Mentor

Mentor, Ohio
—  City  —
Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light, Mentor, Ohio viewed from the Mentor Headlands Beach State Park
Location of Mentor, Ohio
Coordinates: 41°41′28″N 81°20′31″W / 41.69111°N 81.34194°W / 41.69111; -81.34194
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Lake
Area
- Total	28.1 sq mi (72.7 km2)
- Land	26.8 sq mi (69.3 km2)
- Water	1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2)
Elevation [1]	692 ft (211 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	50,278
- Density	1,878.2/sq mi (725.2/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	44060-44061
Area code(s)	440
FIPS code	39-49056[2]
GNIS feature ID	1085475[1]
Website	http://www.cityofmentor.com/

Mentor is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. Mentor was first settled in 1797. The population was 50,278 at the 2000 census. In July 2006, CNNMoney.com ranked Mentor 68th in a list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in America.

In 1876 James A. Garfield purchased a home in Mentor, from which he conducted the first successful front porch campaign for the presidency. That home is now maintained as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The city is home to Headlands Beach State Park, the longest natural beach on Lake Erie.

Mentor is a diverse community with industry, commerce and residential components. A wide range of housing is represented, from condominiums and small ranches to half-million-dollar lakefront homes. Twelve city parks comprise over 800 acres (3.2 km²) of parkland.^[3] Many bike paths have been built in recent years. The city is a major center of retail stores and restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area. US 20 (Mentor Avenue) is the major retail center, which includes the Great Lakes Mall, with additional shopping and strip malls found along most major roads.

Befitting its large population, Mentor has one of the larger school systems in Ohio, with 10 elementary schools, three middle schools, and Mentor High School. Like many school systems in Ohio, Mentor Schools suffered a financial crisis in the early 2000s, but passed a large levy and is now largely on solid footing^[4] - one of the fastest Ohio school systems ever to emerge from fiscal emergency^{[citation needed]}.

City government is based on a city manager executive appointed by city council. The city encourages development of light industry, which is reflected in its diverse economy and very low property taxes.

The pronunciation of the city's name is something of a shibboleth, with most residents pronouncing it as "men-ner" and outsiders using the more conventional "men-tore", while in the media, "men-ter" is prominent.^[5][6] The city's slogan, "It's better in Mentor," reflects this fact.

Mentor is named after the Greek figure Mentor, in keeping with the Connecticut Western Reserve settlers' tradition, as well as that of most other Americans at the time, of celebrating aspects of Greek classicism (nearby Solon, Macedonia, Euclid, and Akron also were named using that principle).^[7]

Geography

Mentor is located at 41°41′28″N 81°20′31″W / 41.69111°N 81.34194°W / 41.69111; -81.34194 (41.691245, -81.341955)^[8]. It is a far eastern suburb Cleveland OH and is located on the south shore of Lake Erie.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.1 square miles (72.7 km²), of which, 26.8 square miles (69.3 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) of it (4.67%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 50,278 people, 18,797 households, and 14,229 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,878.2 people per square mile (725.2/km²). There were 19,301 housing units at an average density of 721.0/sq mi (278.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 07.30% Caucasian, 90.64% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population. 19.8% were of German, 15.1% Italian, 13.1% Irish, 8.8% English, 6.5% Polish, 5.5% Slovene and 5.4% American ancestry according to Census 2000. Also there are Jewish people.

There were 18,797 households out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $57,230, and the median income for a family was $65,322. Males had a median income of $44,021 versus $31,025 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,592. About 1.8% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives

• Jimmy and Michael Manson, Bad Mammajammas
• James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States of America
• Jim Tressel, Ohio State University Football Coach
• Bob Hallen, NFL Football Player
• Joe Jurevicius, NFL Football Player
• Frank Urankar, II (Blackhammer), Pro-Wrestler
• Dustin Kirby, MLS Soccer Player
• Dan Ryczek, NFL Football Player
• Paul Ryczek, NFL Football Player
• Ricky Stanzi, NCAA Football Player for the Iowa Hawkeyes

City Council

• Robert M. Shiner, President
• Ed Walsh, Vice-President
• Mark T. Freeman, at-large
• Ray Kirchner, at-large
• Scott J. Marn, at-large
• Carolyn P. Bucey, ward 2
• Ronald R. Micchia, ward 4

Schools

• Elementary Schools:

Bellflower Elementary

Brentmoor Elementary

Fairfax Elementary

James A. Garfield Elementary

Headlands Elementary

Hopkins Elementary

Lake Elementary

Sterling Morton Elementary

Orchard Hollow Elementary

Dale R. Rice Elementary

Reynolds Elementary (closed since 2005)

• Middle Schools:

Memorial Middle School

Ridge Middle School

Shore Middle School

• High Schools:

Mentor High School

• Private Schools:

Lake Catholic High School

Mentor Christian School (K-12)

St.Marys Mentor (K-8)

Mentor Heritage Christian Academy (K-12)

Churches

• Catholic:

St. Bede the Venerable

St. Gabriel

St. Mary of the Assumption

St. John Vianney

• Discordian:

Church of St. Gulik

• Jewish:

Temple Am Shalom

• Lutheran:

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Advent Lutheran

• Methodist:

Mentor United Methodist

Mentor Plains United Methodist

• Non-Denominational

Grace Church of Mentor

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ Attractions from the official city website
4. ^ Scott, Mark (2005-02-04). "Release by state bittersweet". Lake County News-Herald. http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13889695&BRD=1698&PAG=461. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
5. ^ A Pronunciation Guide to places in Ohio (E.W.Scripps School of Journalism)
6. ^ Feran, Tom (2004-02-06). "If men are on lake, they aren’t from here". The Plain Dealer. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=NewsBank&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%2010094DBA7898DD3A%20)&p_docid=10094DBA7898DD3A&p_theme=aggregated4&p_queryname=10094DBA7898DD3A&f_openurl=yes&p_nbid=P62T51NFMTE5NjI4OTE4My4xOTUzMzI6MToxMjoxOTguMzAuMjI4LjA&&p_multi=CPDB. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
7. ^ Living in Mentor: History: Introduction (from the official city website)
8. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

Further reading

• Habinski, Janice Anthony; Ronald L. Prosek (1988). Mentor – a retrospective. Mentor, Ohio: Old Mentor Foundation. 
• Kapsch, Joan; Sue Muehlhauser; Kathie Pohl (1997). Mentor: The First 200 Years. Mentor, Ohio: Mentor Bicentennial Committee/Old Mentor Foundation. 

External links

• Official site
• James A. Garfield National Historic Site
• Mentor Public Schools
• Mentor Patrolmans Association
• Mentor Safety Village

• Mentor, Ohio is at coordinates 41°41′28″N 81°20′31″W / 41.691245°N 81.341955°W / 41.691245; -81.341955 (Mentor, Ohio)Coordinates: 41°41′28″N 81°20′31″W / 41.691245°N 81.341955°W / 41.691245; -81.341955 (Mentor, Ohio)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Lake County, Ohio County seat: Painesville Cities Eastlake | Kirtland | Mentor | Mentor-on-the-Lake | Painesville | Wickliffe | Willoughby | Willoughby Hills | Willowick Villages Fairport Harbor | Grand River | Kirtland Hills | Lakeline | Madison | North Perry | Perry | Timberlake | Waite Hill Townships Concord | LeRoy | Madison | Painesville | Perry CDP North Madison Unincorporated communities Painesville-on-the-Lake | Unionville

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