The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
ONTHLY
7fCafteAt9S7
CROSS SECTIONS
of the Fourth F e d e ra l R e se rv e District
II. CLEVELAND AND EASTERN LAKE ERIE
D.
E.
F.
G.
NINE ECONOM IC A REA S
Including 22 counties
LORAIN-ELYRIA
MANSFIELD
AKRON...
CANTON
i
Town-and-Country A n
SANDUSKY-ASHLAND.
HTABULA-KENT—
CITY-MEADVILLE
CLEVELAND Metropolitan Area
Cuyahoga and Lake Counties
(Area C .)
Pittsburgh also ranks 8th among the
of the United States and Cleveland is
in 10th place.
All three of the rankings just cited are
based on the most recent Census of Popula
tion, as of April 1950, shown in Table l . (1)
Since 1950, there has been an appreciable
population increase. Thus, the Standard
Metropolitan Area of Cleveland registered an
estimated 15-percent increase in population
between 1950 and early 1956 while the in
crease in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area
l e v e l a n d shares with Pittsburgh its posi
was only about 7 percent.)
tion as population center of the Fourth
The corporate city of Cleveland has a popu
Federal Reserve District and its place high
lation of about 934,000 according to estimates
among the largest metropolitan areas of the
made in early 1956.
United States. The precise rank of Cleveland,
Largest suburbs of Cleveland are Lake
and also of Pittsburgh, varies according to
wood,
Cleveland Heights, Parma, and Euclid,
whether measurement is taken of the popula
with
populations
ranging from about 67,000
tion within the corporate city limits, or
down to 55,000, as of early 1956. Parma is a
within the “ urbanized area,” or within
relatively new entry in the list of largest
the “ Standard Metropolitan Area” (See
suburbs,
its population having more than
Table 1.)
doubled between 1950 and 1956. By contrast,
Thus, Cleveland is the 7th largest city of
the population of Lakewood declined by about
the United States, and Pittsburgh is the 12th
one percent during the same period. Suburbs
largest, in terms of the population of corpo
ranging from about 40,000 down to 25,000
rate cities. However, in terms of “ urbanized
( i) Of the three alternative measurements, the “ Standard
area,” Pittsburgh is the 8th largest city of
Metropolitan Area” is the one which is used most extensively
within
the framework of this cross-sections survey. It has a
the nation, while Cleveland is 10th largest.
breadth of coverage which reflects suburban growth; also it
has
the
practical advantage of permitting the use of county(“ Urbanized area” is a relatively recent Cen
wide data.
sus concept; it applies to contiguous, built-up
The “ urbanized area” concept is the most refined of the
three measurements and for some purposes is most scien
area, irrespective of corporate limits or
tifically defensible. Such data, however, are not available for
as many dates as the other measures; also public understand
county lines.) In terms of “ Standard Metro
ing of the “ urbanized area” concept is less fully developed.
politan Area” which includes one or more
The “ corporate city" type of measure, although too narrow
for many purposes, has the advantage of a long tradition and
entire counties closely related to the central
its meaning is easily recognized.
C
E D IT O R ’S N O T E : This article on Cleveland and
Eastern Lake Erie is the second of a series of five
articles analyzing economic activity in the various
areas of the Fourth Federal Reserve District, both in
terms of current standings and relative rates of
growth.
The first article appeared as a supplement to the
December 1956 issue o f this Review and dealt with
Northwestern Ohio, which is composed of 2 metro
politan areas and 2 town-and-country areas. The
third article, to appear in an early issue, will apply
to Pittsburgh, Youngstown and the Upper Ohio
Valley, comprising 5 metropolitan areas and 4 townand-country areas. The fourth article will deal with
Central and Southwestern Ohio; the fifth and final
article will apply to Eastern Kentucky.
Each economic area discussed in the text is com
posed of one or more counties. The ‘ ‘ metropolitan ’ ’
areas conform to the official Census designation of
Standard Metropolitan Areas; in each case there is a
central city of at least 50,000 population. Although
many of the metropolitan areas are limited to one
country each, certain ones, such as Cleveland or Pitts
burgh, have two or more counties.
The “ town-and-country ’ ’ areas are composed of a
number of adjoining counties (sometimes 10 or more)
which have been grouped according to similarity of
industrialization, agriculture, levels of income, etc.
Although cities in these areas are not as large as
50,000, the town-and-country areas usually include a
number of important population centers in the range
from 5,000 up to 50,000. For a list of the 19 metro
politan areas and the 15 town-and-country areas of
the Fourth District, with the counties included in
each, see Table 4 on page 20.
A selection of information (which is the most re
cent available on a consistent basis) is summarized
for the population, manufacturing, finance, agricul
ture and trade of each. Ranks are assigned to each
item of information to indicate the standings of the
areas within the Fourth District. Comparable bench
mark information is provided for the state of Ohio,
the Fourth District in total, and the United States in
total.
Further information on methods o f classification is
shown in the Appendix of this article. Specific sources
of information provided in the master table, i.e.
Table 3 on pages 12 and 13, are listed at the bottom
of that table.
