Kent, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kent, Ohio
City
Top from left: old Erie Depot and Star of the West mill, Franklin Hotel, Dix Stadium, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Kent Hall, Main Street Bridge and arch dam, Cuyahoga River
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  The Tree City
Kent, Ohio Location in Ohio Show map of Ohio Kent, Ohio Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Portage
Founded	November 1805
Incorporated	1867
Founded by	John Haymaker
Named for	Marvin Kent
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
Area
• Total	9.33 sq mi (24.17 km2)
• Land	9.22 sq mi (23.89 km2)
• Water	0.11 sq mi (0.28 km2)
Elevation	1,056 ft (322 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	28,215
• Density	3,059.53/sq mi (1,181.23/km2)
Demonym(s)	Kentite
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	44240, 44242, 44243
Area codes	330, 234
FIPS code	39-39872
GNIS feature ID	2395512

Kent is a city in Ohio, a state in the United States. It is the biggest city in Portage County. Kent is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio. In 2020, about 28,215 people lived there. The city is part of the larger Akron metropolitan area.

Kent was first settled in 1805 and was known as Franklin Mills for many years. Early settlers liked the area because the Cuyahoga River could power mills. Later, in the 1830s and 1840s, the town grew because it was on the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. Before the American Civil War, Franklin Mills was a known stop on the Underground Railroad, helping people escape slavery.

When canals became less important, railroads grew. The town became home to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad repair shops, thanks to Marvin Kent. In 1864, the town was renamed Kent to honor him. It became a village in 1867 and a city after the 1920 Census. Today, Kent is famous for Kent State University, which opened in 1910. It is also known as the site of the May 4, 1970, Kent State shootings.

Kent used to be a manufacturing hub. Now, education is its biggest industry, with Kent State University being a major employer. The Kent City School District and the Kent Free Library also offer learning chances. Many things about Kent's population, like age and income, are shaped by the university. The city is run by a city manager and a city council. Kent has almost 20 parks and hosts many yearly festivals. These include events for Earth Day, folk music, and Independence Day. Kent is called "The Tree City" because the Davey Tree Expert Company is based there. People from Kent are sometimes called "Kentites."

History of Kent, Ohio

The area where Kent is now was first home to different American Indian tribes. Around 1780, Captain Samuel Brady became famous for his actions here. This included his amazing leap of 21 feet (6.4 m) over the Cuyahoga River to escape capture. This spot is now a city park called Brady's Leap.

European settlers began arriving in the late 1790s and early 1800s. The area was part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Most of what is now Kent was part of Franklin Township. Aaron Olmsted, a rich merchant from Connecticut, bought the 16,000-acre (6,500 ha) township and named it after his son, Aaron Franklin Olmsted.

Early Settlements and Mills

Franklin Township was surveyed in 1803. The first settlers, John Haymaker and his family, moved there in November 1805. They came from Warren and settled by the Cuyahoga River. His brother George and their father Jacob Haymaker joined them the next year. They built a gristmill (a mill for grinding grain) in 1807.

Growth was slow at first. Eventually, two small villages grew because the Cuyahoga River could provide power for mills. The first village was Franklin Mills, also called the "Lower Village." It grew around the Haymaker family's land. In 1818, Joshua Woodard built structures north of the village. This formed the "Upper Village," briefly known as Carthage.

In the 1820s, Franklin Mills was chosen for the route of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal (P & O Canal). When construction started in the mid-1830s, many people bought land hoping its value would increase. This led to factories and businesses being built along the Cuyahoga River in what is now downtown Kent. A lock and a dam were finished in 1836. The canal opened in 1840 but stopped operating by the 1870s.

The Underground Railroad and John Brown

Before the American Civil War, Franklin Mills was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. This was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to Canada. There were three known stops in Franklin Mills, and one still stands today.

From 1835 to 1839, famous American abolitionist John Brown lived in the village. He worked with Zenas Kent to build a tannery (a place where animal hides are made into leather) along the Cuyahoga River.

