place the last Saturday of October. The event typically draws thousands, largely Kent State students, and includes many who dress in costume. In 2007 Main Street Kent, a local organization that promotes downtown Kent, created a family-oriented Halloween event downtown that precedes the unofficial celebration. Since 2007, Kent has hosted an annual environmental festival known as "Who's Your Mama?" which takes place in conjunction with Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
. The festival has events at various locations in the city, such as a vegan
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
chef competition, concerts, a film festival, guest speakers, and booths on environment-based topics. Through Main Street Kent, additional events downtown include the annual Haymaker Farmers' Market
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
, held every Saturday morning from May through October, as well as an ice cream social event in August, an outdoor concert series and "sidewalk cinema" between May and September, an art and wine festival in June, a cider festival in November, and the Festival of Lights Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
celebration in early December.
The Kent Stage
Kent Stage
The Kent Stage is a 642-seat theater that was built in 1927 in Kent, Ohio, USA. Since 2002, it has been used as a performance venue for live music, theater, and film.-History:...
, located downtown, is a performance venue for a variety of arts performances in music and theater. It hosts around 90 concerts, four theatrical performances, and four film festivals or movie premiers per year, including local, national, and international performers. Since opening in 2002, it has been visited by approximately 120,000 patrons from all over Ohio, 38 U.S. states, and 3 countries. In April, it hosts events related to the "Who's Your Mama?" Earth Day festival and in September, it is one of the host venues for the Kent State Folk Festival, an annual event in folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
since the late 1960s and the second-longest running folk festival held on a college campus in the U.S. The festival includes "Folk Alley 'Round Town" that features free concerts at venues throughout the city. Along with concerts at the Kent Stage, performances and workshops take place on the campus of Kent State University. The Kent Stage also hosts the Kent Blues Festival and a local artist music festival known as the Up From The River Music Festival.
Kent is also home to the Kent State University Museum, located in Rockwell Hall on the KSU campus. The museum focuses on the history of fashion design and decorative arts in the United States and around the world from the 18th century to the present. Each year in early May, the university hosts an annual commemoration of the Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
, which typically features several speakers, forums, artwork, and other related events. Kent State began to develop a visitors' center in 2010 to cover the events surrounding the shootings. It will be housed in Taylor Hall on the site recently added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and plans include three galleries covering art and media from the era of the 1960s leading up to the shootings, images from the actual event, and the local and national impact after the shootings.
In addition to the Kent State Shootings Site near the center of campus, there are also a number of additional sites and districts in Kent on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which are open to the public. The Kent Industrial District
Kent Industrial District
The Kent Industrial District is a historic district in Kent, Ohio, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district covers around of downtown Kent on either side of the Cuyahoga River and is roughly bounded by West Main Street on the north, River Street to the west,...
is a historical district along the Cuyahoga River adjacent to downtown that includes an area and structures that were important in Kent's early history. On the northwestern part of the Kent State University campus is the Ohio State Normal College At Kent
Ohio State Normal College At Kent
The Ohio State Normal College At Kent is a historic district in Kent, Ohio, United States. It consists of the five original buildings on the main campus of Kent State University, with the first, Merrill Hall, opening in 1913 and the last, Moulton Hall, opening in 1917. It was added to the...
district, which includes the school's five original classic revival
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
buildings dating to 1913. There is also the West Main Street District
West Main Street District (Kent, Ohio)
The West Main Street District is a historic district in Kent, Ohio, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district encompasses 25 buildings, most of which are houses, on both sides of West Main Street from its intersection with North and South Mantua Streets on the...
just west of downtown that includes 20 private homes of architectural and historical significance from the post-Civil War and early 20th century periods. The district includes the Kent Masonic Center
Masonic Temple (Kent, Ohio)
The Kent Masonic Temple, also known as the Marvin Kent House and originally as "The Homestead", is a Masonic temple located in Kent, Ohio, USA. It has served as the home of the Rockton Masonic Lodge #316 since 1923 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 18 June 1974...
, which was originally built in the early 1880s as the home of Marvin Kent and his family, and the former residence of Martin L. Davey
Martin L. Davey
Martin Luther Davey was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He was the 53rd Governor of Ohio.-Childhood:Davey was born in Kent, Ohio in 1884. His father was John Davey, better known as the tree doctor and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company. His mother was Bertha Reeves, the daughter of a...