Table 1
CLEVELAND’S RANK IN POPULATION
AMONG LARGEST CITIES OF THE U. S.
According to Three Alternative Measures
(Census o f 1950)
R ANK
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Population of
Corporate City
New York.............
Chicago................
Philadelphia........
Los Angeles..........
Detroit..................
Baltimore..............
C L E V E L A N D ..
St. Louis...............
Washington.........
Boston.................
San Francisco...
P IT T S B U R G H .
. .7,892,000
. .3,621,000
. .2,072,000
. .1,970,000
. .1,850,000
.. 950,000
.. 915,000
.. 857,000
.. 802,000
.. 801,000
.. 775,000
.. 677,000
Population of
“ Urbanized Area”
New York.............
Chicago................
Los Angeles..........
Philadelphia.........
Detroit..................
Boston...................
San Francisco.. . .
P IT TSB U R G H ..
St. Louis...............
C L E V E L A N D ...
Washington..........
Baltimore.............
.12,296,000
. 4,921,000
. 3,997,000
. 2,922,000
. 2,659,000
. 2,233,000
. 2,022,000
. 1,533,000
. 1,400,000
. 1,384,000
. 1,287,000
1,162,000
Population of
Standard Metropolitan
Area*
New York............... 12,912,000
Chicago.................. 5,495,000
Los Angeles............ 4,368,000
Philadelphia.......... 3,671,000
Detroit.................... 3,016,000
Boston..................... 2,370,000
San Francisco........ 2,241,000
P IT T S B U R G H . . . 2,213,000
St. Louis................. 1,681,000
C L E V E L A N D .. . . 1,466,000
Washington............ 1,464,000
Baltimore................ 1,337,000
♦For estimates o f population o f the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Metropolitan Areas, as o f early 1956, along with those o f the other 17
metropolitan areas o f the Fourth District, see “ Northwestern Ohio,” first article in this series, December 1956 Supplement, page 3.
include in order: East Cleveland, Shaker
Heights, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and
South Euclid. Other suburbs of Cleveland
which have in excess of 8,000 population in
clude : Berea, University Heights, Rocky
River, Lyndhurst, Fairview Park, Bedford,
Parma Heights, Mayfield Heights, Bay Vil
lage, Westlake, North Olmsted, and Brooklyn.
Altogether, the suburban cities listed above
had an estimated population of 514,000 as of
early 1956. That represents a growth of 27
percent since the Census of 1950, contrasting
with the 2 percent growth shown by the cor
porate city of Cleveland.
In Lake County, which adjoins Cuyahoga
county on the northeast and which is included
within the Standard Metropolitan Area of
Cleveland, the principal centers of population
are as follows: Painesville with 17,000; Wil
loughby, 12,000; Eastlake, 12,000; Wickliffe,
9,000; and Willowick, 9,000.
in the Pittsburgh area. (See Table 2, page
6.) There was also a growth in manufactur
ing employment in the Cleveland area, be
tween 1947 and 1954, which amounted to 9
percent. (Manufacturing employment during
the same period declined in the Pittsburgh
area.)
Expressed on the basis of a relative meas
ure, the Cleveland area ranks 8th among the
19 metropolitan areas of the District in re
spect to value added per manufacturing
worker, with $8,232 added per worker — a
figure appreciably higher than the average
for Ohio or for the Fourth District or for the
nation. (See Table 3 on page 12.) As to the
proportion of population employed in manu
facturing, with 190 persons per 1,000 popula
tion so employed, the area scores 7th among
the District’s 19 metropolitan areas.
Leading Industry Groups
Manufacturing Strength
Unlike centers which are dominated by one
major industry, Cleveland’s industrial com
plex has grown as a collection of many small
or medium-size plants, mainly under local
ownership. In the Cleveland area there are
nearly 480 establishments employing 100 or
more persons. The value added by manufac
turing during 1954 amounted to $2,405 mil
lion, according to the Census of Manufactures
of that year. In respect to the total “ value
added,” the area ranks 2nd among the 19
metropolitan areas of the District. The Pitts
burgh area leads the District in the absolute
measure of “ value added” by a margin of
$84 million.
Precision metal working has historically
been the strong point of Cleveland industry.
Machinery is the leading industry classifica
tion in the area, both in terms of employ
ment and in terms of value added by manu
facture. Over 67,000 persons are employed
by the machinery industry (including elec
trical machinery) or more than one-fifth of
the area’s total manufacturing employment.
Value added by manufacture in this branch
of industry alone amounted to $572.7 million,
or 24 percent of the total value added to the
area, according to the 1954 Census of Manu
factures.
The Cleveland area also ranks second to
Pittsburgh in respect to monthly payrolls of
insured employment, as of the first quarter of
1956; the figure for the Cleveland metro
politan area was $238.6 million.
Transportation equipment is second in size
in the area. This group includes production
of motor vehicles and parts, as well as air
craft, aircraft parts and auxiliary equip
ment; altogether it employs nearly 60,000
workers. The corresponding value added in
1954 was $502.8 million, or 21 percent of the
total value added by manufacture in the area.
