Painesville Township is one of the five

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of Lake County,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. The population was 20,453 at the 2020 census. It is a part of

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH ...

in the Northeast Ohio Region, and is included in the

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

combined statistical area in the United States.

Name and history

Painesville Township is included in what is historically referred to as the

Connecticut Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. Warren, Ohio was the Historic Capital in Trumbull County. T ...

. General Edward Paine (1746–1841), who had served as a captain in the Connecticut militia during the war, arrived in 1800 with a party of 66 settlers. General Paine later represented the region in the territorial legislature of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. Lake County was established on March 6, 1840, from land given by Cuyahoga and Geauga counties, and derived its name from its location on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The county seat, Painesville, was named after General Paine, and the county was divided further with the creation of Perry, LeRoy, Painesville,

Mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

, Kirtland, and Concord Townships. Edward Paine Statue in 2008

Geography

Painesville Township contains four major disjunct sections. Located in the northern part of the county along

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, it borders the following townships and city: * Perry Township - east * LeRoy Township - southeast corner * Concord Township - south *

- west Several municipalities are located in Painesville Township: *The village of Fairport Harbor, in the northwest along the lakeshore *The village of Grand River, in the northwest *The

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of Painesville-on-the-Lake, in the north center The township surrounds the city of Painesville, but is separate from it. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 90.5%, are water. The township boundaries extend north to the center of

and the

Canadian border The borders of Canada include: * To the south and west: An international boundary with the United States, forming the Canada–United States border, longest shared border in the world, ; (Informally referred as the 49th parallel north which make ...

Climate

Painesville City, and surrounding Painesville Township, have a hybrid between a

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

and

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa/Dfa''). In spite of the mild winter days,

lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...

usually brings a lot of accumulation in winter. Summers have warm days and quite muggy nights. Precipitation is high year-round.

Demographics

The population of Painesville Township in 2020 was 20,453, with the following racial distribution: White: 90%, Black: 2%, Hispanic: 5%, Native: 1%, two or more races: 2%. The Per Capita income for a family of three is $114,696 and the median household income is $76,036. For residents 25 years and older, 93% have a high school diploma, 18.7% have a Bachelor's degree, and 7% have a post graduate degree.

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. Painesville Township has voted on several occasions on whether or not to merge with Painesville City. The township has voted to stay independent of the city primarily to maintain its lower real estate tax structure and support its separate school system

Transportation

Highways

Major transportation routes in the township are U.S. Route 20 and State Routes 2, 84 and

Ohio State Route 44 State Route 44 (SR 44) is a north–south state highway in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. It runs from a southern terminus at Ohio State Route 43, State Route 43 in Waynesburg, Ohio, Waynesburg to a northern terminus a ...

. Painesville Township is located just north of

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

and is easily accessed via

Mass Transit

Laketran operates bus lines throughout Lake County as well as into

downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...

and Cleveland's major medical centers in

University Circle University Circle is a district in the neighborhood of University on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall (home to the Cleveland Orchestra), the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland ...

Railroads

Two major railroads,

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, pass through the township and serve some of the township's industries. Additionally,

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...

'' passes through on the CSX line. However, these trains do not stop in the township. The nearest Amtrak station is to the southwest in

Airports

Painesville Township is from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Ohio's largest airport.

Healthcare

The Painesville City and Painesville Township healthcare needs are provided in neighboring Concord Township by

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH Cleveland Medical Center), formerly known as ''University Hospitals Case Medical Center'' (''UH Case Medical Center''), is a large not-for-profit academic medical complex in Cleveland, Ohio, Un ...

and Tri-Point Medical Center. The hospital is part of the Lake Health healthcare system.

Economy

Painesville Township is home to several industries, including a

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

Lubrizol Lubrizol Corporation is an American provider of specialty chemicals for the transportation, industrial and consumer markets. These products include additives for engine oils and other transportation-related fluids, additives for industrial lubr ...

Corporation facility,

Avery Dennison Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials (such as self-adhesive labels), apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a ...

, and Nova Chemicals.

Education

Public

Painesville Township is home to the Riverside Local School District, formerly the Painesville Township Local Schools. Its schools include Riverside High School, John R. Williams Junior High School, Lamuth Middle School and four elementary schools. Painesville city and Fairport Harbor operate their own school districts, while Grand River village, Leroy and Concord township students attend Riverside's schools.

Higher Education

Lake Erie College Lake Erie College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Painesville, Ohio. Founded in 1856 as a female seminary, the college converted to a coeducational institution in 1985. History Lake Erie Female Seminary The semi ...

, a private liberal arts college enrolling approximately 1,200 students is located in neighboring Painesville. The college offers over 60 undergraduate programs and master's programs. The former

Andrews Osborne Academy Andrews Osborne Academy (AOA) is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for Grades Pre-K -12 located on of land in Willoughby, Ohio, east of Cleveland. The student body is 73% day students and 27% boarding students, 51% male and 4 ...

's Painesville campus became part of Lake Erie College in 2008. Lakeland Community College, located in nearby

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and the site of ...

, offers

Associate Degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

level education to residents of Painesville Township and Lake County.

Public Library

Morley Library serves both Painesville City and Painesville Township residents and is located in Painesville's 284-acre (115 ha) Historic Downtown District.

Recreation

Painesville Township is home to the Lake County Fair, which is held every August. Events such as

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

and

tractor pulling Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farth ...

competitions, as well as concerts performed by big name

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

bands, take place at the fair. Nearly 80% of Headlands Beach State Park is in Painesville Township; the remainder lies in the neighboring community of

. The beach is the longest natural beach in Ohio. The

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

has a base in the township located just east of Headlands Beach.

Notable people

* Mike Celizic, author and columnist and graduate of Riverside High School (Painesville Township, Ohio) * Dan O'Shannon, television writer and producer and graduate of Riverside High School (Painesville Township, Ohio) * Scott Shafer, football coach and graduate of Riverside High School (Painesville Township, Ohio) * Jason Short, NFL player and graduate of Riverside High School (Painesville Township, Ohio)

References

External links

*
Lake County website
{{authority control Townships in Lake County, Ohio Townships in Ohio Urban townships in Ohio Cleveland metropolitan area