Painesville, Ohio

Painesville is included in what is historically referred to as the Connecticut Western Reserve. General Edward Paine (1746–1841), a native of Bolton, Connecticut,^[5] who had served as a captain in the Connecticut militia during the war, and John Walworth arrived in 1800 with a party of sixty-six settlers, among the first in the Western Reserve. General Paine later represented the region in the territorial legislature of the Northwest Territory.

In 1800 the Western Reserve became Trumbull County, Ohio, and at the first Court of Quarter Sessions, the county was divided into eight townships. The smallest of these townships was named Painesville, for General Paine, and encompassed what later became the townships of Perry, Leroy, Hambden, Concord, Chardon, Mentor, and Kirtland. The township government was organized in 1802. The post office in Painesville was opened in 1803 with John Walworth as postmaster.

In what was to become the commercial center of the township was a settlement called Oak Openings, its name being descriptive of the scrub oaks and sandy soil. It was here in 1805 that Gen. Henry Champion laid out a village plat and called it Champion, a name that it carried only until incorporation in 1832 when the name "Painesville" was chosen in honor of General Paine. Two of his descendants, Eleazer A. Paine and Halbert E. Paine, later served as Union Army generals during the American Civil War.

In 1840, Lake County was created from portions of Geauga County and Cuyahoga County, and Painesville was made the county seat. In 1852, the community of Painesville became a village, and in 1902 the village attained city status.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.01 square miles (18.15 km²), of which 6.83 square miles (17.68 km²) are land and 0.18 square miles (0.47 km²), or 2.59%, is water.^[7]

Painesville and Concord townships, along with the village of Fairport Harbor and the city of Mentor, are adjacent to Painesville.

Painesville's Hispanic population increased elevenfold between 1990 and 2010. New residents were primarily immigrants from León, Guanajuato, the fourth-largest city in Mexico. They had settled in Painesville after finding work in its plant nurseries.^[14]

The largest employers are the city government, county government, and the public school systems.^[21] Other notable employers in the area include Avery Dennison, Mar-Bal Corp., Lubrizol, AeroControlex, Guyer Precision, Eckart America, Ranpak and Meritec.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

Painesville has a council–manager system of government. The city council consists of seven members who are elected for four-year terms. Three members are elected by the city at large, and four members are elected from wards.^[30] Painesville City Hall was built in 1852 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[31]

Public education in Painesville is provided by the Painesville City Schools, which includes Red Raider Preschool; Chestnut Elementary School, Elm Street Elementary School, and Maple Elementary School (all grades K–5); Heritage Middle School (grades 6–8) and Thomas W. Harvey High School (grades 9–12).^[32]

Painesville is the home of Lake Erie College, a private liberal arts college enrolling approximately 1,200 students.^[33] The college offers over 60 undergraduate programs and master's programs. The former Andrews Osborne Academy's Painesville campus became part of Lake Erie College in 2008.^[34]

Morley Library, serving both Painesville City and Painesville Township, is located within Painesville's 284-acre (115 ha) Historic Downtown District.^[35]

• WHWN (88.3 FM) Regional Mexican
• WABQ (1460 AM) Urban contemporary gospel

Major transportation routes in the city are U.S. Route 20 and Ohio State Route 2, Ohio State Route 84 and Ohio State Route 44. Painesville is located just north of Interstate 90 and is easily accessed via Route 44. Laketran operates bus lines throughout Lake County as well as into downtown Cleveland and Cleveland's major medical centers in University Circle.^[36]

Two major freight railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, pass through the city and serve some of the city's industries. There is no passenger rail service in the city, although Painesville station was formerly served from 1893 to 1971 by various railroads, most prominently the New York Central Railroad.^[37]

The Painesville City and Painesville Township healthcare needs are provided in neighboring Concord Township by University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Tri-Point Medical Center. The hospital is part of the Lake Health healthcare system.

The area in and around Painesville was used as the location for the filming of the 1964 feature film One Potato, Two Potato.^[38] The film, which was selected at that year's Cannes Film Festival,^[39] provides a glimpse of the era in the city's downtown, featuring its central park and surrounding architecture. The Lake County Courthouse and Painesville City Hall remain today. The historic Parmly Hotel, which is seen in the opening credits and occasionally throughout the film, has since been replaced by a shopping plaza and office complex.