, who served as Governor of Ohio. Buildings in Kent listed on the register include three private homes noted for their architecture styles: the John Davey House
John Davey House
The John Davey House is a historic structure located in Kent, Ohio, USA. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 29, 1975. An example of Second Empire architecture, the house is best known for being the home of John Davey, a pioneer in the science of tree surgery...
for the Second Empire style, and both the Aaron Ferrey
Aaron Ferrey House
The Aaron Ferrey House, also known as the Winan Snyder House, is a historic structure located at 5058 Sunnybrook Road in the southern part of Kent, Ohio, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 13, 1974...
and Charles Kent House
Charles Kent House
The Charles Kent House, also known as the Palmer House, is a historic structure in Kent, Ohio, USA. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since February 23, 1978. An example of Gothic Revival architecture, the house also features elements of the Greek Revival and...
s as examples of Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. Other buildings include the 1869 Kent Jail
Kent Jail
The Kent Jail, also known as the Old Jailhouse, is a historic structure located in Kent, Ohio, USA. It was first added to the National Register of Historic Places August 10, 1978, while still located at its original location of 124 West Day Street, near downtown Kent immediately south of Haymaker...
, now used by the Parks and Recreation Department, and the 1837 Franklin Township Hall
Franklin Township Hall
The Franklin Township Hall, also referred to historically as the "Town Hall", is a town hall located in Kent, Ohio, USA, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, located along Gougler Avenue in central Kent near the Cuyahoga River, was built in 1837 and has served as the...
, the site of eventual U.S. President James A. Garfield's first nomination for public office in 1859.
Sports
As the home of Kent State University, Kent is also the home of the university's athletic teams, the Golden FlashesKent State Golden Flashes
Kent State University's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Golden Flashes or simply as the Flashes. The university fields sixteen varsity athletic teams, all of whom play in the Mid-American Conference and in the NCAA's Division I...
, who compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
East Division. Several of Kent State's teams have enjoyed league and national success, the most notable being the men's basketball team's
Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball
The Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represents Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The Golden Flashes compete in the Mid-American Conference East Division and last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008...
run to the Elite Eight
Elite Eight
The term Elite Eight, or less commonly called "Great Eight", refers to the final eight teams in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship; and, thus, represents the national quarterfinals. In Division I, the Elite Eight consists of the...
in the 2002 NCAA Basketball Tournament
2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia...
. The 6,327-seat Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, also known as the MAC Center, MACC, and previously as Memorial Gym, is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States...
, commonly referred to as the MAC Center, is the site of a number of athletic events in multiple sports, including periodically hosting the Mid-American Conference's wrestling
Collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...
and women's gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
championships.
In addition to hosting the KSU football team
Kent State Golden Flashes football
The Kent State Golden Flashes football team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, USA. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference East division, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Football Bowl Subdivision...
, Kent State's 20,500-seat Dix Stadium
Dix Stadium
Dix Stadium is a stadium in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Kent State Golden Flashes football team. It lies at the far eastern end of the KSU campus along Summit Street, just east of State Route 261 and is the center piece of...
has been a venue for high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
games both in the regular-season and the state playoffs. The adjacent Murphy-Mellis Field is a location for Ohio High School Athletic Association
Ohio High School Athletic Association
The Ohio High School Athletic Association is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio...
(OHSAA) field hockey tournament games and the Diamond at Dix is a site for OHSAA regional softball tournament games. From 1975 to 1981 the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
held their training camp in Kent at Kent State University.
The Kent State University Ice Arena
Kent State University Ice Arena
The KSU Ice Arena is a two-rink ice complex located on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The building contains two ice arenas, one with seating for 1,500 fans that is used for ice hockey and figure skating, with the other rink used for general skating. The two...
serves as host to several local ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
programs including youth leagues, high school and professional teams, and as a site for OHSAA high school tournament games and ice skating competitions in addition to being home of KSU's club team, which competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association
American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association is the national governing body of non-varsity college ice hockey in the U.S. The organization provides structure, regulations, promotes the quality of play, sponsors National Awards and National Tournaments....
. The ice arena is also the home of the Kent Twisters, a member of the Pennsylvania-Ohio Women's Hockey Association, an adult amateur women's ice hockey league. Kent also plays host to the Portage County Open tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament, held annually at the tennis courts of Theodore Roosevelt High School.
Parks and recreation
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
, named after a former Kent Parks chairmain. The park includes the Kramer Fields baseball and softball complex, which contains four fields, two of which are lighted. Several of the parks along the Cuyahoga River are on or near areas of historical significance. Franklin Mills Riveredge Park, which follows the Cuyahoga River through downtown Kent, passes through a large portion of the Kent Industrial District along with Heritage Park and includes sites related to the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. Adjacent on the south is the John Brown Tannery Park, on the site of the former tannery John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
operated with Zenas Kent in the 1830s, while Brady's Leap park, adjacent to the north, is at the location of the famed leap over the Cuyahoga River by Captain Samuel Brady
Samuel Brady
Captain Samuel Brady was a frontier scout and the subject of many legends in the history of western Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. He is best known for jumping across a gorge over the Cuyahoga River to escape pursuing Indians in what is present day Kent, Ohio...
circa 1780.
