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CHistory
History · Portage Lakes

Portage Lakes’ post office opened in 1923, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #871 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 2000.

1923first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Portage Lakes began

When was Portage Lakes founded?

1923

The Portage Lakes post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 9,870 in 20002020 census: 6,407103 years

How historic is Portage Lakes?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Portage Lakes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Portage Lakes’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portage Lakes is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #871 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portage Lakes’ overall grade.
Founding era1923, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194020.6% of homes (±6.6) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical OH town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 12%

Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Portage Lakes’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Portage Lakes’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Portage Lakes are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19035 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1992. Watch Portage Lakes change.Old housesHalf of Portage Lakes’ homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portage Lakes’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portage Lakes’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Portage Lakes on the map, 1903 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Portage Lakes. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Portage Lakes on the 1903 USGS mapPortage Lakes on the 1958 USGS mapPortage Lakes on the 1967 USGS mapPortage Lakes on the 1979 USGS mapPortage Lakes on the 1992 USGS map1903Akron sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Portage Lakes.

The story so far

Portage Lakes, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Portage Lakes yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Portage Lakes is a census-designated place in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,407 at the 2020 census. A suburb directly south of Akron, the community takes its name from the encompassing Portage Lakes. Portage Lakes is a part of Coventry Township. The community includes Portage Lakes State Park, which features boatramps and seasonal beach swimming. Portage Lakes is part of the Akron metropolitan area and is notable as the birthplace of Rockabilly musician Bill Allen (musician).

Its first post office opened in 1923. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,968 to 6,407 (-8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Portage Lakes, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00020002020Peak: 9,870

Between 6,407 and 9,870 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Portage Lakes’ Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Coventry TownshipIts storyC+Akron63 historic placesA+Green2 historic placesC−

Questions about Portage Lakes’ history

What year was Portage Lakes founded?

The Portage Lakes post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Portage Lakes rank for history?

Portage Lakes is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #871 of 993 in Ohio. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Portage Lakes?

21% of Portage Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1962.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.