Lake County, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lake County
U.S. county
Lake County Courthouse
Flag Seal Logo
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	March 6, 1840
Named for	Lake Erie
Seat	Painesville
Largest city	Mentor
Area
• Total	979 sq mi (2,540 km2)
• Land	227 sq mi (590 km2)
• Water	752 sq mi (1,950 km2)  77%
Population  (2020)
• Total	232,603
• Estimate  (2021)	232,023
• Density	237.59/sq mi (91.73/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	14th

Lake County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,603. Its county seat is Painesville, and its largest city is Mentor.

The county was established on March 6, 1840, from land given by Cuyahoga and Geauga counties. Its name is derived from its location on the southern shore of Lake Erie and the fact that the majority of the county’s land lies beneath Lake Erie. Lake County is part of the Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The land that became Lake County was home to the indigenous Erie people prior to the arrival of the French in the region during the early 1600s, and considered by the French to be part of their Colony of New France. Ceded to Great Britain in 1763, the area became part of the Province of Quebec through the Quebec Act of 1774. Following the American Revolutionary War, it became part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in the Northwest Territory, then was purchased by the Connecticut Land Company in 1795. It was separated out of Geauga County in March 1840.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of 979 square miles (2,540 km²), of which 227 square miles (590 km²) is land and 752 square miles (1,950 km²) (77%) is water. It is Ohio's smallest county by land area but the third-largest by total area, with said area owing to land beneath the lake (which is owned by the county).

The county’s coast line along Lake Erie spans 31 miles. Additionally, Lake County has an international border with Ontario (across Lake Erie).

Adjacent counties

• Ashtabula County (east)
• Geauga County (south)
• Cuyahoga County (southwest)

Major highways

National protected area

• James A. Garfield National Historic Site

Physical geography

Ridges on the Lake Plain physiographic region, and on which some roads are laid, are beaches formed by the various glacial lakes which occurred as the glaciers receded. Lake Maumee was the highest glacial lake at about 760 feet, and left Maumee II beach. Whittlesey beach, formed by Lake Whittlesey at 740 feet, is known as South Ridge. Arkona beach (Lake Arkona) is Middle Ridge, and occurs at about 690 feet. North Ridge is the remnant of Warren beach (Lake Warren), at an elevation of 685 feet. Elkton beach is the northernmost ridge, at 625 feet, an occurred at the time of Lake Elkton. Lake Shore Boulevard follows Elkton beach in Mentor Township.

Mentor Marsh is an Ohio State Nature Preserve. Mentor Marsh is an abandoned channel of the Grand River.

Demographics

In 2010, 92.4% spoke English, 2.7% Spanish, and 1.4% Croatian.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 230,041 people, 94,156 households, and 62,384 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,011.2 inhabitants per square mile (390.4/km²). There were 101,202 housing units at an average density of 444.9 units per square mile (171.8 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.5% white, 3.2% black or African American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.4% were German, 18.9% were Irish, 16.4% were Italian, 11.5% were English, 7.6% were Polish, 5.4% were Hungarian, and 3.9% were American.

Of the 94,156 households, 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.7% were non-families, and 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 42.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $54,896 and the median income for a family was $67,206. Males had a median income of $49,240 versus $36,906 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,221. About 6.0% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Environment

Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light, Fairport Harbor viewed from the Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve

Scorecard’s 2002 report ranks Lake County among the worst 10% of counties in the U.S. in terms of cancer risk, developmental and reproductive toxicants, and other categories as well. This rating is comparable with most major cities and densely populated areas. In 2004, Scorecard ranked the county among the cleanest or best 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of the number of designated Superfund sites.

Lake County has a large public park system, including Lake Metroparks Farmpark. Kirtland is home to the Holden Arboretum and Gildersleeve Mountain. Headlands Beach State Park is in Mentor. The Grand River is a state wild and scenic river, and the Chagrin River is a state scenic river.

Transportation

Laketran is the transit agency servicing Lake County. Interstate 90 runs northeast–southwest through Lake County, roughly parallel to State Route 2; along with the north–south State Route 44 connecting the two together. These freeways make up the major traffic arteries in the county. Lake County does not have passenger rail service, though Amtrak's New York City-Chicago "Lake Shore Limited" service schedules an eastbound and westbound train through Lake County nightly with stops at Cleveland and Erie. CSXT (former Conrail, née-Penn Central, née-New York Central) and Norfolk Southern (née-Norfolk & Western, née-Nickel Plate Road) provide railroad main line through-freight service. The recently formed Grand River Railroad, operating on former Baltimore & Ohio track, serves the Fairport Harbor area linking the Morton Salt plant with CSXT at Painesville.

Library services

The following libraries serve Lake County:

• Fairport Harbor Public Library in Fairport Harbor
• Kirtland Public Library in Kirtland
• Madison Public Library in Madison
• Mentor Public Library in Mentor
• Morley Library in Painesville
• Perry Public Library in Perry
• Wickliffe Public Library in Wickliffe. WKPL is "A Top Ten American Library" as rated by the HAPLR Index. In 2005, the library loaned more than 459,000 items to its 110,400 cardholders. Total holdings are over 100,000 volumes with over 519 periodical subscriptions.
• Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, headquartered in Eastlake with branches in Eastlake, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, and Willowick. In 2005, the library loaned more than 1.2 million items to its 37,000 cardholders. Total holding are over 216,000 volumes with over 850 periodical subscriptions.

Additionally, as of 2019, all Lake County libraries are all CLEVNET members.

Communities

Map of Lake County, Ohio with Municipal and Township Labels

Cities

Villages

Townships

• Concord
• Leroy
• Madison
• Painesville
• Perry

Census-designated place

• North Madison

Unincorporated communities

• Painesville-on-the-Lake
• Unionville

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Lake (Ohio) para niños