The parks and recreation department, in addition to operating and maintaining the city's parks and preserves, also operates a recreation center on the city's south side and offers several sports, arts, and education programs at various locations in Kent. The department also sponsors events throughout the year including Art in the Park, an ice-skating party, hayrides, and Santa's Arrival. The Kent City School District operates an indoor pool at Theodore Roosevelt High School that is available for public recreational and instructional use outside of its use by the school for athletics and physical education. The pool hosts swimming lessons and serves as a home venue for the Hudson
Hudson, Ohio
Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 22,262 at the 2010 census. It is an affluent exurban community and is part of the Akron, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area...
-based Hudson Explorers Aquatic Team, a competitive swimming program for ages five and above.
As of 2010, the Portage Hike and Bike Trail was under construction or in planning, with several phases already completed in Kent. The trail, when fully complete, will connect with the hike and bike trails in neighboring Summit County
Summit County, Ohio
Summit County is an urban county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 542,899. In the 2010 Census the population was 541,781. Its county seat is Akron...
and will link Kent with nearby communities in Portage County. The city is also home to the Tom S. Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve
Tom S. Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve
The Tom S. Cooperrider - Kent Bog State Nature Preserve is a remnant of the Wisconsin Glaciation. It is a true bog with acidicwaters. Unique environmental conditions have enabled it to survive.-Location:...
, located in the southern edge of Kent. It is one of the most intact bogs in Ohio, with the southernmost and largest stand of tamarack trees in the continental United States.
Government
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
form of government with a council–manager system of nine council members and a mayor. The city is divided into six wards
Wards of the United States
In the United States, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes...
and voters select a mayor, a council member representing their ward, and three at-large
At-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
council members in staggered four-year terms. The city charter, adopted in 1963, is reviewed by a charter commission every 10 years who then make recommendations for changes, the last review being in 2005. The city council hires a city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
who oversees the day-to-day operations in the various city departments and enforces policies set by council. The mayor serves a largely ceremonial role as president of the council and votes only in the event of a tie. Kent voters approved the change from a mayor-council system to council-manager in 1975 and it went into effect in 1977. Jerry Fiala began his term as mayor January 1, 2010 and Dave Ruller began serving as city manager June 15, 2005.
As part of the city government, Kent also has departments of community development, health, human services, law, parks and recreation, public safety, and public service. The Public Service Department oversees a variety of construction and maintenance works as well as the city's water treatment and water reclamation systems while the Public Safety Department includes both the police and fire departments. The Kent Police Department is housed in the city's Safety Administration Building and includes 911 dispatch for Kent and Franklin Township
Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio
Franklin Township is a civil township located in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The 2000 census found 5,276 people in the township...
. Kent State University also operates its own police department, which mainly patrols the KSU campus and KSU property in and out of the Kent city limits. The two departments frequently communicate and for several years were headed by identical twin brothers: James Peach in the city and John Peach at the university. The fire department operates two stations, the main station adjacent to the Safety Administration Building and the West Side Fire Station along North Mantua Street on the western side of the Cuyahoga River. Kent Fire also provides fire and emergency medical service coverage for Franklin Township and the village of Sugar Bush Knolls.
The city's main sources of tax revenue come from income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
, set at 2.0%, and property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
. In 2009, the city operated on a budget of approximately $40 million. The largest percentage of the budget, 22.8% or $2.6 million, was spent on the Fire and Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
and the city's Income Tax Safety Fund, respectively. Expenditures on Capital Projects accounted for 22.4% or $2.5 million of the budget, 17.5% or $2 million towards the city's General Fund, and $550,000 allocated for street repair and maintenance.
At the state level, Kent is in the 68th district of the Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....
, represented since 2011 by Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Kathleen Clyde, a Kent resident. In the State Senate
Ohio Senate
The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...
, Kent is part of the 28th district, represented since 2007 by Democrat Tom Sawyer
Thomas C. Sawyer
Thomas Charles Sawyer, usually known as Tom Sawyer, is a Democratic member of the Ohio Senate, who has represented the 28th District since his appointment in February 2007. He served as a U.S. representative from Ohio from 1987 to 2003.- Career :...
of Akron. At the Federal level, Kent is included in Ohio's 17th congressional district
Ohio's 17th congressional district
The 17th congressional district of Ohio is currently represented by Representative Timothy J. Ryan. This district sits in northeastern Ohio, bordering Pennsylvania along one edge, and includes the cities of Kent, Ravenna, Warren and Youngstown, as well as part of Akron.This district will become...
, represented since 2003 by Democrat Tim Ryan of Niles
Niles, Ohio
Niles is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The city's population was 20,932 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area....
.
Education
PreschoolPreschool education
Preschool education is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction....
, elementary
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, and secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
is mainly provided by the Kent City School District with the small portion of the city south of State Route 261 a part of the neighboring Field Local School District. The Kent district was created around 1860 and later merged with the Franklin Township and Brady Lake school districts in 1959. It serves most of Kent and Franklin Township, the villages of Brady Lake
Brady Lake, Ohio
Brady Lake is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 513 at the 2000 census and 497 in the 2006 estimate. Incorporated in 1927, it originally developed as an amusement park and summer resort that opened in 1891. It was formed from a small portion of Franklin Township...
and Sugar Bush Knolls
Sugar Bush Knolls, Ohio
Sugar Bush Knolls is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It was formed from portions of Streetsboro and Franklin townships in 1964. The population was 227 at the 2000 census. It is essentially made up of a single affluent subdivision...
and a small part of southern Streetsboro
Streetsboro, Ohio
Streetsboro is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is formed from the former township of Streetsboro, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is nearly co-extant with the former Streetsboro Township; the village of Sugar Bush Knolls was also formed in part from a...
. Kent has five neighborhood elementary schools that serve students in grades K–5, Stanton Middle School
Stanton Middle School (Kent, Ohio)
Stanton Middle School is a public middle school located in Kent, Ohio, USA. It is the only middle school in the Kent City School District and serves the district's 810 students in grades 6-8. Located at the opposite end of the same campus that houses Theodore Roosevelt High School, it opened in...
for grades 6–8, and Theodore Roosevelt High School for grades 9–12. The district also operates a preschool program housed at Davey Elementary School, and is a member of the Six District Educational Compact with five surrounding districts to facilitate vocational education with many of these programs housed at Theodore Roosevelt High School. In 1985, Theodore Roosevelt High School was given the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
Excellence in Education award and the school has consistently been rated "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education since 2004. In December 2009, it was named in US News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States, earning the publication's Bronze Medal designation. The Kent City School District has been consistently rated as "Excellent" or "Effective" by the Ohio Department of Education and in 2007 Walls Elementary School was named a "School of Promise" by the Ohio Department of Education, while Longcoy Elementary earned the U.S. Department of Education's prestigious Blue Ribbon School award.
Kent also has one private school, St. Patrick School, which serves around 300 students in grades K–8 from Kent and several surrounding communities. It is part of Kent's St. Patrick parish and is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
The Diocese of Youngstown is a particular church or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, consisting of six counties in Northeast Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage, and Ashtabula....
.
Kent Free Library
The Kent Free Library is a public library located in Kent, Ohio, United States. Opening in 1892, it was originally the result of the first use of an 1892 Ohio law which allowed municipalities under 5,000 to tax residents for library support. In 1903 the library moved to its current location,...
is the main public library. It was established in 1892 after Kent became the first village in Ohio to use an 1892 state law which allowed municipalities under a population of 5,000 to tax residents for the upkeep of a library. Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 in 1901 for construction of a permanent home for the library, which opened in 1903. The 2006 expansion to the library brought available space to 55000 square feet (5,109.7 m²) with a book collection of 147,390 items as of 2010. It is a school district library associated with the Kent City School District and is also part of the Portage Library Consortium, connecting it with Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna
Ravenna, Ohio
* Chris Bangle; automobile designer* Bill Bower, last surviving pilot of the Doolittle Raid* David D. Busch; best-selling author* William Rufus Day; U.S. Supreme Court justice* Calvin Hampton; Classical organist* Robert B...
and the Portage County District Library, which maintains six branch libraries across the county and a bookmobile
Bookmobile
A bookmobile or mobile library is a large vehicle designed for use as a library. It is designed to hold books on shelves so that when the vehicle is parked the books can be accessed by readers. It usually has enough space for people to sit and read books inside. Mobile libraries are often used to...
.
The main campus of Kent State University is located in the southeastern part of the city. The campus itself occupies approximately 866 acres (350.5 ha) and the university owns thousands of additional acres adjacent to the campus. Additional facilities include a research park and golf course just east of the city limits in Franklin Township and the Kent State University Airport
Kent State University Airport
Kent State University Airport is a public airport in Stow, Ohio, United States owned by Kent State University. The airport is located along State Route 59 approximately three miles west of the central business district of Kent....
, just west of Kent in Stow
Stow, Ohio
Stow is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 32,139 at the 2000 census and 33,899 as of 2008. It is a suburban community that is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Stow is located adjacent to several other suburban communities in Summit and Portage Counties...
