Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,323 at the 2020 census. It is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Akron. Formed from portions of Ravenna Township in the Connecticut Western Reserve, Ravenna was founded in 1799 and is named after the city of Ravenna, Italy. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area.
At a Glance
- County: Portage County
- County seat of Portage County
- State: Ohio
History of Ravenna
Ravenna was founded by Benjamin Tappan, who arrived there on June 11, 1799, to lay claim in his father’s name to land purchased in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Tappan did not stay in the area for long, however, but built a settlement of log cabins before returning to Connecticut during the summer of 1800.
Later in 1800, Tappan, newly married, returned to the area where the couple built a log cabin of their own. It was his new wife, Nancy Wright, who suggested that the settlement be named after the city of Ravenna, Italy. Nancy became a driving force for the new town. When plans were announced in 1806 for the formation of Portage County, she lobbied for Ravenna to be made the county seat, and it was selected in 1808. She also convinced other Connecticut families to move to the area. The Tappans, however, left Ravenna in 1809.
Ravenna was initially included in Franklin Township, which was part of Trumbull County at the time. The first mail route was established in 1802 and the first school opened in 1803. In 1810 the first county courthouse and log jail were built. This was later replaced with the first brick courthouse twenty years later in 1830, expanded with an addition in 1881. The current courthouse was built in 1961. The Congregational Church, established in 1822, was the first church to be founded in Ravenna. In 1824, the Methodist Church held its first meeting, which later formally organized in 1831. The Presbyterian and the Disciple of Christ churches were organized in 1830. In 1842, the Catholic Church in Ravenna was dedicated.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Ravenna, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.