Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Totally Explained

Everything about Cuyahoga Falls Ohio totally explained

Cuyahoga Falls is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 49,374. It is currently the second largest city in Summit County. It is considered a suburb of both Akron and Cleveland, but is actually older than Akron. Founded in 1812 by William Wetmore, the city was originally named Manchester. Cuyahoga Falls is named after the Cuyahoga River (which flows into Lake Erie) and the series of falls that run through the middle of the city.
Cuyahoga Falls is bordered by Akron to the south and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to the northwest.

History

Cuyahoga Falls was formed in 1812 near the junction of what was then Northampton, Stow, Tallmadge, and Portage townships. The focus was the series of Cuyahoga River waterfalls that provided power for manufacturing.
   In 1812 Kelsey and Wilcox built a dam on the Cuyahoga River at a place where a railroad bridge crossed it in 1876. They then built a flour mill, an oil mill, and a saw mill. This led to the construction of a number of houses. This area was known as the old village. Development moved downstream, though, when it was discovered that the power was better there. The old village was eventually destroyed in 1826 when a dam built by William Wetmore flooded the dam at the old village and its mills were torn down .
   The earliest settler of Cuyahoga Falls included Joshua Stow and William Wetmore. In 1815 a saw-mill was operating near Gaylord's Grove, using power generated by a dam on the Cuyahoga River there.
   The town was initially called Manchester but was renamed Cuyahoga Falls at the request of the Post Office since there were already several other Manchesters in Ohio.
   The village proper was first laid out in 1826 by Judge Richardson.
   The town was incorporated in 1836, occupying 240 rods out of Stow and Tallmadge townships. In 1853, seeing that the village and township of Cuyahoga Falls occupied the same territory, the village council disbanded and the community was only a township until 1868.
   In 1841 the Summit County Board of Commissioners named Cuyahoga Falls county seat. The state legislature then intervened and put the location of the county seat up to a popular vote. Akron won and has been the county seat ever since. In spite of being named the county seat Cuyahoga Falls never really functioned as such.
   In March 1851 the township of Cuyahoga Falls was created out of the village limits. They covered the same territory so the village council voted to adjourn sine die, letting the village be run under township jurisdiction until June 3, 1868 when the municipal government returned.
   In 1985 Cuyahoga Falls merged with Northampton Township, the first merger of a city and township in Ohio.
   Cuyahoga Falls had been founded as an industrial city, taking advantage of the river power. By the 1970s, though, it had become a residential community. This changed, though, when Don Robart became mayor. He had been in favor of the merger with Northampton Township because of the additional land that could be used for development. Parts of that area have since been used for industrial development. Commercial development has also picked up, especially on the Howe Avenue area at the southern border of the city.
   The city had one professional sports team, the Cuyahoga Falls Cougars, of the International Basketball League (2005-). They moved to Akron in 2006.
   The Cathedral of Tomorrow, founded by televangelist Rex Humbard in 1958, is located in Cuyahoga Falls. It is now the headquarters of televangelist Ernest Angley.

Popular culture

Cuyahoga Falls is mentioned in a popular song, "My City Was Gone", by the rock band The Pretenders (lead singer and songwriter Chrissie Hynde is an Akron, Ohio native). The verse's lyrics are: ť I went back to Ohio

   But my pretty countryside ť Had been paved down the middle

   By a government that had no pride ť The farms of Ohio

   Had been replaced by shopping malls ť And muzak filled the air

   From Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls ť Said, a, o, oh way to go, Ohio

In the movie Tommy Boy, starring Chris Farley, a plane ticket is bought by Farley's love interest, played by Julie Warner, in the film from Sandusky, Ohio, to Cuyahoga Falls. There are presently no commercial airports in Cuyahoga Falls or Sandusky.
   In the movie My Fellow Americans starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner, President Kramer (Lemmon) and President Douglas (Garner) were heading to Kramer's presidential library located in Cuyahoga Falls. Even though Kramer was born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls cut him a deal on the property taxes.
   A billboard for a Cuyahoga Falls business is also briefly shown in the "Beautiful Fighters" music video by Ayumi Hamasaki.
   In the short lived FOX television series "DRIVE" the character Wendy Patrakas (Melanie Lynskey) was supposed to be from Cuyahoga Falls.

Geography

Cuyahoga Falls is located at (41.145556, -81.496685).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.6 square miles (66.4 km²), of which, 25.5 square miles (66.1 km²) of it's land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.35%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile (746.4/km²). There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7/sq mi (343.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.80% White, 1.87% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.63% of the population. Many locals jokingly call the city "Caucasian Falls" some say due to its mass population of Caucasians, but there was actually a law on the books to prevent blacks from owning property. This law was printed on every deed that was issued in the city, they've to alter the wording in every older deed that's transferred to get rid of the clause that prevents blacks from owning land. It was historically known as a sundown town.
   There were 21,655 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.90.
   In the city the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
   The median income for a household in the city was $42,263, and the median income for a family was $52,372. Males had a median income of $40,301 versus $28,459 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,550. About 4.5% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.
   The July 1, 2003 Census Bureau estimate for Cuyahoga Falls puts the population at 50,375.

Sites of interest

City Mayors

During Incorporation

Henry Newberry, 1837

Charles W. Wetmore, 1838

Hosea Paul, 1839

Charles W. Wetmore, 1840 to 1843

Birdseye Booth, 1844 to 1845

Hosea Paul, 1846

Oliver B. Beebe, 1847 to 1848

Charles W. Wetmore, 1849 to 1852

Municipal Government resumed (Village of Cuyahoga Falls)

William A. Hanford, 1868

Richard Blood, 1869

C. P. Humphrey, 1870 to 1871

Joshua L'Hommidieu, 1872 to 1873

Horace B. Camp, 1874 to 1875

George W. Rice, 1876 to 1877

John I Jones, 1878 to 1879

W. A. Hanford, 1880 to 1881

J. C. Castle, 1882 to 1883

A. B. Curtis, 1884

Samuel Higgs, 1885

Thomas H. Walsh, 1886

John I. Jones, 1887 to 1889

Samuel Higgs, 1890 to 1893

D. F. Felmly, 1894 to 1899

C. N. Russel, 1900 to 1902

E. M. Young, 1903 to 1904

Charles A. Davis, 1905 to 1908

C. N. Russel, 1909 to 1911

W. H. Taylor, 1912 to 1921

City of Cuyahoga Falls

George Herdman, 1922 to 1923

Charles Gray, 1924 to 1927

George Porter, 1928 to 1933

J. W. Haines, 1934 to 1943

Joseph W. Harding, 1944 to 1949

George A. Anderson, 1950 to 1951

Harding A. Wichert, 1952 to 1953

Elmer Wolf, 1954 to 1955

Emmet R. Wolfe, 1956 to 1961

David Sanders, 1962 to 1965

Delbert Ackerman, 1966 to 1968

Bruce Thomas, 1968 to 1969

William Coleman, 1970 to 1973

Robert J. Quirk, 1974 to 1985

Don L. Robart, 1986 to present

Famous natives

Jackie Gayda

John Jacobs (Formerly of The Power Team)

Jim Jarmusch (Film Director)

Gates McFadden (Actress)

Michael Morell (Associate Deputy Director of the CIA)

Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Lewis (Members of Devo)

Coondog O'Karma (Competitive Eater)Further Information

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