About Us

Perry Village Municipal Center and Police Department on Center RoadPerry Village is located in Lake County, Ohio, Latitude: 41.76 N, Longitude: 81.14 W. As of 2010 census the population was 1,663 with a median income of $68,281.00. Approximately 85% of the homes are owner occupied. Perry has a stable middle class population and is located in the smallest county in the state. The village also boasts a large number of college graduates.

Sidewalks throughout the village make walking anywhere in the community easy. There are also walking trails. With our own Police Department it is a convenient and safe place to live. Some of the resources located here are: The Perry Local School District, voted one of Ohio’s Best Schools with a new state of the art campus which includes a community fitness center. The Perry Local School District and Lake Health in partnership, have expanded the present Community Fitness Center into a Community Health and Wellness Center on Perry School District’s 100-plus-acre campus. Perry Area Joint Recreation provides year round activites for youth and senior citizens. Other resources inside the municipality are the Perry Fire Department Station #1 including a top notch rescue squad, Perry Township Offices, Perry Post Perry Methodist Church on Main StreetOffice, the Lake County YMCA Day Care Center, Lake/Geauga County Head Start, Perry Food Bank, Perry Public Library and the R.G. Few Arboretum and the Perry Village Park. We have a convenience store, beauty shop, barber shop, hardware and hobby shop, feed mill, antique shops, auto shop, a winery and 4 churches all within the village limits and a total of 11 churches in the Perry area. Public transportation is available through LakeTran.

Within the Perry area and only moments away are a full service grocery store, two full service banks, several restaurants, gasoline/service stations and many other businesses as well as a State of Ohio BMV and title bureau. For recreation there is the Perry Community and Senior Center, a golfing driving/practice range, the Lake County YMCA Outdoor Center, Lake Metro Park, Lakeshore Reservation as well as Perry Township parks on the shore of Lake Erie. Ball fields soccer fields, tennis courts, and much more can be found dotted through the rural landscape.

We are just minutes from Interstate Route 90 and State Route 2 making commuting and getting around easy. For higher learning the Madison Campus of Lakeland Community College, LCC Main Campus in Kirtland and Lake Erie College in Painesville are right here and just a bit farther are Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, and Kent State Universities. For health care there is Lake Health TriPoint, Lake Health West and their Madison Medical Campus. Also easily accessible are the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals and their branches. Parks and recreation are abundant with Masons Landing, Indian Point and Paine Falls in our back yard. Lake Erie Beaches are in our front yard with Lake Metroparks Fairport Harbor Beach and Mentor Headlands State Park which is Ohio’s longest beach at 1 mile in length and includes the Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve. It’s also next to the Mentor Lagoons Nature preserve and Mentor Marsh. Trophy fishing in Lake Erie and the Grand River for walleye, steelheadPerry Public Library front yard and sign along Main Street trout and jumbo perch are just a few minutes away. There are more than a half dozen Champion/designer golf courses, including a children’s course. There are over a dozen Award Winning local wineries including Chalet DeBonne, Ohio’s largest estate winery and within 30 minutes are more than a half dozen more. There is the Quail Hollow Resort Club and Madison Country Club for dining, swimming, golf, tennis and just plain fun in the sun.

We are less than 30 minutes from the Lost Nation Airport and Lake Metroparks 27 park locations including Painesville Township Park Dance Hall, Erie Shores Golf Course, Pine Ridge country club and golf course, Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Lake Farmpark hands on working park. Mentor, the largest retail shopping district in Ohio. Classic Park Stadium home of The Captains, Cleveland Indians Class A baseball in Eastlake. Historical attractions such as Lawnfield, residence of President James A. Garfield, Fairport Harbor Marine Museum & Lighthouse, Kirtland Temple and Visitors Center, Historic Kirtland Village and several famous stopping points of the Underground Railroad. The Holden Arboretum, USA’s largest arboretum; Bluestone Perennials, the third largest gardening mail-order company; and the Herb Society of America. Gallery One, the USA’s largest art gallery. There are over 30 hotels, motels, B&B’s, camp grounds and house/cottage rentals including the Frank Lloyd Wright – Louis Penfield House. Neighboring Ashtabula County with Geneva/Geneva on the Lake resort area and the counties famous covered bridges.

