Medina's Bicentennial - 200 Years of History

MEDINA!

The Official Logo for the Medina County Bicentennial created by Judy Barabas.

The whole county is gearing up to celebrate 200 years of history for Medina County. While Medina County was formed in 1812, it wasn't until 1818 that the county administration was formed and the citizens started governing for themselves. (During those interim years, Portage County, which was the parent county, handled administration.)

Medina has changed a lot over the years. Not least of the changes is the outline of Medina. When it was first formed, Medina County also included the many townships that are now part of other counties. So the original shape of Medina was more of a horizontal long rectangle.

Green outline shows Medina County's border at its formation in 1812.
Map courtesy of Ohio Township Maps published by the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources

In 1822, Lorain County was formed and they took these following townships from Medina:

• Camden
• Pittsfield
• LaGrange
• Brighton
• Wellington

Then, in 1827, Lorain annexed these townships:

• Grafton
• Penfield
• Spencer
• Homer
• Huntington
• Sullivan
• Rochester
• Troy

In 1840, Summit County was formed, taking these townships from Medina:

• Richfield
• Bath
• Copley
• Norton

But they received Spencer and Homer back from Lorain County. Later, in 1846, Troy and Sullivan were annexed by Ashland County.*

And for most of its history, Medina has been a rural, agricultural county. It wasn't until the 1980s that Medina became more suburban, a "bedroom community."

The next year will highlight and celebrate all of Medina's changes and improvements.

The Bicentennial web site is HERE.   Their Facebook page is HERE.

The kick-off of the Bicentennial will be at this weekend's Candlelight Walk and the festivities will continue throughout 2018. The whole list of events can be seen HERE.

One of the fun features is a 32 page coloring book that is available at these shops around town:

• Miss Molly's Tea Room
• Funtastic Toyz
• The Book Store
• The Medina County Convention and Visitor's Bureau
• Medina City School Board Office
• Medina Town Hall and Engine House Museum

And soon, there will be a special Medina Bicentennial License Plate,  also designed by Judy Barabas, to be available at a later date.

The November 15th Medina Gazette has a front page article  talking about the Bicentennial and some early Medina history. (Link not yet available.)

Get ready to...

CELEBRATE!

FYI

On a side note, Judy Russell had a very interesting blog about DNA this past week. Did you know that all humans share 99.5% of their DNA? Only .5% is different. And that is what the DNA testing companies concentrate on. More incredibly, we share 98% of our DNA with chimps. Click HERE to read her full post.


*Source: History of Lorain County Ohio with Illustrations & Biographical Sketches, Williams Brothers, Philadelphia, 1879.