. Founded in 1910 as a teacher training institution, the university has become a world leader in the development of liquid crystals through the Liquid Crystal Institute
Liquid Crystal Institute
The Glenn H. Brown Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University is a center of study for liquid crystal technology and education, blending basic and applied research on liquid crystals...
and was the site of the first patent for the modern liquid crystal in the 1970s. Kent State also has a nationally recognized fashion design program and nationally ranked programs in library science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
and business. As of 2010, the College of Nursing is the 5th-largest nursing school in the United States and largest in Ohio. In 2009 the university inaugurated the College of Public Health, the second public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
program in Ohio and 33rd in the U.S. The Kent State library system, which includes the 12-story main library and houses over 2.6 million volumes, includes six additional department libraries on the main campus and a branch at each of the seven regional campuses. The library system is a member of the Association of Research Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...
, one of 3 in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and 124 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The university offers over 300 programs of study combined in the undergraduate and graduate levels and serves over 41,000 students in eight campuses across Northeast Ohio
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
with over 26,000 at the campus in Kent.
Media
Kent is part of the Cleveland-Akron Television Market Area as defined by the Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, which includes a 17-county region of Northeast Ohio. As of 2010–11 it ranks as the 18th-largest media market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
in the United States according to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
. While most stations are located in Cleveland and Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, Kent is home to the offices and main studio of Western Reserve Public Media, the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
affiliate for Akron and Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
. The studios for WAOH and W35AX
WAOH-LP
WAOH-LP channel 29 in Akron, Ohio and W35AX channel 35, also known as WAX, in Cleveland, Ohio are low power Class A television stations serving the Akron/Cleveland market...
, local affiliates for the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
, are located just east of the city limits in Franklin Township
Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio
Franklin Township is a civil township located in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The 2000 census found 5,276 people in the township...
. TV-2, a Kent State University student-run production, is available on campus, on local cable, and online. Kent is also in range of the television stations that broadcast out of Youngstown.
For radio, Kent is part of the Akron Radio Market, though it is within range of major stations in the Cleveland Radio Market as well as many in the Youngstown-Warren and Canton markets. Three stations, two FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
and one AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
, are licensed to Kent. WKSU
WKSU-FM
WKSU-FM — branded 89.7 WKSU — is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio and owned by Kent State University. The station features NPR, APM and PRI programming, classical music, regional news and, on weekends, folk music....
, at 89.7 FM, broadcasts from the campus of Kent State University and is the main affiliate for National Public Radio in Northeast Ohio for the Akron, Canton, and Cleveland radio markets via repeaters
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
around the region. WNIR, at 100.1 FM, is broadcast from studios shared with sister station WJMP
WJMP
WJMP AM 1520 is daytime only radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio and serving the Akron, Ohio radio market. WJMP operates with a maximum power output of 1,000 watts, using a six-tower, daytime-only directional antenna pattern....
and television stations WAOH and W35AX in Franklin Township. WNIR is centered on talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
and news and is a local affiliate of ABC Radio
ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Cumulus Media Networks, newscasts on the hour to its more than 2,000 affiliates...
and Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
. It also the flagship station for Kent State football and men's basketball broadcasts. WJMP, which broadcasts at 1520 AM, is a daytime-only news/talk station. Black Squirrel Radio
Black Squirrel Radio
Black Squirrel Radio is an online radio station run by students of Kent State University, broadcasting exclusively on campus television and the Web. Black Squirrel Radio is overseen by faculty from Kent State University's Journalism and Mass Communication program...
is a student-run online station
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
from Kent State available online and on local cable.
The Record-Courier, a daily paper based in neighboring Ravenna which covers news for Portage County, is the main source of printed media for Kent. The Record-Courier was formed by the merger of the Ravenna Evening Record and the Kent Courier-Tribune and until 2008 maintained an additional office in Kent. The city is also served by Kent State University's Daily Kent Stater, which is available in select locations on and off campus and online via KentWired.com, a collaborative site with TV-2 and Black Squirrel Radio. The Akron Beacon Journal
Akron Beacon Journal
The Akron Beacon Journal is a four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States, and published by Black Press Ltd.. It is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper places a strong emphasis on local news and business...
and The Plain Dealer also serve Kent through regional coverage and delivery. Magazines published at Kent State include Fusion
Fusion Magazine (Kent State University)
Fusion is a student magazine at Kent State University. It was started in the fall of 2003 by founding editors Mandy Jenkins, Marie Cornuelle, and adviser Kate Common. Since then, the magazine has won several awards and continues to expand its audience base...
, a magazine devoted to sexual minority issues; Kent State Magazine, an official publication of the University; and The Burr, a student-run magazine about events going on in and around Kent.
