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Summit County, Ohio
Genealogy, History & Facts

Summit County, Ohio Facts

When was Summit County, OH Created?
Summit County was created on March 3, 1840 from Medina CountyPortage County and Stark County. This county was named for having the highest elevation along the Ohio Canal.

What is the County Seat of Summit County, OH?
The County Seat is located in Akron also, the county government website is www.co.summit.oh.us/ .

What counties are adjacent to Summit County, OH?
Bordering Counties are Cuyahoga CountyPortage CountyStark CountyWayne CountyMedina County .

What cities and towns are in Summit County, OH
Cities and towns located in the County include Akron, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, Green, Hudson, Macedonia, Munroe Falls, New Franklin, Norton, Stow, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Boston Heights, Clinton, Lakemore, Mogadore, Northfield, Peninsula, Reminderville, Richfield, Silver Lake. Other communities include Montrose-Ghent, Pigeon Creek, Portage Lakes.

What townships are in Summit County, OH
Townships located in the County include Bath, Boston, Copley, Coventry, Northfield Center, Richfield, Sagamore Hills, Springfield, Twinsburg

Summit County, OH Vital Records

Where can find Summit County Birth, marriage, Divorce and Death Records?
Summit County vital records can be found at the Ohio Department of Health which has Birth Records since Dec 20, 1908; Death Records since since 1954 and copies of Marriage and Divorce Records since 1918 to present There is a fee for each copy requested. Please refer to the information to the Statewide Vital Records in Ohio for current fees and application process.

You can search online for Summit County Birth, Marriage, Divorce or Death Records. You can also Order Electronically Online or can download an application for Ohio Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail. The Archives Division has copies of births before 1908, death before 1944 and marriage records before 1949.

Summit County, OH Census Records


What Summit County, OH census records are available?
There are many types of census records for Summit County guide you in researching your family tree. Federal Population Schedules are available for 1850186018701880 (free index)1890 (fragment)19001910192019301940.

Summit Co. Mortality Schedules can be found for 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Summit Co. Industry and Agriculture can be obtained for 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Summit Co. Union Veterans Schedules is available for 1890. One can find free online and printable census forms to help you with your research. See Also Ohio Census Records Research Guide

Summit County, OH Courthouse and Government Records

Summit County Courthouse

What genealogical records can I find in the Summit County Courthouse?
Researchers frequently overlook the great importance of Summit County court, probate, and land records data as a useful resource of ancestry and genealogy information. Buried away in Ohio courthouses and archives everywhere are the ambitions and frustrations of countless Ohio residents. The possibilities are excellent that your forefathers have left a comprehensive document of at least a number of facets of their lives in the Summit County court records. Even if your forebears is not referred to in a Court case, contemplate all of the other procedures that could have lead to him or her to appear in court records. See Also Ohio Courthouse Records Research Guide.

Summit County, OH Societies and Family History Resources

What genealogical and historical societies, archives, museums, associations and libraries are available for Summit County, OH?
A list of Summit County Historical  and Genealogical Societies, Libraries, Archives. See also list of Statewide Ohio Archives, Historical & Genealogical Societies.