Railroads and Renaming Kent

In 1863, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad was built through Franklin Mills. This happened largely because of local businessman Marvin Kent, Zenas Kent's son. Marvin Kent had started his own railroad company in 1851. He also made sure the village became the site for the railroad's maintenance shops in 1864.

Being on the railroad and having the shops helped the village grow again. It became an important stop between St. Louis and New York City. The shops opened in 1865 and were important to Kent's industry until they closed in 1930. To honor Marvin Kent, the village was renamed Kent in 1864. This change became official when the village was incorporated on May 6, 1867.

The Tree City and Kent State University

John Davey came to Kent in 1881. He worked as a groundskeeper at Standing Rock Cemetery. He planted trees and experimented with them. In 1901, he wrote a book called The Tree Doctor about tree surgery. He then started the Davey Tree Expert Company in 1909. Because of Davey's work, Kent became known as "The Tree City." This nickname is even on the city's seal. The company is still in Kent and is the city's largest private employer.

After a fire destroyed the Seneca Chain Company in 1909, city leaders formed the Kent Board of Trade in 1910. This group helped Kent be chosen as the site for a new teacher training college. It became the "Kent State Normal School." William S. Kent, Marvin Kent's son, donated 53 acres (21 ha) of land for the school.

By 1929, the school was renamed Kent State College. In 1935, it became Kent State University when it was allowed to offer advanced degrees. The bill for university status was signed by Ohio governor Martin L. Davey, son of John Davey. In the 1950s and 1960s, Kent State University grew a lot. This, along with people moving to the suburbs, caused the city's population to grow from 12,000 in 1950 to over 28,000 by 1970. In 1961, Black squirrels were brought to the campus from Canada. They have become a symbol for both the university and the city.

Kent State Shootings and Modern Development

In May 1970, protests began at Kent State University. Students were protesting the United States' actions in the Vietnam War. These protests led to the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970. Four students were killed and nine were injured by the Ohio Army National Guard. There are memorials at the site, and events are held every year. In 2010, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Also in the late 1960s and 1970s, Haymaker Parkway was built. It was finished in 1975. This road changed the city's layout and helped with traffic problems.

In 1995, Kent's water was named "Best Tasting Municipality Water" at a national competition. The city has placed in the top five six times since then. In 2003, a historic dam from 1836 was bypassed to improve water quality. A small park called Heritage Park was built behind the dam.

From 1881 to 2016, downtown Kent had a flour mill. It closed in 2016. In December 2022, part of the mill complex caught fire. Many fire departments helped put out the fire.

Downtown Redevelopment Projects

Starting in 2008, several big projects began to rebuild downtown Kent. These projects brought in about $110 million from public and private sources. The first project was the Phoenix Project. This project renovated and expanded shops along East Main Street. It included a pedestrian alleyway with small shops called Acorn Alley, which opened in 2009. A second part of Acorn Alley opened in 2011.

Other parts of the redevelopment included a 360-space parking garage and a bus station. There was also a hotel and conference center, and three mixed-use buildings. These buildings have businesses on the first floor and apartments above. New offices for Ametek and the Davey Tree Expert Company opened in late 2012. The hotel, run by Kent State University, opened in June 2013. The new parking garage, run by Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA), opened in April 2013. It also serves as PARTA's main bus station.

The old Kent hotel, which opened in 1920, was also bought and renovated. It reopened in 2013 with a restaurant, offices, a wine bar, and apartments. A five-story building called The Landmark was finished in 2014. Another five-story building with small apartments was built in 2016. These projects caught the attention of major newspapers. They also won an award for the city and university for their good teamwork.

Kent State University also built new facilities. The University Esplanade extension was built to connect the campus with downtown. It was finished in October 2013. Kent State built a large facility for its College of Architecture and Environmental Design. They also moved the former home of May Prentice, the first female faculty member, to the Esplanade. It is now the Wick Poetry Center.

A new facility for the College of Aeronautics and Technology opened in 2015. It is being expanded due to growth. The university is also building Crawford Hall for the College of Business and Entrepreneurship, set to open in 2024.