Infrastructure
The city operates its own water system, drawing groundwater from wells with an adjacent water treatment plant located just outside the city limits in Franklin Township as well as using a water reclamation facility along the Cuyahoga River in the southwestern part of the city. Waste collection for the entire city is handled through a local private contractor and Portage County handles the city's recyclingRecycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
collection. Kent's original recycling program was developed in 1970 by the Kent Environmental Council and was Ohio's first comprehensive and self-supporting program. Local phone utilities are provided through AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
Ohio through the 330 and 234 area codes, electricity is supplied and lines are maintained by FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy Corp. , is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services...
in the former coverage area of Ohio Edison, and natural gas is supplied and lines are maintained by Dominion Resources
Dominion Resources
Dominion Resources Inc. , commonly referred to as Dominion, is a power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia and North Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and eastern North Carolina...
East Ohio Energy. While residents are free to choose their own natural gas and electric suppliers, the city is part of the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, the largest government aggregation
Group purchasing organization
In the United States, a group purchasing organization is an entity that is created to leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members....
in the United States.
Transportation
State Route 59 is the main east–west highway, following East and West Main Streets and Haymaker Parkway. Summit Street is another major east-west road mainly on Kent's eastern side, passing through and linking much of the Kent State campus. Fairchild Avenue is an important east-west road on the city's west side connecting with Stow and Cuyahoga FallsCuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...
. State Route 43 is the main north–south highway, mainly following North Mantua and South Water Streets. SR 43 connects Kent with Interstate 76, approximately 3 miles (5 km) to the south via exit 33 in Brimfield
Brimfield, Ohio
Brimfield is a census-designated place in Portage County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a population of 3,248. It is located in the central part of Brimfield Township , a rural area between the Ohio cities of Akron and Kent with light industry, strip-malls, subdivisions,...
and to the Ohio Turnpike
Ohio Turnpike
The Ohio Turnpike, officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike, is a -long, limited-access toll highway in the U.S. state of Ohio, serving as a primary corridor to Chicago and Pittsburgh...
/Interstate 80 and the eastern terminus of Interstate 480
Interstate 480 (Ohio)
Interstate 480 is a loop highway that connects the Ohio Turnpike with suburban Cleveland, Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt South Freeway, but it is rarely referred to by that name....
, approximately 7 miles (11 km) to the north via Turnpike exit 187 in Streetsboro. Both SR 43 and SR 59 are four to five-lane roads within the city limits. State Route 261 passes through the southern and eastern edges of the city and is a four-lane divided highway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
for a short distance with the remainder a two-lane highway. It serves as a bypass between SR 43, SR 59, and Summit Street on Kent's south and eastern sides and to Tallmadge
Tallmadge, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,390 people, 6,273 households, and 4,711 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,173.9 people per square mile . There were 6,494 housing units at an average density of 465.1 per square mile...
on the southwest.
Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority
Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority
The Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as PARTA is the transit agency serving Portage County, Ohio. It is headquartered in Franklin Township just outside the Kent city limits. PARTA was formed in 1975 from an agreement between the city of Kent and Franklin...
, known as PARTA, which is headquartered just outside the city limits in Franklin Township. PARTA serves Kent through a dial-a-ride
Demand responsive transport
Demand Responsive Transport or Demand-Responsive Transit or Demand Responsive Service or Dial-a-ride or Flexible Transport Services is "an advanced, user-oriented form of public transport characterised by flexible routing and scheduling of small/medium vehicles operating in shared-ride mode...
service, the Suburban and Kent Circulator routes completely within the city limits, the seasonal Black Squirrel route along SR 59 during Kent State University's Fall and Spring semesters, and the Interurban connecting with Stow and Ravenna. There are also two express routes, one to Akron connecting with METRO Regional Transit Authority via Brimfield
Brimfield, Ohio
Brimfield is a census-designated place in Portage County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a population of 3,248. It is located in the central part of Brimfield Township , a rural area between the Ohio cities of Akron and Kent with light industry, strip-malls, subdivisions,...
, and a Cleveland Express route connecting with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, providing over 44 million trips to residents and visitors of the Cleveland area in 2010...
via Streetsboro, Twinsburg
Twinsburg, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,006 people, 6,641 households, and 4,695 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,366.7 people per square mile . There were 6,871 housing units at an average density of 552.2 per square mile...
, and Maple Heights
Maple Heights, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,156 people, 10,489 households, and 6,964 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,039.1 people per square mile . There were 10,935 housing units at an average density of 2,106.7 per square mile...
. PARTA also includes Campus Bus Service, which provides three fixed routes on the campus of Kent State University. Plans were announced in 2010 for construction of an intermodal transit
Intermodal passenger transport
Intermodal passenger transport involves more than one mode of transport of passengers. Some modes of transportation have always been intermodal; for example, most major airports have extensive facilities for automobile parking and have good rail or bus connections to the cities nearby. Urban bus...
facility in downtown Kent, known as the Kent Central Gateway, which aims to provide better integration of the existing bus system, hike-and-bike trails, and parking. The facility received a $20 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery is a supplementary discretionary grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...