The Cleveland area’s growth in value added
by manufacture, between the two Census years
1947 and 1954, was 55 percent and this was
substantially larger than the rate of growth
Primary metals industries in the Cleveland
area employ over 40,000 persons. Operations
in the primary metals group include smelting,
rolling, casting and forging of metals. Lo
4
cated in the area are blast furnaces, steel
works and rolling mills of several of the na
tion’s largest steel producers—specifically the
home plants of the nation’s third-largest steel
producer. Numerous foundries and forge
shops, both ferrous and nonferrous, are found
in the area, including an aluminum foundry
and forge plant which is one of the largest of
its industry. Also, there is one large brass
mill. Value added by the primary metals
group represented approximately 15 percent
of the total value added in the area in 1954.
Nearly 35,000 persons are employed in the
plants fabricating metal products. Innumera
ble lines of metal products are fabricated in
the Cleveland area, ranging from nuts and
bolts to hot-air furnaces. Value added in this
branch of production in 1954 amounted to
$244.9 million.
Other important industry groups that ac
count for a substantial volume of employment
include the chemicals and foods groups, with
approximate employment of 15,000 each,
printing and publishing with about 14,000,
and apparel with nearly 11,000.
Plants and Products
Although the machinery group of indus
tries is the largest employing group in the
Cleveland metropolitan area, as previously
mentioned, the largest individual plants in
the area are in other lines. Thus, the three
plants with the largest number of employees
are as follows: first, a plant manufacturing
aircraft and automotive parts; second, a steel
rolling mill; third, a plant manufacturing
auto transmissions. All are in Cuyahoga
county.
machine tools, construction and mining ma
chinery, metal working machinery, twist
drills, diesel engines, primary and storage
batteries, crankshafts, switchboard apparatus,
and printing machinery. Other plants in the
machinery field, with employment between
500 and 1,000 persons, produce: electrical
welding apparatus, industrial and research
instruments, appliances, electric generators,
heating equipment, lift trucks, household ap
pliances, sewing machines, hydraulic pumps,
drilling machines, and ammeters. There are
also dozens of machine shops (jobbing and
repair) and smaller factories producing ma
chine tool accessories which employ together
about 7,000 persons.
Large plants, located in Cuyahoga County,
which are in the transportation-equipment
field and which employ more than 1,000, each,
include the following: three plants producing
aircraft parts; at least 5 plants producing
major auto parts; and one plant producing
trucks.
In the fabricated metals category, plants
employing 500 or more, each, in Cuyahoga
County produce the following: nuts and bolts,
wire products, screw machine products, sheet
metal stampings, pipe fittings, lighting fix
tures, hardware, tools and dies.
Other large plants in the area are identified
below in terms of product lines — first for
Cuyahoga County and then for Lake County.
In addition to the leading industry groups
discussed above, scores of industries and
thousands of product lines are included in
the Cleveland industrial complex. Some of
these are large plants. For example, plants
employing more than 500, each, in Cuyahoga
County include such diverse hard-goods and
soft-goods lines as the following: wearing
apparel, rayon yarn, greeting cards, petro
leum refinery products, food products, beer,
office fixtures, measuring instruments, paints,
enamels, paper bags, rubber products, and
industrial brushes.
Plants which manufacture machinery (in
cluding electrical) and which employ 1,000
or more, each, in C u y a h o g a C o u n t y produce
the following lines, in approximate order of
number of employees per plant: electric
motors and aircraft electric equipment, office
machinery, industrial bearings, electric lamps,
In L a k e C o u n t y there are large chemical
plants and a rayon yam mill located near
Painesville, together employing about 6,000
persons. Woodworking machinery is also pro
duced in Painesville. A large plant producing
rubber products is located at Willoughby.
Chemicals, industrial machinery, and convey
5
Table 2
INDUSTRY IN ALL 19 METROPOLITAN AREAS
AREA
Pittsburgh................................................
CLEVELAN D........................................
Cincinnati................................................
Dayton.....................................................
Youngstown.............................................
Columbus................................................
A K R O N ..................................................
T oledo......................................................
C A N T O N ................................................
Wheeling-Steubenville..........................
E R IE ........................................................
Hamilton-Middletown..........................
L O R A IN -E L Y R IA ...............................
Huntington-Ashland..............................
Springfield...............................................
MANSFIELD.........................................
Lim a.........................................................
New Castle..............................................
Lexington................................................
Monthly Payrolls
Insured
Employment
1956— 1st Q,
(Million $) RANK
256.7
238.6
116.6
68.9
68.2
63.0
59.7
50.0
36.3
27.1
23.0
21.4
19.8
14.9
11.1
10.8
9.1
8.7
5.8
ing equipment are produced at Wickliffe, and
control equipment at Madison.
Greenhouses and nurseries are important
enterprises in Lake County.
Cleveland as a Port
Industrial activity of the Cleveland area is
closely related to the city’s historic impor
tance as an industrial lake port. Access to
the Upper Lakes iron ore deposits by way of
the Great Lakes has made Cleveland an im
portant steel center. The completion of the
St. Lawrence Seaway will open the way to
the rich deposits of iron in Labrador, which
will assure a continuous supply of these highgrade raw materials to the steel mills of the
area. Other phases of industrial and com
mercial expansion in the area are expected to
gain momentum as the completion of the Sea
way way opens the port to ocean-going vessels
of larger size than heretofore.
