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Portage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of 2000, the population was 152,061. Its county seat is Ravenna. Portage County is named for the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers. The name "Portage" comes from an old Native American path called "Portage Trail", which ran between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, where travelers portaged their canoes. The location of the trail today is within the boundaries of neighboring Summit County. The first European settler in what is now Portage County was Abraham Honey in 1798 in the area now known as Mantua Township, followed by Asa Hall in what is now Atwater Township in April 1799; Benjamin Tappan, Jr. in what is now Ravenna, David Daniels in what is now Palmyra Township, and Ebenezer Sheldon in what is now Aurora all arrived in June 1799. When first settled, the area that presently constitutes Portage County was part of the original Jefferson County, which had been organized in 1797. In 1800, the area was made part of Trumbull County, which followed the boundaries of the Connecticut Western Reserve. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 507 square miles (1,313 km²).492 square miles (1,275 km²) of it is land and 15 square miles (38 km²) of it (2.90%) is water. West Branch State Park is a very large state park in central Portage County, consisting of a large green surrounding the Michael J. Kirwan Dam and Reservoir. There are a number of smaller state and local parks. Portage County is arranged as a 4x5 grid of 20 rectangles: 18 unincorporated townships containing 9 cities and villages; and two incorporated townships which are fully occupied by one city each. Under Ohio law, there are two types of incorporated municipal jurisdictions: cities and villages, and any territory within a county that is not part of an incorporated municipality (city or village), is part of a township. Townships have limited local government and services. The Ravenna Training and Logistics Site, commonly known as the Ravenna Arsenal, consumes much of the land in Charlestown, Paris, and Windham Township, as well as a small part of Freedom Township.
There are 18 unincorporated townships:
There are 11 villages and cities that were formed from all or parts of the original 20 townships:
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