Kent (Ohio)
| Kent | |
|---|---|
| Nickname : The Tree City | |
 Location in Ohio
|
|
| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1805 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Ohio |
| County : | Portage County |
| Coordinates : | 41 ° 9 ′ N , 81 ° 22 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) |
| Residents : | 27,946 (as of 2006) |
| Population density : | 1,242 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 22.6 km 2 (approx. 9 mi 2 ) of which 22.5 km 2 (approx. 9 mi 2 ) is land |
| Height : | 325 m |
| Postcodes : | 44240, 44242, 44243 |
| Area code : | +1 330, 234 |
| FIPS : | 39-39872 |
| GNIS ID : | 1064928 |
| Website : | www.kentohio.org |
| Mayor : | John Fender |
Kent is a city in Ohio , United States . In 2000 it had 27,906 inhabitants. It is the headquarters of Kent State University .
location
Kent is on the Cuyahoga River in Portage County in northeast Ohio, about an hour's drive southeast of Cleveland . Major cities in the neighborhood are Akron and Canton . The nearest airports are Akron-Canton Regional Airport and Hopkins International Airport near Cleveland.
history
The area of what is now Kent was settled from 1805. On the banks of the Cuyahoga, a village grew (with two districts, Carthage and Franklin Mills), which experienced its first boom in the 1830s with the construction of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal . In 1863 the settlement was connected to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad . In terms of speed and efficiency, the canal could not compete with the railroad and at times lost its economic importance for the village. In return, the settlement developed into an important station on the east-west line of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. The settlement was renamed Kent in 1863 in honor of Marvin Kent, a local businessman who had been instrumental in building rail links. In 1867 the village was officially recognized as a municipality. The Depression of the 1930s led to the abandonment of rail operations. However, Kent State University was now firmly established and eventually became the lifeblood of the local economy.
In 1970, the city made international headlines for the " Kent State Massacre " when, on May 4, four students at Kent State University were shot dead by the National Guard for no reason during a demonstration against the Vietnam War.
Population development
| year | Residents¹ |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 26,164 |
| 1990 | 28,835 |
| 2000 | 27,906 |
| 2005 | 28,135 |
¹ 1980–2000: census results; 2005: Update of the US Census Bureau
university
With over 34,000 students, Kent State University is the third largest university in Ohio (after Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati ). It is considered to be one of the more prestigious state universities. The university emerged from the "Kent Normal School" founded in 1910, an institute for teacher training. The interdisciplinary Liquid Crystal Institute enjoys a worldwide reputation . It was founded in 1965 and is today one of the leading centers for basic and application-oriented research in the field of liquid crystals .
Others
A story that every guest in Kent will hear several times is the famous fire of the Cuyahoga : The river was a chemical-contaminated sewer for decades, and floating debris and oil spills often caught fire. The particularly spectacular fire on June 22, 1969 attracted national attention, which subsequently led to a significant tightening of environmental legislation ( Time Magazine wrote about the river at the time: "A person does not drown, but rather dissolves" ).
sons and daughters of the town
- Lucius Fairchild (1831-1896), Governor of Wisconsin
- Martin Davey (1884–1946), Governor of Ohio
- Paul L. Patterson (1900–1956), Governor of Oregon
- Robert E. Cook (1920–1988), politician