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Manufacturing
Growth in
Employees
Value
per 1000
Added by
Population
Manufa ctures
1947-54 RANK
1956— 1st Q, RANK
143
190
157
193
193
131
198
138
198
124
172
197
199
77
145
182
130
120
33
12
7
10
6
5
14
2
13
3
16
9
4
1
18
11
8
15
17
19
+ 32 %
+ 55 %
+ 70 %
+ 51 %
+ 53 %
+109 %
+ 29 %
+ 36 %
+ 75 %
+ 44 %
+ 23 %
+119 %
+112 %
+ 71 %
+ 18 %
+ 38 %
+ 33 %
+ 36 %
+106 %
16
8
7
10
9
3
17
13
5
11
18
1
2
6
19
12
15
14
4
Approximately 20,427,000 tons of freight
moved through the port of Cleveland in 1955.
Of this total, iron ore and concentrates ac
counted for 15,195,000 tons, and limestone for
2,312,000 tons. Overseas freight amounted to
nearly 48,000 tons.
Cleveland as a Financial Center
Cleveland’s importance as a banking center
is shown by the fact that per-capita demand
deposits at commercial banks of the Cleveland
metropolitan area lead all 19 metropolitan
areas of the Fourth District. (See Table 3,
page 12.) In total dollars of demand deposits,
however, Cleveland is second to the Pitts
burgh area.
The Cleveland metropolitan area is second
only to the Lima area in respect to savings
accounts per capita, as indicated by time de
posits at commercial banks and mutual sav
ings banks plus withdrawable shares of
savings and loan associations.(2) Such savings
in the Cleveland area amounted to $1,209 per
capita, as of December 31, 1955.
Trade
The Cleveland area ranked 2nd among the
19 metropolitan areas of the Fourth District
(2) This should not be confused with a measure of total per
sonal savings, since it fails to include many important forms
of personal savings such as securities, insurance policies and
pension equities. The item is used here as a partial indicator
of savings trends; it was selected because of the availability of
consistent data on a county-wide basis.
in respect to retail sales per capita, as meas
ured by the Census of 1954. The figure was
$1,272 per capita, slightly below that of the
Columbus area, but much higher than the
average for Ohio, or for the Fourth District
or for the United States. (See Table 3.)
Wholesale sales in the Cleveland metro
politan area amounted to more than $4 billion
during the Census year 1954, or about onethird of the entire wholesale trade of the
state of Ohio.
LORAIN-ELYRIA Metropolitan Area
Lorain County
(Area D.)
place among the 19 metropolitan areas of the
Fourth District, in respect to growth in re
cent years. However, the area ranks only 13th
in total population.
A Leading Rank in Manufacturing
The Lorain-Elyria area is an important
industrial center and one of interesting
diversity. Manufacturing activities, in rela
tion to size of population, are outstanding.
Thus, the area leads all others of the 19
metropolitan areas of the Fourth District in
respect to manufacturing employment per
1,000 population, with a figure of 199 per
thousand, as of the first quarter of 1956.
c i t y of Lorain has a population of
The area ranks 2nd among the 19 metro
about 57,000 and Elyria, 30,000, as esti
politan areas in value added by manufactur
mated early in 1956. Also included in Loraining per manufacturing employee, according
County, with populations ranging from about
to the latest Census of Manufactures. Also,
8,000 down to 3,000, are the following: Oberthe area’s growth in value of manufactures
lin, Avon Lake, Amherst, Avon, Sheffield
between the Census years 1947 and 1954,
Lake, and Wellington.
amounting to 112%, was second largest
among all 19 metropolitan areas of the Dis
The total population of the one-county
trict.
metropolitan area has been estimated, for the
purposes of this survey, as 174,000, as of early
Located in L o r a in is the nation’s largest
plant producing steel tube (seamless and
1956. That represents a gain of 17 percent
welded) and pipe. This establishment alone
since the Census count for 1950 and puts
employs over 11,000 persons. Also in Lorain,
the Lorain-Elyria metropolitan area in 3rd
he
T
7
employing nearly 2,000, is a plant for the
manufacture of power shovels. Other plants
in Lorain which employ 100 to 500 workers,
each, include a shipbuilding works, and
plants producing men’s and boys’ apparel,
electric welding machines, bronze bearings,
and toys. An assembly plant of one of the
major auto producers, to employ several
thousand people, is now under construction
between Lorain and Vermilion.
Although Elyria has no single plant as
large as the Lorain tube works, it has three
plants, with more than 1,000 employees each,
p r o d u c i n g electric motors, chrome-plated
parts for autos, and air-brake equipment.
Other important plants in the metal-products
field manufacture the following: industrial
casters and wheels, screw machine products,
pipe tools, warm-air furnaces, air condition
ers, gray iron and alloy castings, glass-lined
steel tanks, aircraft parts, steel tubing, bicy
cle parts, heat transfer products, and wire
springs. The non-durable goods lines are rep
resented in Elyria by a large industrial chemi
cals plant and also by plants turning out
such varied products as golf balls and lace
goods.