The city and county also made new developments. A new county courthouse was finished in 2014. In 2015, Kent City Council approved selling the city hall complex for a new apartment building. A new city hall is being built and is expected to open in 2024.

Geography and Climate

Kent is in the western part of Portage County in Northeast Ohio. It is about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Akron and 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Cleveland. It is surrounded by Franklin Township, Brady Lake, Brimfield Township, and Stow.

Kent is on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau. This means it has rolling hills and varied land. The Cuyahoga River flows through the city, creating a gorge near downtown. The city's elevation is about 1,056 feet (322 m) above sea level. Some buildings on the Kent State University campus are even higher, over 1,160 feet (350 m). The city covers about 9.28 square miles (24.0 km2), with most of it being land.

Kent's Weather and Seasons

Kent has a humid continental climate. This means it has warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. Spring and autumn are moderate and change a lot. The highest temperature ever recorded was 103 °F (39 °C) in July 1988. The lowest was −22 °F (−30 °C) in January 1982.

Thunderstorms are common in spring and summer. The area can have tornadoes, but the last one in Kent was in 1973. Remnants of tropical storms can also bring humidity, rain, and wind. In winter, snow is common and can fall in large amounts. Kent is not in the main Lake Erie snowbelt, but it does get some lake-effect snow. This means it gets more snow when winds come from certain directions over Lake Erie. Even in winter, it's not unusual for temperatures to rise above 50 °F (10 °C).

People of Kent

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	2,301		—
1880	3,309		43.8%
1890	3,501		5.8%
1900	4,541		29.7%
1910	4,488		−1.2%
1920	7,070		57.5%
1930	8,377		18.5%
1940	8,581		2.4%
1950	12,418		44.7%
1960	17,836		43.6%
1970	28,183		58.0%
1980	26,164		−7.2%
1990	28,835		10.2%
2000	27,906		−3.2%
2010	28,904		3.6%
2020	28,215		−2.4%

Kent is a college town, so its population numbers are greatly affected by Kent State University. For example, the average age and the number of people aged 18–24 are different from state and national averages. Also, more people are below the poverty line, and more have college degrees.

Early settlers were mostly from the northeastern United States and were often of German descent. Kent's population grew steadily after the railroad arrived in 1863. By the 1930 Census, Kent had become the largest city in Portage County. It grew even more in the 1950s and 1960s. As of the 2020 census, Kent is still the county's largest city.

Population and Diversity

In 2020, there were 28,215 people living in Kent. This means there were about 3,059.5 people per square mile (1,181.2/km2). This was a small decrease from 2010, possibly because many students left due to COVID restrictions.

Most residents (81.4%) were White. About 8.8% were African American, and 3.2% were Asian. About 6.3% were from two or more races. About 2.8% of the population was Hispanic or Latino. Kent has similar racial percentages to Ohio.

There were 10,225 households in 2020. About 20.9% of households had children under 18. About 27.5% were married couples. The average household size was 2.2 people. Kent has 12,052 housing units. About 42.7% of homes were owned by the people living in them.

Age and Income in Kent

About 28.6% of Kent's population was aged 19 and under. The largest age group was 20 to 24 years old, making up 25% of the population. The average age in Kent in 2020 was 23.8 years. This is much younger than the average age for Ohio (39.9) and the United States (38.5). About 46.4% of the population was male and 53.6% was female.

The average income for a household in Kent was $37,505. This is lower than the average incomes for Ohio and the United States. About 25.5% of the population lived below the poverty line. This includes 19.2% of those under 18. High poverty rates are common in college towns across the U.S.

Kent has a high number of residents with college degrees. In 2020, 44.5% of Kent's population over 25 had a college degree. This is higher than the averages for Portage County, Ohio, and the U.S.

Kent's Economy

Kent's location by the Cuyahoga River and later the canal and railroads made it a good place for mills and factories. In the past, large factories were the biggest employers. These included the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad and the Seneca Chain Company.

After World War II, the railroad industry changed. Manufacturing declined, but Kent State University grew quickly. This made the university the city's largest employer. It also changed how other parts of the city's economy developed.