(TIGER) grant in February 2010 and construction began in April 2011.
Healthcare
Hospital care is provided mainly through Robinson Memorial HospitalRobinson Memorial Hospital
Robinson Memorial Hospital is a general hospital located in Ravenna, Ohio, USA. The 150-bed facility is the only hospital in Portage County, Ohio...
, which operates two facilities in the southern part of the city. Robinson maintains the county's only outpatient surgery
Outpatient surgery
Outpatient surgery, also known as ambulatory surgery, same-day surgery or day surgery, is surgery that does not require an overnight hospital stay. The term “outpatient” arises from the fact that surgery patients may go home and do not need an overnight hospital bed...
center as well as a medical arts building housing a medical imaging center and family medicine doctors. The 150-bed main hospital is located in Ravenna and the system operates additional facilities throughout Portage County. Free clinic
Free clinic
A free clinic is a medical facility offering community healthcare on a free or very low-cost basis in countries with marginal or no universal health care. Care is generally provided in these clinics to persons who have lower or limited income and no health insurance, including persons who are not...
s include the Portage Community Health Center, located just east of the city limits in the Joint Economic Development District
Joint Economic Development District
A Joint Economic Development District is an arrangement in Ohio where one or more municipalities and a township agree to work together to develop township land for commercial or industrial purposes. The benefit to the municipality is that they get a portion of the taxes levied in the JEDD without...
with Franklin Township, and a clinic in the downtown area operated by social agency Townhall II.
Religion
The earliest organized religious services in Kent were held in 1815 when a MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
group was formed, followed by a Congregational church in 1819. The first religious meetinghouse in Kent, which also served as the first schoolhouse, was built in 1817 and was used by several different denominations. Later, the Methodists built another building in 1828 that was also used by multiple denominations. The oldest church building in Kent still used as a place of worship is the Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
Church on Gougler Avenue, which was dedicated in 1868. The former home of the Congregational Church was dedicated in 1858 and still stands along Gougler Avenue very near the Unitarian Universalist Church. It served as the home of the First Congregational Church—which became the Kent United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
in 1964—until 1955. It was later purchased by a local business and used as their corporate headquarters.
As of 2010, within the city are two Roman Catholic parishes affiliated with the Diocese of Youngstown
Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
The Diocese of Youngstown is a particular church or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, consisting of six counties in Northeast Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage, and Ashtabula....
, one a family parish and one a Newman Center
Newman Centre
Named in honour of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, the Newman Centers are residence and Catholic ministry centers at non-Catholic universities throughout the world. They were inspired by Newman's writings encouraging societies for Catholic students attending secular universities.In 1888 the...
, as well as congregations of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
, Free Methodist Church
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....
, United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...
, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
, Church of Christ, Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, and Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
. There are also Unitarian Universalist, non-denominational Christian
Non-denominational Christianity
In Christianity, nondenominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations...
, and Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
congregations. Although there are no Jewish synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s or temples, there is a Hillel
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...
Jewish student center on the campus of Kent State University which serves students at both Kent State and the University of Akron
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...
. Just outside the city limits in Franklin Township are the Kent congregations of the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
, Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, as well as Baptist and Free Will Baptist churches. The Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Society of Akron and Kent, which was founded in Kent, is based in nearby Cuyahoga Falls and includes a masjid
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and school. Kent is also part of a ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rootstown
Rootstown Township, Portage County, Ohio
Rootstown Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 7,212 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
that was first organized in Kent and includes most of southern Portage County.
Notable people
Kent has produced and been home to a number of notable individuals in varying fields. Its natives and residents are referred to as "Kentites". John DaveyJohn Davey (tree surgeon)
John Davey , considered the father of the science of tree surgery, was born in Stawley, Somerset, England. Although he did not learn the alphabet until his early 20s, his sharp intellect and analytical skills allowed him to become a skilled orator, author, publisher and inventor.John Davey...
, a pioneer in tree surgery and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company moved to Kent in the 1880s. His son, Martin L. Davey
Martin L. Davey
Martin Luther Davey was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He was the 53rd Governor of Ohio.-Childhood:Davey was born in Kent, Ohio in 1884. His father was John Davey, better known as the tree doctor and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company. His mother was Bertha Reeves, the daughter of a...
, would later serve as Governor of Ohio and a U.S. Representative. Other political figures to come from Kent include Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild
Lucius Fairchild
Lucius Fairchild was an American politician, army general, and diplomat. He served as the tenth Governor of Wisconsin and as U.S. Minister to Spain.-Military career:...
, former U.S. Representative Robert E. Cook
Robert E. Cook
Robert Eugene Cook was an American politician of the Democratic party from Kent, Ohio who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1963. He also served as a common pleas judge from 1963–1969 and as a judge in Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals from 1969-1988...