At Avon Lake (between Lorain and Cleve
land) there is a large plant employing about
2,000 persons in producing truck trailers;
also an experimental plant for production of
plastics.
Elsewhere in the county, sandstone prod
ucts and screw machine products are pro
duced at Amherst. Machine-tool castings and
gray iron castings are manufactured in Well
ington and Grafton, respectively.
Finance and Trade
Demand deposits at commercial banks of
the Lorain-Elyria area rose by 34 percent be
tween year-end 1950 and year-end 1955. That
gave the area a ranking of 5th among the 19
metropolitan areas of the Fourth District in
respect to growth in demand deposits.
In other measures of finance or trade, as
covered by the survey, the Lorain-Elyria
area’s scoring is not especially outstanding.
(Figures and rankings are shown by Table
3, page 12.)
8
MANSFIELD Metropolitan Area
Richland County
(Area E.)
Plymouth
0Shl|oh
R IC H L A N D
0 G o nges
® Shelby
Povonioo
RoselandSteel M i l l @4
L in c oln * ,,
O ntarioQ
0 4 ( § ) ^ C o o l R id g e H ti.
W est A usdole
M ansfield
®Lucas
©Lexington
Perrysvill
Bellville
©Butler
^ .th o u g h Mansfield and Richland county,
Ji V as of press time, had not yet been in
cluded in the official Census list of Standard
Metropolitan Areas of the U. S., the area is
treated as “ metropolitan” for purposes of
this survey since the most recent estimates of
population make it appear appropriate to
do so.
The city of Mansfield, as of early 1956, had
a population of about 50,000 and the entire
county may be estimated at 107,000; the
latter includes Shelby with about 10,000.
The area’s growth in population between
1950 and 1956 was about 17 percent, ranking
it 4th in rate of growth among the 19 metro
politan areas of the Fourth Federal Reserve
District. (The Mansfield area’s gain in popu
lation appears to be quite close to that of the
Lorain-Elyria area, which ranks 3rd.)
Manufacturing
The relative importance of manufacturing
in the area is shown by the fact that, although
it ranks only 18th in terms of population, the
number of manufacturing employees per
1,000 of population places the area 8th among
the District’s 19 metropolitan areas.
The value added by manufacture during
1954 in the Mansfield area was $163 million,
according to the 1954 Census of Manufac
tures, or $8,261 per manufacturing employee.
In respect to value added per manufacturing
employee, the area ranks 7th among the 19
metropolitan areas of the District.
Nearly two-thirds of all industrial activity
in the county is concentrated in M a n s f i e l d .
Plants employing 500 or more workers, each,
produce the following lines: electrical ap
pliances, rubber tires, steel sheet, auto bodies
and frames, pole-line hardware, gas stoves,
structural steel products, and metal sanitary
ware. Other leading products manufactured
in Mansfield are: pumps, electric motors and
generators, switches, thermostats, furniture,
paperboard boxes, and farm implements.
In S h e l b y , northwest of Mansfield, a num
ber of large plants manufacture such prod
ucts as steel tubing, paper blank books,
communication e q u i p m e n t , and builders’
hardware. Machinery is produced in Ply
mouth.
Finance and Trade
Retail sales in the Mansfield metropolitan
area amounted to $1,135 per capita in 1954,
according to the Census of that year. In this
respect, the area ranks 7th among the 19
metropolitan areas of the Fourth Federal Re
serve District.
The area scores higher, or in 5th place out
of the 19 metropolitan areas of the District,
in respect to growth in retail sales between
the Census years 1948 and 1954; Mansfield’s
increase in sales was 32 percent.
Demand deposits per capita (at commercial
banks) amounted to $517 for the Mansfield
metropolitan area, as of December 31, 1955.
That gives the area a ranking of 9th among
the 19 metropolitan areas of the District.
AKRON Metropolitan Area
Summit County
(Area F.)
and Barberton with 33,000 (or 20 percent
more than its 1950 figure).
Peninsula
Hu.d s o n ’ >
L o
<j>Mogadore
Barberton
,!§j
'l'M'anichester
Clinton
Greensburg
°
A k r o n is the 5th largest city of Ohio, with
a population of about 294,000 as of early
1956, or about 7 percent more than the Census
count of 1950. Close to the city limits are
Cuyahoga Falls, with 44,000 (representing a
49 percent gain from its 1950 population)
jLJL
Smaller centers of the area include Tallmadge, Lakemore, Twinsburg, Silver Lake,
and Hudson, with populations from about
8,000 down to 2,000.
The total population of the Akron metro
politan area, i.e. Summit county, is estimated
at 466,000, as of early 1956. Thus, in popula
tion it ranks 7th among the 19 metropolitan
areas of the Fourth District. Density of popu
lation in the Akron area is unusually high,
insofar as it has 1,129 persons per square
mile, for a rank of 4th.
Akron's Rubber Industry
The rubber industry accounts for more
than half of Akron’s manufacturing employ
ment. Since the end of the first decade of this
9
century, Akron has been known as the “ rub
ber capital of the world;” it is one of the most
specialized industrial cities in the country.