Since the late 2000s, the university, city, and private investors have worked together to rebuild downtown Kent. They have also helped develop local high-tech companies. Kent State has Centennial Research Park, which houses two high tech companies that work with liquid crystals. Kent also supports two business incubators, which help new businesses get started.

In 2020, the biggest job sectors were education, health, and social services. These employed 28.4% of Kent's workers. This includes Kent State University and the Kent City School District. It also includes University Hospitals Portage Medical Center, which has an outpatient surgery center.

About 19.4% of workers were in arts, entertainment, and food service. Retail employed 11.2% of the workforce. Manufacturing accounted for 8.6% of jobs. A Land O' Lakes plant is the largest employer in manufacturing. Smithers-Oasis, a company that makes floristry products, was founded in Kent in 1954.

The Davey Tree Expert Company has its main offices in Kent. It is the city's largest private employer. In 2010, Davey Tree planned to move more staff to Kent. They want all their corporate offices to be in Kent eventually. In 2022, Davey added a third wing to its headquarters and created 70 new jobs. They are also building a 180-acre (73 ha) training and research campus. This campus will be for employees and the public and is set to be finished in 2025.

In 2020, 67.6% of employed people drove alone to work. About 8.2% walked, and 1.4% used public transport. About 16.8% worked from home. The average commute time was 21.7 minutes. The employment rate in Kent was 56.9%.

Culture and Events in Kent

Kent has many arts, environmental, and entertainment events throughout the year. It also has the Kent State University Museum. The Kent Heritage Festival happens every July downtown, around Independence Day. This festival includes crafts, food, entertainment, train rides, races, and fireworks. About 25,000 people attend each year.

In October, Kent hosts homecoming events for Kent State University. This includes a parade and other activities. Also in October, downtown Kent has an unofficial Halloween celebration. Thousands of people, many of them Kent State students, dress in costumes. A family-friendly Halloween event also takes place downtown.

Since 2007, Kent has hosted an annual environmental festival called "Who's Your Mama?" It happens around Earth Day. The festival has events like a vegan chef competition, concerts, and a film festival. Other downtown events include an ice cream social, outdoor concerts, an art and wine festival, a cider festival, and a Christmas celebration called the Festival of Lights.

The Wizardly World of Kent, which used to be Kent Potterfest, is a festival celebrating Harry Potter. It started in 2016 and happens every July downtown. It has Harry Potter-themed vendors, activities, a 5k run, and a costume contest. Acorn Alley is even transformed to look like Diagon Alley. Kent Rainbow Weekend is the city's yearly Pride festival. It takes place in October at different locations in the city and on campus.

Farmers' Market and Performance Venues

From May to October, the Haymaker Farmers' Market is open every Saturday morning downtown. It is located next to and under the Greer Bridge. The market has a colorful mural on the bridge supports. The market started in 1992 and is one of the oldest and largest farmers' markets in Northeast Ohio. An indoor Winter Market is held from November through April.

The Kent Stage, located downtown, is a place for music and theater performances. It hosts about 90 concerts and four film festivals each year. It has welcomed about 120,000 visitors from Ohio, other U.S. states, and other countries. In June, it is one of the venues for the Kent Folk Festival. This festival has featured folk music acts for many years. The Kent Stage also hosts the Kent Blues Festival and the Up From The River Music Festival.

Museums and Historic Sites

Kent is home to the Kent State University Museum, located in Rockwell Hall on campus. The museum shows the history of fashion design and decorative arts from the 18th century to today. Every May, the university holds an annual event to remember the Kent State shootings. This event includes speakers, forums, and art.

The May 4 Visitors' Center is on campus in Taylor Hall. It tells the story of the shootings and the events around them. It has three galleries with art and media from the 1960s, images from the event, and its impact. The center opened in October 2012. The site was named a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

Besides the Kent State Shootings Site, Kent has other historic places listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some are open to the public. The Kent Industrial District is a historic area along the Cuyahoga River downtown. It includes important structures from Kent's early history.