, and noted abolitionist John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
, who lived in what was then Franklin Mills from 1835–1839. Noted athletes to have come from Kent include former National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
players Mike Adamle
Mike Adamle
Michael David "Mike" Adamle is a sports personality and former National Football League player. He is best known as the co-host of American Gladiators series for seven years....
, Tom DeLeone
Tom DeLeone
Thomas Denning DeLeone is a former American football center who played thirteen seasons in the National Football League, with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. He grew up in Kent, Ohio and graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1968, where he was on the football, basketball,...
, and Stan White
Stan White (linebacker)
Stanley Ray White is a former American football linebacker.-Early life:Growing up in Kent, Ohio, he attended Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1968...
and former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player, manager, and executive Gene Michael. Two members of the band Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, which debuted in Kent in 1973 and was founded by Kent State University students, are natives of Kent: Peter Gregg
Peter Gregg (musician)
This article is about Peter Gregg the musician. For the race car driver and car dealer see Peter Gregg .Peter Gregg is a producer and musician. Gregg played lead guitar on the earliest recordings of the prototype predecessor to the musical group Devo, under his nom de guitar, Coupe de Ville...
and Rod Reisman
Rod Reisman
Rod Reisman was the original drummer for the band Devo, joining the band at its inception in 1973 in Kent, Ohio. He played only the very first concert, when the band was named Sextet Devo, and was the only band member to be paid for playing. He was replaced by Jim Mothersbaugh, and later by Alan...
. Other performing artists to come from Kent include singer Julianne Baird
Julianne Baird
Julianne Baird is an American soprano best known for her singing in Baroque works, in both opera and sacred music. She has nearly 100 recordings to her credit and is a well-traveled recitalist and soloist with major symphony orchestras...
, playwright Vincent J. Cardinal
Vincent J. Cardinal
Vincent J. Cardinal is a graduate of Yale School of Drama. He is a playwright and director. He has written The Colorado Catechism and directed Queens Blvd. and Steve Hayes' Hollywood Reunion.-External links:...
, and voice actor Joshua Seth
Joshua Seth
Joshua Seth Freedman is an American entertainer and voice actor. He was born in Kent, Ohio and attended the New York University film school. He has voiced dozens of well known anime characters and is sometimes credited as "Jeremiah Freedman", but has retired from voice acting in 2005...
. Lucien Price
Lucien Price
Junius Lucien Price , who also published under the name Seymour Deming, was the author of more than a dozen books and a writer for publications such as The Boston Evening Transcript and The Atlantic Monthly...
, an author and writer for The Boston Evening Transcript
Boston Evening Transcript
The Boston Evening Transcript was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941.-Beginnings:...
and The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
grew up in Kent and used the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Woolwick" for Kent in some of his stories. Kent was also the home of inventor Lucien B. Smith, regarded as the inventor of barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
. Additionally, people who have lived in Kent while attending Kent State University include comedians Drew Carey
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey is an American actor, singer, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as...
and Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
, actor Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
, musician Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
, and additional members of the band Devo. Athletes include football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
players Antonio Gates
Antonio Gates
Antonio Gates is an American football tight end for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003 after playing college basketball at Kent State University...
, Joshua Cribbs
Joshua Cribbs
Joshua "Josh" Cribbs is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He played collegiately for Kent State University. He holds the NFL record with eight kickoff returns for touchdowns...
, and Jack Lambert; Major League Baseball players Thurman Munson
Thurman Munson
Thurman Lee Munson was an American Major League Baseball catcher. He played his entire 11-year career for the New York Yankees...
, Rich Rollins
Rich Rollins
Richard John Rollins is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played with the Minnesota Twins , Seattle Pilots , Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians...
, and Andy Sonnanstine
Andy Sonnanstine
Andrew Michael Sonnanstine is a relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. Sonnanstine is a graduate of Wadsworth High School in Wadsworth, Ohio, and attended Kent State University...
; and college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
coaches Nick Saban
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban is the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team. Saban has previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo...
and Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...
.
Sister cities
Kent has one sister cityTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
, Dudince
Dudince
Dudince is a spa town in southern Slovakia, with a population of 1,500. It is known for its healing mineral waters and spas.-Geography:...
, a small spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
of about 1,500 people in southern Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. The relationship was established in 2003 through Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between United States and international communities. More than 2,000 cities, states and counties are partnered in 136 countries around the world...
and resulted in the formation of the Kent-Dudince Sister City Association to promote learning and understanding of the Slovakian culture. The group meets regularly and organizes cultural exchanges and programs that feature Slovakian dance and music. Cultural exchanges have included a performance of a choir from Kent's Theodore Roosevelt High School in Dudince in 2004 and tour groups from Kent visiting in 2006 and 2008.