The rubber industry in Akron employs
more than 50,000 people, or one-fifth of the
nation’s total employment for the industry.
Products include motor vehicle tires and in
ner tubes, synthetic rubber, reclaimed rub
ber, and a large variety of fabricated rubber
goods. Between the two Census years 1947
and 1954, however, employment in rubber
plants in the Akron metropolitan area de
clined by 25 percent. The decline was partly
due to decentralization in the rubber industry
(rise of secondary rubber centers) as well as
partly due to the mechanization process and
partly due to the fact that 1954 happened to
be a recession year. For the United States, the
drop in employment in the rubber industry
was less than one percent between 1947 and
1954. (Rubber footwear is excluded.) Since
1954, employment in Akron’s rubber indus
try has shown a moderate pickup.
Other Manufacturing in the Area
Although the rubber industry continues to
be of overwhelming importance in Akron, it
by no means constitutes the whole of the man
ufacturing strength of the city and surround
ing area. Good diversification characterizes
the balance of production which, in relative
order of numbers employed, includes im
portant items such as: aircraft parts, ma
chinery (including precision tools and special
industry machinery), ordnance equipment,
cereal breakfast foods, sporting and athletic
goods, gray-iron castings, millwork, pottery
products, machine shop products, salt, porce
lain electrical supplies, fabricated metal prod
ucts, plastic products, and paper bags.
Just south of Akron is B a r b e r t o n where
there are plants turning out industrial boil
ers, rubber goods, chemicals, electric trans
mission-line equipment, valves, matches, and
foundry products. E l s e w h e r e in Summit
10
County, including C u y a h o g a F a l l s , are fac
tories producing stampings and machine shop
products, structural clay products, hand
tools, models and patterns, and photographic
equipment.
The vital importance of manufacturing to
the Akron area is shown by the large propor
tion of its population which is thus employed.
As measured by manufacturing employment
per 1,000 population, the Akron area ranks
2nd among the District’s 19 metropolitan
areas. (See Table 2, on page 6.) In value
added by manufacture—$593 million in 1954
—the area is 6th among the 19 areas. How
ever, in value added per manufacturing
worker, the area falls below the District aver
age, placing 16th among the total of 19 metro
politan areas.
Finance and Trade
The Akron metropolitan area scores 3rd
among the 19 metropolitan areas of the Dis
trict in the rate of growth in demand depos
its at commercial banks between year-end
1950 and year-end 1955. The area scores 4th
among the 19 in the rate of growth in savings
accounts, as measured by time deposits at
commercial banks plus shares of savings and
loan associations. The two rates of growth
were 39 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
Thus, the growth in both classes of accounts
in the Akron area is outstanding. However,
on a current per-capita basis, the area ranks
only 10th among the 19 metropolitan areas in
respect to demand deposits per capita and 7th
in respect to per-capita savings accounts, as
here defined.
The Akron area occupies an intermediate
position in the retail trade measure utilized
here. Thus the area was 8th among the 19
metropolitan areas of the District in retail
sales per capita in 1954; and 9th in rate of
growth in retail sales between 1948 and 1954.
CANTON Metropolitan Area
Stark County
(Area G.)
©,
€°
Marlboro
1tnif)n*
6 Q Hartville ou[JaY^
•S S L Allia" « ^
o C a n a l Fulton
Crystal Spr. ^
’
^o
N. Lawrence
*
rs(
® .
Massillon
©Middlebranch
®N.Canton
m P
'•^Brewster © N avarre
® °Justus
Beach City
©Louisville
® E.CantonPons
RobertsvilleO
E fS S '
®N.lndustry . . . % ■ '
STARK
E-sPartae
The value added by manufacture in the
area, according to the Census of 1954, was
$491 million—a growth of 75 percent from
1947, the date of the last previous census. The
rate of growth in value added in the Canton
area is the 5th highest among the 19 metro
politan areas.
In C a n t o n proper are located integrated
steel works and rolling mills operated by the
third largest steel producer of the nation.
Stainless and alloy steel in a variety of basic
shapes are the principal products. Also in
Canton are large steel forgings plants as well
as foundries producing gray iron castings
and malleable iron castings.
^ ® f f ifrvhesbura
Leading products of the machinery and
fabricated metal group in Canton, in approxi
mate order of number of employees, are:
h e c i t y of Canton has a population of
roller bearings, vacuum cleaners, metalwork
about 122,000 as of early 1956. There are
ing machinery, metal office furniture, inter
two other sizable cities within the county:nal combustion engines, safes and vaults,
Massillon with about 36,000 and Alliance
structural steel products, power-transmission
with 30,000.
equipment, stampings, switchboard appara
tus, printing machinery, steel screens, and
Between 1950 and 1956, Canton’s popula
sheetmetal products.
tion increased by 4 percent, while Massillon
showed a 22-percent growth and Alliance
Outside of the metals field, there are a num
posted a 13-percent growth.
ber of important plants in Canton which
Smaller centers include North Canton and
produce fabricated rubber products, ceramics,
Louisville, with approximately 5,000 each.