  • Summit County Chapter, OGS, PO Box 2232, Akron, OH 44309-2232; Summit County Chapter, OGS meets the third Saturday of the month at 1:00pm at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St., Akron. There are no meetings in August, November and December. The annual banquet is in November. Time and place of the banquet are announced in October. This OGS Chapter, dedicated to promoting, teaching, and preserving Summit County and the United States Historical and genealogical records, provides instruction classes at area libraries and publishes cemetery and vital records.
  • Summit County Historical Society, 550 Copley Rd, Akron, OH 44320-2398; Phone: (330) 535-1120; The Summit County Historical Society operates the Perkins Stone Mansion (1837) and John Brown House Museum (1830) to interpret county history. The Society supports award-winning school outreach programs, an active publications program, and hosts adult and family events year round.
  • Bath Township Historical Society, PO Box 1, Bath, OH 44210-0001; Phone: (419) 394-7069; The Bath Township Historical Society operates its museum in the enclosed balcony of the historic Bath Town Hall. Among the Society’s holdings is the 1892 Stoney Hill School No. 12. Society collections include Board of Education records, paintings by local artists, and history of historic families, and some national historical register properties.
  • Clinton Historical Society, PO Box 125, Clinton, OH 44216-0125; Phone: (330) 882-2558; The Clinton Historical Society maintains a museum where its collection of historical records, photographs, artifacts, implements, and furnishings document the history of the Clinton Area.
  • Copley Township Historical Society, PO Box 4037, Copley, OH 44321-0037; Phone: (330) 867-6940; The Copley Depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2001 and is currently being restored. The Copley Township Historical Society has an active oral history program and is developing a cooperative program with the local schools.
  • Council of Historical Institutions & Preservation, 22 Aurora St, Hudson, OH 44236-2947; The Council of Historical Institution and Preservation Societies (CHIPS) is a co-operative and a clearinghouse for historical agencies in Summit and Portage counties that fosters a sense of unity among groups in the two counties.
  • Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society, PO Box 186, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44222-0186; Phone: (330) 929-1765; The Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society is open year round. During September through June it has programs of historical interest monthly at Taylor Library on the second Wednesday of each month. Museum also open the third Sunday of each month from 2-4 p.m.
  • Fairlawn Archives & Historical Comm , 3487 S Smith Rd, Fairlawn, OH 44333-3007; Fort Island Indian Mound Park, once a site of the Erie Indians, is a natural park with walkways.
  • Gallery of Akron’s Black History & Culture, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1801; Phone: (330) 972-7030; The Akron Black History & Culture Gallery is committed to telling the African American story fully and accurately as it impacted the greater Akron experience and how the story impacts our collective life today.
  • Green Historical Society , PO Box 533, Green, OH 44232-0533; Phone: (330) 592-5945;
  • Historical Society of Olde Northfield, PO Box 99, Northfield, OH 44067-0099; Phone: (330) 467-8322; The Historical Society of Olde Northfield operates the Palmer House, an 1844 vertical plank-walled house, as its museum.
  • Hudson Heritage Association , PO Box 2218, Hudson, OH 44236-2218; Phone: (330) 653-9817; The Hudson Heritage Association, founded to preserve the Western Reserve community of Hudson, monitors governmental meetings to ensure that preservation will receive recognition and consideration. It provides monthly meetings with speakers on preservation and historical events, and awards distinctive markers to worthy buildings built prior to 1912.
  • Hudson Library & Historical Society, 96 Library St, Hudson, OH 44236-5122; Phone: (330) 653-6658; The Hudson Library and Historical Society is a combination of a full-service public library and a privately held historical society, with an emphasis on historical and genealogical research. Its collection includes materials pertaining to the community, as well as a major collection of material about Hudson resident, John Brown.
  • Mogadore Historical Society Inc , 87 S Cleveland Ave, Mogadore, OH 44260-1514; Phone: (330) 628-4109; The Mogador Historical Society currently maintains the Mills-Kreiner House, circa 1830, and is proceeding in the renovation of the railroad depot that will house a museum of Mogadore memorabilia.
  • Munroe Falls Historical Society, 43 Munroe Falls Ave, Munroe Falls, OH 44262-1537; Phone: (740) 668-5878; The Munroe Falls Historical Society operates a 19th century home as its museum with exhibits on local history library and archives. The purpose of the society is to promote interest in the history of Munroe Falls, to collect and preserve local history artifacts, and to make available to the public historical information about the community.
  • Nesmith Lake Historical Society , 475 W Waterloo Rd #5, Akron, OH 44314-3466; Phone: (330) 753-4501;
  • Northampton Historical Society, 211 Washington Ave, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221-2323; Phone: (330) 923-6678; After a July 1992 tornado destroyed the circa 1875 one-room schoolhouse which served as the Society’s museum, remaining archives, artifacts, etc., were put in temporary storage. Monthly meetings are held at the former Northampton Town Hall on the 4th Monday at 7:30 p.m.
  • Norton Historical Society , 4060 Columbia Woods Dr, Norton, OH 44203-5708; Phone: (330) 825-7572; The Norton Historical Society maintains a collection of photographs, scrapbooks, clippings, and slides of Norton’s early settlers.
  • Peninsula Library & Historical Society, PO Box 236, Peninsula, OH 44264-0236; Phone: (330) 657-2291; The Peninsula Library & Historical Society’s collections center on the history of Boston Township, Peninsula, Boston Heights, Boston Mills, and Everett. Holdings include photographs, cemetery records, local government records, and scrapbooks.
  • Portage Lakes Historical Society, 3560 Peninsula Dr, Akron, OH 44319-2933; Phone: (330) 644-4547; The Portage Lakes Historical Society has historic boat tours with markers dating back to the early 1800s. There is a stagecoach stop, a mill from around 1817 and maps from 1918 including a map of Portage Lakes Lock 1 to Wolf Creek Lock in Barberton.
  • Richfield Historical Society, PO Box 215, Richfield, OH 44286-0215; Phone: (330) 659-0336; The Richfield Historical Society maintains the Old Town Hall as its museum. Society collections include photographs, maps, costumes, tools used in times past, and local genealogy information. Slide shows are given and third grade students visit each year.
  • Silver Lake Historical Society, 2850 Bellaire Rd, Silver Lake Village, Silver Lake, OH 44224-3008; Phone: (330) 472-4271; The Silver Lake Historical Society preserves artifacts and photographs of Silver Lake Amusement Park that closed after World War I. Originally purchased in 1874 by Ralph H. Lodge, the Park included Silver Lake and thirty acres of land at its southwest corner. In 1918 the Park was sold for residential development.
  • Stow Historical Society, P O Box 1425, Stow, OH 44224-1425; Phone: (330) 688-5888; The Stow Historical Society’s Darrow House is furnished almost entirely with Darrow furniture. A new addition is the Mary Starr House circa 1850.
  • Tallmadge Historical Society, PO Box 25, Tallmadge, OH 44278-0025; Phone: (330) 633-2217; The upstairs museum appears as a village green surrounded by storefronts and houses depicting a general store, blacksmith shop, kitchen, parlor, bedroom, and law office. It also has two transcribed copies of the ten volume complete history of the Western Reserve (written from 1858-1886), by Charles Cook Bronson.
  • Twinsburg Historical Society, PO Box 7, Twinsburg, OH 44087-0007; Phone: (330) 425-2571; The Twinsburg Historical Society, housed in the 1865 Bissell Institute that served as an educational institute, presents programs of historical relevance throughout the year for the Twinsburg community.
  • Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division,  1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211; Telephone: 614-297-2300
  • Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 South Main Street, Mansfield OH 44907-1644

Where can I connect with other Summit County, OH Researchers through message boards and forums?

What other genealogical resources are available in Summit County, OH?
The following are web links to Genealogy, Records and Resources pertaining to Summit County.

Summit Co. OH Books, Newspapers & Publications

Summit Co. OH Church / Bible Records & Cemeteries / Graveyards

Summit Co. OH Family Websites, Pictures & Histories

Summit Co. OH General and History Websites

Summit Co. OH Immigration & Naturalization

Summit Co. OH Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers

Summit Co. OH Military Records