Rootstown Township, Portage County, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Rootstown Township is one of the eighteen townships
of Portage County
, Ohio
, United States
. The 2000 census
found 7,212 people in the township.
No municipalities are located in Rootstown Township.
Formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve
, Rootstown Township covers an area of 25 sq mi (64.7 km²).
. In 1821 the Roostown Post Office was established. It continues today under the ZIP Code
Rootstown, OH 44272 and serves most of the township. In 1832, many German immigrants came who were farmers, stonemasons and carpenters. In 1845 a plague took 49 victims, including the town's only physician, Dr. Andrew Basset. In 1850 a band of 16 whaling sea captains from Nantucket bought land, built large homes and became good farmers in Rootstown Township.
Nelson Converse opened the first general store in 1853 in the center of town. In 1866 the Central and Pacific Railroad was built through the northeastern part of the township.
Religion, always an important factor in the lives of the residents, saw these still active churches established: Rootstown Congregational Church in 1809; Methodist Church in 1815; St. Peter of the Fields Catholic Church in 1868; Grace Church of Rootstown (formerly New Milford Baptist) in 1948, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Rootstown Ward in 1961.
Electricity brought modern conveniences to the area in 1921, and street lights to both Rootstown and New Milford in 1949.
Twenty-six men formed the volunteer fire company
in 1938. Its equipment was housed in the basement of the town hall until a new building was constructed by volunteer work and community fundraiser carnivals in 1955-1956. The department constructed a new building in 2002 adjacent to the former at the intersection of Tallmadge Road and SR 44. It opened during the bicentennial weekend; the previous fire station was razed.
The township celebrated its bicentennial in 2002.
Several highways pass through Rootstown Township—SR 5, SR 44, and I-76
. Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA), which provides routes to Kent
, Ravenna
, and other parts of Portage County.
, Cleveland State University
, Kent State University
, and Youngstown State University
.
Civil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...
of 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...
, 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
found 7,212 people in the township.
Geography
Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:- Ravenna TownshipRavenna Township, Portage County, OhioRavenna Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 9,270 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the center of the county, it borders the following townships and city:...
- north - Charlestown TownshipCharlestown Township, Portage County, OhioCharlestown Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,003 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the center of the county, it borders the following townships:*Freedom Township - north...
- northeast corner - Edinburg TownshipEdinburg Township, Portage County, OhioEdinburg Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,344 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southeastern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
- east - Atwater TownshipAtwater Township, Portage County, OhioAtwater Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,762 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
- southeast corner - Randolph TownshipRandolph Township, Portage County, OhioRandolph Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 5,504 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
- south - Suffield TownshipSuffield Township, Portage County, OhioSuffield Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 6,383 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships and municipalities:...
- southwest corner - Brimfield TownshipBrimfield Township, Portage County, OhioBrimfield 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:...
- west - Franklin TownshipFranklin Township, Portage County, OhioFranklin 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...
- northwest corner
No municipalities are located in Rootstown Township.
Formed from 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:...
, Rootstown Township covers an area of 25 sq mi (64.7 km²).
History
Founded in 1802, Rootstown was named for Ephraim Root, a lawyer and promoter of the Connecticut Land CompanyConnecticut Land Company
The Connecticut Land Company was formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the Connecticut Western Reserve, part of the Old Northwest Territory. The Western Reserve is located in Northeast Ohio with its hub being Cleveland. In 1795, the Connecticut Land Company...
. In 1821 the Roostown Post Office was established. It continues today under the ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
Rootstown, OH 44272 and serves most of the township. In 1832, many German immigrants came who were farmers, stonemasons and carpenters. In 1845 a plague took 49 victims, including the town's only physician, Dr. Andrew Basset. In 1850 a band of 16 whaling sea captains from Nantucket bought land, built large homes and became good farmers in Rootstown Township.
Nelson Converse opened the first general store in 1853 in the center of town. In 1866 the Central and Pacific Railroad was built through the northeastern part of the township.
Religion, always an important factor in the lives of the residents, saw these still active churches established: Rootstown Congregational Church in 1809; Methodist Church in 1815; St. Peter of the Fields Catholic Church in 1868; Grace Church of Rootstown (formerly New Milford Baptist) in 1948, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Rootstown Ward in 1961.
Electricity brought modern conveniences to the area in 1921, and street lights to both Rootstown and New Milford in 1949.
Twenty-six men formed the volunteer fire company
Volunteer fire department
See also the Firefighter article and its respective sections regarding VFDs in other countries.A volunteer fire department is a fire department composed of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction.The first organized force of...
in 1938. Its equipment was housed in the basement of the town hall until a new building was constructed by volunteer work and community fundraiser carnivals in 1955-1956. The department constructed a new building in 2002 adjacent to the former at the intersection of Tallmadge Road and SR 44. It opened during the bicentennial weekend; the previous fire station was razed.
The township celebrated its bicentennial in 2002.
Community development council
By the 1960s a group of visionaries, most of them already leaders in the community, were interested and increasingly concerned in the welfare of Rootstown Township. In 1964 the Rootstown Community Development Council was formed with this board of directors: Ward W. Davis, Chairman; Paul Hurd, vice chairman; and Harry Devault, secretary/treasurer. However, by 1975, the organization had become inactive.Government
The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.Town hall
The Rootstown Town Hall was built in 1809 and remains in use today. It first received electricity in 1921 and indoor plumbing in 1963. In 1999 the township zoning board began using the basement of the town hall to store accumulated files and records. Today, it is located along SR 44 just south of the town center.Transportation
Interstate 76 (east)
Interstate 76 is an Interstate Highway in the United States, running 435 miles from an interchange with Interstate 71 west of Akron, Ohio, east to Interstate 295 near Camden, New Jersey....
. Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA), which provides routes to Kent
Kent, Ohio
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...
, 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 other parts of Portage County.
Education
Rootstown Township is served by the Rootstown Local School District, which includes an elementary school serving grades K–5, a middle school for grades 6–8, and a 9th–12th grade high school. All three schools are located on a central campus on State Route 44 just north of the town center. Across the street from the Rootstown Schools campus is the campus of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Pharmacy, a medical and pharmacy school consortium of the University of AkronUniversity 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...
, Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...
, 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...
, and Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...
.
Cemeteries
There are three cemeteries in Rootstown Township: the Old Cemetery, St. Peter of the Fields Cemetery, and Homeland Cemetery.Old Cemetery
The first death in Rootstown Township was on August 31, 1809, with the death of 51-year-old Nathan Chapman, Sr. This cemetery was used until 1897 when a fire destroyed the township records. The last known burial at the Old Cemetery was in 1936.St. Peter of the Fields Cemetery
- Established in 1867 with the first burial, this cemetery was dedicated holy ground for the Catholics of the parish of St. Peter of the Fields Church.
- The Old Section started in 1867, the Sacred Heart in 1941, and the Holy Angels, the newest section named in 2002, made up the resting grounds. A shrine and altar were built in 1941 and were re-built larger in 2001 to accommodate mass celebration there.
- A new church was established in 2006.
Homeland Cemetery
- Land was purchased and cleared for the new cemetery around 1890.
- The shrubs along the front were planted in 1950.
- In 2001-2002 Rootstown Township developed more land into burial plots and put the cemetery records on computer discs.