Tallmadge

Tallmadge, Ohio
—  City  —
Aerial photo of the Tallmadge Circle, a roundabout located in the center of Tallmadge
Location of Tallmadge, Ohio
Location within Summit County, Ohio
Coordinates: 41°5′49″N 81°25′27″W / 41.09694°N 81.42417°W / 41.09694; -81.42417Coordinates: 41°5′49″N 81°25′27″W / 41.09694°N 81.42417°W / 41.09694; -81.42417
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Counties	Summit, Portage
Government
- Mayor	Christopher B. Grimm
Area
- Total	14.0 sq mi (36.2 km2)
- Land	14.0 sq mi (36.2 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation [1]	1,115 ft (340 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	16,390
- Density	1,173.9/sq mi (453.3/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	44278
Area code(s)	330
FIPS code	39-76106[2]
GNIS feature ID	1061671[1]
Website	http://www.tallmadge-ohio.org/

Tallmadge (pronounced /ˈtælmɨdʒ/, not */ˈtɔːl-/ "tall") is a city in Summit and Portage counties in Ohio, United States. It is also a suburb of Akron and part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 16,390 at the 2000 census. Tallmadge was founded in 1807 and is the second-oldest city in Summit County, following Hudson, which was founded in 1799.

History

Historically, Tallmadge was a part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, which was a three million acre plot of land in Northeast Ohio. Prior to it being named Tallmadge (after Benjamin Tallmadge), it was part of Town 2, Range 10 in the Western Reserve. In 1807, the Rev. David Bacon founded and organized Tallmadge, placing a roundabout in the center of town, modeled after New England designs of the time period. Early development of Tallmadge focused about the roundabout, named the "Tallmadge Circle" (or simply "the Circle"). The Circle also physically represents New England's role in the settlement of the Ohio Western Reserve.^[3]

While two separate Ohio state routes meet at the intersection (SR 91 and SR 261; at one point SR 18 and SR 532 also met there), the Circle can and regularly does accommodate several dozen vehicles at a time without congestion. The eight roads that meet at the Circle form a spoke design (see image, upper right) that, as they lead away from the Circle, travel in the cardinal and ordinal directions. The roads are named according to the respective directions they travel away from the Circle; these names are not preserved by the neighboring municipalities into which the eight roads run. Out-of-town drivers can often be uncomfortable with the intersection because of the lack of stop signs or traffic lights.

No alcohol could be bought or consumed in public in Tallmadge until the early 1990s, when the law was amended to allow the retail sale of alcohol in stores, but public consumption was still illegal. In 2001, the law was repealed and alcohol could be sold and consumed in restaurants, provided that alcohol not account for more than 30% of any establishment's revenue. The first restaurant to offer alcohol in Tallmadge was Delanie's on West Avenue.

Location within Portage County, Ohio

Tallmadge lies within two counties. While the vast majority of the city lies in Summit County, portions on the east side protrude into neighboring Portage County. This phenomenon resulted from the annexation of small portions of a neighboring township, Brimfield.

Geography

Tallmadge is located at 41°05′49″N 81°25′27″W / 41.096956°N 81.424033°W / 41.096956; -81.424033 (41.096956, -81.424033).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.0 square miles (36.2 km²), of which, 14.0 square miles (36.2 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.14%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 16,390 people, 6,273 households, and 4,711 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,173.9 people per square mile (453.3/km²). There were 6,494 housing units at an average density of 465.1/sq mi (179.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.78% White, 2.08% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population.

There were 6,273 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,381, and the median income for a family was $56,780. Males had a median income of $44,606 versus $28,056 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,329. About 4.0% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Tallmadge City Schools (website) provide primary and secondary education for the 2,700 public school students within Tallmadge. Students within the Tallmadge City School district attend Overdale School, Dunbar Primary, Munroe Elementary, Tallmadge Middle School, and Tallmadge High School consecutively from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The distribution of students between these schools, however, will change after the projected completion of the high school in June 2008. Tallmadge Christian Academy (website) provides parochial primary and secondary education within the city itself, but many students from Tallmadge seeking a parochial education attend other parochial schools outside of the city.

Among other institutions, Kent State University and the University of Akron provide post-secondary education in the adjacent cities of Kent and Akron; the majority of college-bound students from Tallmadge High School attend one of these two schools after graduation. No colleges or universities currently exist within Tallmadge, but Case Western Reserve University began its first classes in Tallmadge in 1826 before moving to a permanent facility in nearby Hudson and its current home in Cleveland.^[5]

Sports

Tallmadge athletes have received local, statewide, regional, national, and international recognition. In particular, Little League Baseball teams have represented the city in the 1974 and 2003 Little League World Series. The 1974 team advanced to the semi-final round, finishing in fourth place. The Tallmadge Blue Devils (high school) captured its first Baseball State Championship in 2002, after knocking off Defiance (in which current Los Angeles Dodger Chad Billingsley threw) and Edison, respectively.

Landmarks

At the center of the town is the Historic Tallmadge Church (built in 1825), recognized as a historic place by the Ohio Historical Society, and was featured on the cover of the November 20, 1944 edition of Life Magazine.^[6] An intersection surrounds the church and a small park, the Tallmadge Circle Park, on which the church sits. The Circle Park is also home to Tallmadge's Old Town Hall (established 1859), which houses a museum on its second floor. In 2003, a new steeple was placed atop the Old Town Hall, replacing the original which had been removed decades earlier.

Photos

Tallmadge Circle Park panorama, May 2007

Old Town Hall, May 2007 (note the bicentennial and sesquicentennial plaques on either side of the door)

Historic Tallmadge Church, May 2007

Historic Tallmadge Church, September 1971

Historic Tallmadge Church, May 2007

References

External links

• City of Tallmadge Website
• Tallmadge Bicentennial Website
• Frank E. Lawrence Collection from the Summit Memory Project

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Portage County, Ohio County seat: Ravenna Cities Aurora | Kent | Ravenna | Streetsboro | Tallmadge‡ Villages Brady Lake | Garrettsville | Hiram | Mantua | Mogadore‡ | Sugar Bush Knolls | Windham Townships Atwater | Brimfield | Charlestown | Deerfield | Edinburg | Franklin | Freedom | Hiram | Mantua | Nelson | Palmyra | Paris | Randolph | Ravenna | Rootstown | Shalersville | Suffield | Windham CDP Brimfield Unincorporated communities Diamond | Wayland Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Summit County, Ohio County seat: Akron Cities Akron | Barberton | Cuyahoga Falls | Fairlawn | Green | Hudson | Macedonia | Munroe Falls | New Franklin | Norton‡ | Stow | Tallmadge‡ | Twinsburg Villages Boston Heights | Clinton | Lakemore | Mogadore‡ | Northfield | Peninsula | Reminderville | Richfield | Silver Lake Townships Bath | Boston | Copley | Coventry | Northfield Center | Richfield | Sagamore Hills | Springfield | Twinsburg CDPs Montrose-Ghent | Pigeon Creek | Portage Lakes Unincorporated communities Ghent | Hammond's Corners | Montrose Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties