As long as there have been communities, people in them have gathered to buy, trade and sell their wares. What once was known as the marketplace, we call “downtown.”
The village of Navarre is situated on the banks of the Tuscarawas River and started out as three separate villages: Bethlehem, Rochester and Navarre.
The village of Magnolia, situated in southeast Stark County, isn’t the largest downtown in the area, but a short walk around its quiet blocks reveals the town’s history.
With its brick street and sidewalks, downtown Minerva offers the ambiance of a historical, out-of-the-way village.
Tucked inside the northwest corner of Stark County is one of the area’s most interesting and historic little towns. The Canal Fulton area first was known as Milan in 1814, and 12 years later, Fulton was platted.
Standing murals decorate the sidewalks of Louisville along Main Street. Behind them sit a few businesses credited with anchoring the small city’s downtown.
Jackson Township has grown from a rural township to a residential and commercial powerhouse in its 200 years of existence.
Slowly, surely, downtown Alliance is coming back to life. The 1-mile section of E. Main Street, just steps from the bucolic University of Mount Union campus, is reinventing itself as the go-to place for items that can’t be found in your average mall.
Historic downtown Hartville is undergoing a revival, but it’s not neglecting its past. Nestled among more-than-a-century-old buildings along Prospect, Mill and Maple streets, downtown is packed with creativity, from artists who restore vintage furniture to chocolatiers.
For many cities, the loss of a major manufacturing company in the heart of its downtown would have been fatal. Not in North Canton.