dental equipment, structural clay products,
paperboard b o x e s , p e t r o l e u m products,
The entire population of this one-county
women’s apparel, and pharmaceutical prepa
metropolitan area is estimated at 321,000 as
rations.
of early 1956, for a position of 10th among
the 19 metropolitan areas of the Fourth Dis
M a s s i l l o n , located just west of Canton,
trict. In population per square mile, the area
contains part of the integrated steel works
ranks 8th among the 19 metropolitan areas.
previously mentioned. Also manufactured in
Massillon are industrial machinery, heat ex
A Heavy Industry Center
change apparatus stampings, steel castings,
In the Canton metropolitan area, 198 peo
bolts and nuts, roller bearings, advertising
ple per 1,000 of the area’s population are em
signs, and bedsprings.
ployed in manufacturing. In this respect,
In A l l i a n c e , northwest of the city of Can
Canton ranks 3rd among the 19 metropolitan
ton,
there are about a dozen substantial plants
areas of the District.
which manufacture hard goods and which em
About one-third of the manufacturing em
ploy about 6,000 people. Important products
ployees are in the primary metals group of
include: steel forgings, steel castings, convey
industries; a little more than one-third are in
ing equipment, electric motors, metal tubing,
the combined group of machinery and fabri
brick and tile products, structural steel, and
cated metal products; the remainder are em
computing machines.
ployed in a variety of soft-goods and hardgoods industries.
(Canton discussion continued on page 14)
T
11
Tabis 3
CLEVELAND AND EASTERN LAKI ERIE: NINE ECONOMIC AREAS
Basie
Econom ic
Facts
TOW N-AND-COUNTRY
M ETROPOLITAN
Area C
CLEVELAND
R
A
N
(2 Counties) K
Area D
R
LORAIN- A
ELYRIA N
(1 County) K
Area E
R
MANS A
FIELD
N
(1 County) K
R
Area F
A
AKRON N
(1 County) K
\rea G
R
a
('ANTON N
(" County) k
R
A
ERIE
N
(1 County) K
Area H
Area 3
R
SANDUSKY -A
ASHLAND N
(6 Counties) K
Area 4
R
ASHTABULA- A
KENT
N
Area 5
R
OIL CITY- A
MEADVILLE N
(3 Counties)
K
(6 Counties)
K
198
123
13
1
282
66
8
12
OHIO
DISTRICT
9,040
220
14,306
194
u.
S.
POPU LATIO N
1. Population, Tan. 1, 1956.................................thous.
2. Population, per sq. mile, Jan. 1, 1956............
1,673
2,440
2
1
M AN U FACTU RIN G
FINANCE
7. Demand deposits, per capita, Dec. 31, 1955.. .dol.
8. Savings accounts (Commercial banks
and savings and loan associations)
per capita, Dec. 31, 1955......................... dol.
238.6
190
2,405
TRAD E
11. Retail sales, per capita, 1954..........................
dol.
SOME G R O W T H TRENDS
Growth in population, 1950-56.......................
Growth in manufacturing employment, 1947-54..
Growth in value added by manufacture, 1947-54.
Growth in demand deposits, 1950-55.............
Growth in savings accounts, 1950-55.............
Growth in farm income, 1949-54....................
Growth in retail sales, 1948-54........................
2
7
2
8
107
215
18
17
466
1,129
7
4
19.8
199
280
, 321
1 560
10
8
240
295
12
14
278
108
10
5
165,879
56
\
13
1
12
2
9,274
8,232
10.8
182
163
16
8
15
7
59.7
198
593
2
6
16
6,901
8,261
36.3
7
198
491
9
3
9
5
23.0
172
276
11
9
13
15
119
232
12.2
4
11
100
139
1
5
6
7,449
6,943
l*,520
18.7
6
8
7
7,001
17.6
112
270
5
5
3
3
7,698
926.7
1,333.2
12,933
152
10,154
134
14,181
101
116,001
7,994
7,971
7,189
940
1
283
19
517
9
497
10
463
12
555
7
432
3
282
11
521
2
592
605
657
1,209
2
661
9
654
10
674
7
827
4
469
17
814
1
591
3
408
8
759
660
641
—
---
46.77
5,144
4
4
33.33
2,918
6
9
24.56
2,661
10
10
42.20
4,765
1,013
4
1,024
3
890
8
1,099
1
3
3
4
5
10
3
+ 1%
— 3%
+44%
+23%
+14%
+ 5%
+ 9%
12
13
12
6
15
11
13
+14%
+ 6%
+60%
+26%
+46%
+20%
+31%
AG R ICU LTU R E
9. Farm income, per acre, 1954........................... .dol.
10. Farm income, per farm, 1954.......................... dol.
12
13
11
A
3. Monthly payrolls, all insured employment
(1956— 1st Q . ) .........................................mil. dol.
4. Manufacturing employment per 1,000
population (1956— 1st Q . ) ...........................