On the Kent State University campus, the Ohio State Normal College At Kent district has the school's five original classic revival buildings from 1913. The West Main Street District has 20 historic homes. These homes show architectural styles from after the Civil War and the early 1900s. This district includes the Kent Masonic Center, which was Marvin Kent's home. It also includes the former home of Martin L. Davey, who was Governor of Ohio.

Other historic buildings in Kent include the John Davey House, known for its Second Empire style. The Aaron Ferrey and Charles Kent Houses are examples of Gothic Revival style. The 1869 Kent Jail is now used by the Parks and Recreation Department. The 1837 Franklin Township Hall was where future U.S. President James A. Garfield was first nominated for public office. The former Franklin Hotel, which opened in 1920, was added to the National Register in 2013. The former L.N. Gross Company Building, built in 1928, was added in 2016.

Sports in Kent

Kent is home to Kent State University's sports teams, the Golden Flashes. They compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level. They are part of the Mid-American Conference. Several Kent State teams have done well in their league and nationally. The men's basketball team reached the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. The baseball team played in the 2012 College World Series.

The 6,327-seat Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, or MAC Center, hosts many sports events. These include wrestling, women's gymnastics, and women's volleyball, as well as men's and women's basketball. It also regularly hosts championships for wrestling and women's gymnastics.

Dix Stadium, with 25,319 seats, is home to the KSU football team. It also hosts high school football games. The nearby Murphy-Mellis Field hosts high school field hockey games. The Diamond at Dix is a regular place for high school softball tournaments. From 1975 to 1981, the Cleveland Browns held their training camp at Kent State University.

The Kent State University Ice Arena hosts several local ice hockey programs. These include youth leagues, high school teams, and professional teams. It is also home to KSU's club team. The ice arena is also home to the Kent Twisters, an adult amateur women's ice hockey team. Kent also hosts the Portage County Open tennis tournament. This tournament is held yearly at Theodore Roosevelt High School.

Parks and Recreation

The city has almost 20 parks and preserves. The largest is the 56-acre (23 ha) Fred Fuller Park along the Cuyahoga River. This park has the Kramer Fields baseball and softball complex. Several parks along the Cuyahoga River are in or near historic areas. Franklin Mills Riveredge Park goes through downtown Kent and the Kent Industrial District. It includes sites related to the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal.

Next to it is John Brown Tannery Park, where John Brown helped fund a tannery in the 1830s. Brady's Leap park is to the north. It is where Captain Samuel Brady made his famous leap over the Cuyahoga River.

The parks and recreation department runs a recreation center on the city's south side. It offers sports, arts, and education programs. The department also sponsors events like Art in the Park and Santa's Arrival. The Kent City School District has an indoor pool at Theodore Roosevelt High School. It is open to the public for swimming and lessons.

Trails and Nature Preserves

Parts of the Portage Hike and Bike Trail are in Kent. This trail is managed with Kent State University and the city of Ravenna. The main part of the trail follows the Cuyahoga River in Kent and is mostly paved. In 2012, Kent State University began building the Esplanade Extension. This connected the university's trail to downtown Kent and was finished in 2013. The trail connects to trails in nearby Summit County.

The city is also home to the Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve. It is one of the most complete bogs in Ohio. It has the southernmost and largest group of tamarack trees in the continental United States.

Kent State University also offers other fun activities. Crooked River Adventures offers canoe, kayak, tubing, and bicycle rentals at Tannery Park. Kent also has a bicycle-sharing system called Flashfleet. It works with the university and PARTA. You can get yearly memberships or hourly rentals.

Education in Kent

Schools for preschool, elementary, and secondary education are mostly provided by the Kent City School District. A small part of the city is in the Field Local School District. The Kent district was created around 1860. It serves most of Kent, Franklin Township, and a small part of Streetsboro.

Kent has four elementary schools for grades K–5. Stanton Middle School is for grades 6–8. Theodore Roosevelt High School is for grades 9–12. The district also has a preschool program. It works with five other districts to offer vocational education programs.

