Place Information
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Canton is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The city is located in northeastern Ohio, approximately 23 miles (37 km) south of Akron and 64 miles (103 km) south of Cleveland. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 80,806, but according to a July 1, 2004 Census estimate, the population has declined to 79,905. Despite this decline, the 2004 figure actually moved Canton up from 9th to 8th place among Ohio cities, as Youngstown, once considerably more populous than Canton, suffered a larger decline. Canton is the county seat of Stark County. The Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area has a total population of 406,934 as of the census of 2000. Canton is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the McKinley National Memorial, the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, and the First Ladies National Historic Site. History
Canton was founded in 1805. Cantonrep.com quotes Kim Kenney, the curator of the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, whose information came from E.T. Heald's series The Stark County Story, as saying that Canton was incorporated as a village in 1822, and then as a city in 1838. However, the history page of the City of Canton's web page [1] gives the date for incorporation as a village as being in 1815, as a town in 1834, and as a city in 1854. Bezaleel Wells, the surveyor who divided the land of the town, named it after Canton (an antiquated transliteration for Guangzhou), China. The name was a memorial to a trader named John O'Donnell, whom Wells admired. O'Donnell had named his Maryland plantation after the Chinese city, as he had been the first person to transport goods from there to Baltimore. Research Tips
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