We’re less than one hour away from Cleveland, Canton and Akron Ohio and Erie PA and about an hour from the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Tom Ridge Field in Erie, PA. We’re about 2 hours from the Akron/Canton and Pittsburgh Airports.

History:

No History of Perry Village would be complete without first visiting the origins of the Perry area and how the three Perry communities are connected yet separate. The three Perry’s, (Perry Village, Perry Township and North Perry Village) share many resources and enjoy a good relationship and the spirit of cooperation. Some examples are the Perry Joint Fire Department, Perry Local Schools and Perry Area Recreation. Perry Village residents are also a part of Perry Township due to population figures and Ohio law. Therefore Village residents are entitled to all the benefits of the Township.

The History Of Perry Township, Lake county, Ohio

by Mary L, Platko, courtesy of The Perry Historical Society

Perry Township is described on county auditor records as township No.11 in the seventh range of the original Connecticut Western Reserve, and was one of the four townships selected by the Connecticut Land Company prior to the drawing of the lands on the “Reserve,” which were divided into 100 lots and distributed among the original stockholders.

Perry Historical Museum, formerly Town Hall building at the corner of Center Road and Main StreetPerry township was named after the honorable Commodore Oliver H. Perry, hero of the War of 1812. It currently consisted of 18 square miles and lies within the boundaries of Lake county. It was under the jurisdiction of Geauga County when it was formally organized on July 1, 1815. township trustees elected to office were Caleb Bates, John A. Harper and Elijah Hanks, Jr. Leonard Wheeler was elected clerk treasurer.

With the exception of ridges now known as North, Middle and South Ridge Roads, most surface of the township is generally level with soil mostly of a sandy nature, but clay is found to be the principal element at the extreme southern portion of the township.

The first settlements of Perry were made up of a swampy nature full of tamarack stumps, but by creative system of draining, the Perry area became well known for it’s fertile soil ideal for agriculture. In later years it also developed into a flourishing nursery business.

Other businesses known to exist in the early years of Perry’s development were lumber and grain mills, blacksmith and harness shops, a vinegar and cider mill owned by Nelson House and several flourishing distilleries. The Perry Cheese factory established in 1865 by the Carter family was known to have used the milk from 400 cows during it’s first year of operation.

An iron foundry, which received it’s ore from bogs in Perry, was shipped through the Great Lakes, and the successful Imperial Merchandise Company was established on land where the Perry Feed Mill now operates.

The distinction of having been the first settler of Perry has been given to Ezra Beebe, who it was said to have built his home near the Grand River prior to the year of 1910. His death occurred in 1813; he is buried in the Perry Cemetery on Center Road.

In a tiny log structure built on South ridge Road in the summer of 1815, Adolphus Mason taught the first school class. The students numbered about a dozen, some walking several miles to attend. This log structure also served in the year of 1815 as a place where the first prayer meetings were held.

The face of Perry Township has changed since its formation in 1815; it continues to thrive in the agriculture and nursery business, but in a much smaller fashion.

The industrial base has grown over the years with several manufacturing plants built within the boundaries of the township. Partly within the township lies the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, the largest industry in Lake County. The tax dollars generated from the plant has boosted the local economy with it’s tax dollars and has changed the face of Perry from the small farming community it once was. Much of the old farmlands and scenic nurseries of Perry are currently being developed into residential areas.

Perry Village and North Perry Village, once part of the township lands, have become entities of their own.

Research source in part – “The History of Lake and Geauga County Ohio 1878” and “Memorial to the Pioneer Woman of the Western Reserve”, Mlp Copyright Material, Permission required.

The History Of Perry Village

Lake County Nursery Exchange field A two square mile portion of Perry township, which developed into the business of trade area of the township due to it’s proximity to the railroads, became known as the “Village of Perry” in the year of 1913.

The improvements desired by the citizens who resided within that small concentrated area of the township circulated a petition that was filed with the Lake County Commissioners on June 2, 1913. Approximately 80 electors signed the petition for the proposed incorporation of the village with E.M. Orcutt and J.F. Brown specified as spokesmen. The petition stated there were approximately 500 people who lived within the prescribed area.

The Perry Village Business area, though somewhat less, remains concentrated in the same “downtown” area as when the village was founded. In more recent years, the building of a new fire station, post office and administration offices for both the township and the village have become the governmental business center for the village.