Kent also has one private school, St. Patrick School. It serves about 300 students in grades K–8. It is part of Kent's St. Patrick parish and is connected to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.

The Kent Free Library is the main public library. It started in 1892. Kent was the first village in Ohio to use a state law that allowed towns under 5,000 people to tax residents for a library. Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 in 1901 to build a permanent home for the library. It opened in 1903. An expansion in 2006 made the library 55,000 square feet (5,100 m2). In 2023, it had 166,407 items. It is part of the Portage Library Consortium, which connects it with other libraries in the county.

Kent State University Campus

The main campus of Kent State University is in the southeastern part of the city. The campus covers 866 acres (350 ha). The university also owns thousands of acres nearby. It has a research park and a golf course. The Kent State University Airport is just west of Kent.

Kent State was founded in 1910 to train teachers. Now, it is a world leader in developing liquid crystals through the Liquid Crystal Institute. In 2009, the university started the College of Public Health. The Kent State library system has a 12-story main library with over 2.6 million books. It also has six other libraries on campus and branches at its regional campuses.

The university offers over 300 study programs. It serves over 41,000 students at eight campuses across Northeast Ohio. Over 26,000 students are at the main campus in Kent.

Media in Kent

Kent is part of the Cleveland-Akron Television Market Area. This area covers 17 counties in Northeast Ohio. It is the 18th-largest media market in the United States. Most TV stations are in Cleveland and Akron. However, Kent is home to the offices and main studio of Western Reserve Public Media. This is the PBS affiliate for Akron and Youngstown. The studios for WOCV-CD, a local TV station, are just outside the city limits. TV-2 is a student-run production from Kent State University. It is available on campus, local cable, and online.

For radio, Kent is part of the Akron radio market. It can also receive stations from Cleveland, Youngstown-Warren, and Canton. Two FM radio stations are licensed to Kent. WKSU (89.7 FM) is a National Public Radio station. It is owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media. It broadcasts from studios in Downtown Cleveland. WNIR (100.1 FM) has a local talk radio format. It broadcasts from studios just outside the city. Kent State University also has a student-run internet radio station called Black Squirrel Radio.

The Record-Courier is a daily newspaper that covers Portage County. It is the main printed news source for Kent. The Record-Courier was formed by combining two newspapers. Kent Patch is an online bulletin board for local events. It started in 2010. The city is also served by Kent State University's Kent Stater. This is a student newspaper available in print and online. The Akron Beacon Journal and The Plain Dealer also cover Kent. Magazines published at Kent State include Fusion (an LGBTQ magazine), Kent State Magazine, and The Burr.

Transportation in Kent

State Route 59 is the main east-west highway in Kent. It follows East and West Main Streets and Haymaker Parkway. Summit Street is another important east-west road, especially on Kent's east side. Fairchild Avenue is an important east-west road on the city's west side. It connects to Stow and Cuyahoga Falls.

State Route 43 is the main north-south highway. It mainly follows North Mantua and South Water Streets. SR 43 connects Kent to Interstate 76 about 3 miles (4.8 km) south. It also connects to the Ohio Turnpike/Interstate 80 about 7 miles (11 km) north. Both SR 43 and SR 59 have four to five lanes in the city. State Route 261 passes through the southern and eastern edges of the city. It is a four-lane divided highway for a short distance.

Public Transportation and Rail

Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, known as PARTA. PARTA serves Kent with a dial-a-ride service. It also has local bus routes within the city. There are express routes to Akron and Cleveland. PARTA also runs Campus Bus Service with three routes on the Kent State University campus.

An intermodal transit facility, the Kent Central Gateway, opened in 2013 downtown. It helps connect the bus system, hike-and-bike trails, and parking. The building was mostly funded by a $20 million grant.

Kent has three rail lines. These are run by Norfolk Southern and CSX. They include lines that used to connect places like Jersey City and Chicago, and Cleveland and Zanesville.

Healthcare in Kent

Hospital care is mainly provided by University Hospitals Portage Medical Center. This center is connected to University Hospitals of Cleveland. It operates the UH Kent Health Center in the southern part of the city. The UH Kent Health Center has an emergency services building with a 24-hour emergency room. It also has an urgent care center and a medical arts building. The main hospital is in Ravenna.

Free clinics in Kent include AxessPointe Community Health Center. There is also a clinic run by the social agency Townhall II.

Religion in Kent

The first organized religious services in Kent were held in 1815 by a Methodist group. A Congregational church formed in 1819. The first religious meetinghouse in Kent was built in 1817. It was also the first schoolhouse and was used by different groups. The oldest church building still used for worship is the Unitarian Universalist Church. It was dedicated in 1868.

As of 2010, Kent has two Roman Catholic churches. One is a family parish, and the other is a Newman Center for students. There are also churches for 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, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian Church, Church of Christ, Episcopal Church, and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are also Unitarian Universalist, non-denominational Christian, and Baháʼí Faith groups.

While there are no Jewish synagogues in Kent, there is a Hillel Jewish student center at Kent State University. It serves students from both Kent State and the University of Akron. The Islamic Society of Akron and Kent has a masjid and school in Cuyahoga Falls. It also has another masjid in Kent.

Famous People from Kent

Many notable people have come from or lived in Kent. People from Kent are sometimes called "Kentites." John Davey, who started the Davey Tree Expert Company, moved to Kent in the 1880s. His son, Martin L. Davey, later became Governor of Ohio. Other political figures from Kent include Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild and former U.S. Representative Robert E. Cook. The famous abolitionist John Brown lived in Franklin Mills (now Kent) from 1835 to 1839.

Famous athletes from Kent include former National Football League players Mike Adamle, Tom DeLeone, and Stan White. Also, former Major League Baseball player and manager Gene Michael. Three members of the band Devo, which started in Kent in 1973, are from Kent: Gerald Casale, Peter Gregg, and Rod Reisman. Other performing artists from Kent include singer Julianne Baird and voice actor Joshua Seth.

Lucien Price, an author, grew up in Kent. Inventor Lucien B. Smith, who is known for inventing barbed wire, also lived in Kent. Kent State researcher James Fergason invented the Liquid crystal display technology.

Many famous people lived in Kent while attending Kent State University. These include comedians Drew Carey and Arsenio Hall, actor Michael Keaton, and musicians Joe Walsh and Chrissie Hynde. Other athletes who attended Kent State include football players Antonio Gates, James Harrison, Julian Edelman, Joshua Cribbs, and Jack Lambert. Baseball players Thurman Munson, Rich Rollins, and Andy Sonnanstine also attended. College football coaches Nick Saban and Lou Holtz were also students. Golfer Ben Curtis lives near Kent.

Sister City

Kent has one sister city, Dudince. Dudince is a small spa town in southern Slovakia with about 1,500 people. This relationship started in 2003 through Sister Cities International. It led to the Kent-Dudince Sister City Association. This group helps people learn about and understand Slovakian culture. They organize cultural exchanges and events with Slovakian dance and music. For example, a choir from Kent's Theodore Roosevelt High School performed in Dudince in 2004.

Images for kids

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  Downtown Kent in 2013

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  The Franklin Hotel

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  Dix Stadium

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  Theodore Roosevelt High School

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  Kent Hall

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  Main Street Bridge and arch dam

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  Cuyahoga River in Kent

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  Flag of Kent, Ohio

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  Seal of Kent, Ohio

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  Former P & O Canal lock and dam downtown

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  The four main seasons in Kent

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  Downtown developments in March 2013

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  KSU College of Architecture and Environmental Design building

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  2010 Kent Heritage Festival

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  Arrival of Santa Claus at the Festival of Lights

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  The John Davey House

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  A KSU men's basketball game at the MAC Center

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  View from Heritage Park facing downtown

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  Stanton Middle School

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  Newer portion of the Kent Free Library

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  Kent Central Gateway at night

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  St. Patrick Church

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  Lucius Fairchild

See also

In Spanish: Kent (Ohio) para niños