5. Value added by manufacture, 1954........mil. dol.
6. Value added per manufacturing employee.
1954................................................................. dol.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
174
351
—
—
—
—
1,210
+15%
+ 9%
+55%
+17%
+36%
2
1,060
13
1,135
7
6
8
17
15
+ 17%
+ 4%
+1 1 2 %
+34%
+41%
3
8
2
5
14
+17%
+ 6%
+38%
+28%
+36%
—
+29%
—
—
—
8
+36%
7
4
7
12
11
16
1,131
+14%
— 9%
+29%
+39%
+69%
—
4
+32%
5
—
—
—
8
----------
j >059
14
1,068
12
+13%
'+ 4 %
+75%
+33%
'+52%
12
9
5
7
8
+ 9%
— 14%
+23%
+17%
+51%
16
18
18
16
11
+24%
13
+17%
16
11
14
17
3
4
—
—
+28%
----
9
—
+15%
+17%
+67%
+39%
+46%
+22%
+26%
2
5
5
1
7
4
9
+17%
+25%
+75%
+32%
+49%
+ 5%
+47%
36.23
3,625
21.27
5,126
1,010
1,053
+10%
+ 2%
+34%
+22%
+43%
+13%
+25%
+10%
+13%
+56%
+20%
+55%
+12%
+30%
Rank number for a metropolitan area refers to the area’s rank among the 19 m et°Politan areas of the Fourth Federal Reserve District, 13 of which are covered in other articles of this series.
Rank number for a town-and-country area refers to the area’s rank among the 15 tow»rand’ country areas of the Fourth Federal Reserve District, 12 of which are covered in other articles of this series.
Sources:
1. Estimates based on data from U. S. Bureau of the Census and from various state agencies,
1956.
2. Square miles from Census of Population, 1950.
3, 4. Division of Research and Statistics, Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, Colum
bus; similar sources for data for other states, 1956.
5, 6. Census of Manufactures, 1954.
7. Federal Reserve data; refers to demand deposits of individuals, partnerships and corpora
tions.
8. Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh; state
departments of banking; Federal Reserve data on time deposits. Item refers to time de
posits at commercial banks and mutual savings banks plus value of withdrawable shares
of savings and loan associations (both state and Federal-chartered).
9, 10. Census of Agriculture, 1954.
11. Census of Business, 1954.
12. Census of Population, 1950 and estimates as of item 1.
13, 14. Census of Manufactures, 1954.
15. 16. Same as 7 and 8.
17. Census of Agriculture, 1954 and 1947.
18. Census of Business, 1954 and 1948.
13
In Minerva, manufactures include road
machinery, communication equipment, wax
paper, and tile products. In Hartville, there
are plants producing rubber products and
screens. East Sparta produces tile products in
large quantities. There is a cement plant in
Middle Branch.
Finance and Trade
In respect to important types of savings
accounts, the Canton area ranks relatively
high. Thus, savings accounts in the form of
time deposits at commercial banks plus shares
of savings and loan associations amounted to
$827 per capita at the end of 1955. That gives
the area 4th place among the 19 metropolitan
areas of the Fourth Federal Reserve District.
The area is not in a relatively high position
among other metropolitan areas of the Dis
trict in respect to demand deposits, on a per
capita basis, nor in respect to retail sales per
capita. (See Table 3 on page 12.)
ERIE Metropolitan Area
Erie County
(A rea H.)
© Fairview
® q G irard
o E .S p rin g fie ld
u
i- ia ° p
|atea
W?o
.Spn•
ngfield
© Cran e sv ille
Albion® ^Lundys Lon©
Machinery and Other Industry
h e m e t r o p o l i t a n area of Erie has about
240,000
population, as estimated early in
By far the most important industry group
1956. That includes the city of Erie with
of the Erie metropolitan area is machinery,
about 136,000; smaller centers are Corry with
including electrical. Nearly 42 percent of the
about 8,000, as well as North East and Union
area’s total employment is engaged in this
City with about 4,000 each.
section of production. During 1954 the value
The area ranks 12th in population among
added by manufacturing in the machinery
the 19 metropolitan areas of the Fourth Dis
industry amounted to $121.2 million, or 44
trict. Its rate of growth in recent years has
percent of the total for the area, according to
not been outstanding, as the area’s population
the Census of Manufactures for that year.
Although the ‘ ‘ value added” by this group
increased only 9 percent between 1950 and
1956, for a rank of 16th among the 19 metro
of industries increased about 5 percent be
politan areas of the District.
tween 1947 and 1954, employment in the ma
T
14
chinery industries dropped 31 percent during
the same period. At the same time, total em
ployment in the Erie area declined by 14
percent.
Metals and metal products account for an
other 20 percent of the area’s total employ
ment. The value added in the metal industry
group was $50.2 million in 1954—a growth
of 37 percent between the two Census years.
Employment in this group declined by 6
percent, however.
The total value added by manufacture in
the area during 1954 was $276 million—for
a rank of 13th among the 19 metropolitan
areas — or $6,943 per manufacturing em
ployee, for a rank of 15th. (See Table 3, page
12.) The latter figure is below the Ohio or the
District average and also below the U. S.
average. With 172 persons per 1,000 popula
tion employed in manufacturing, the area
ranks 9th; the monthly payroll of all insured
employment in the area is 11th among the
19 metropolitan areas of the District.
In Erie, large plants employing 1,000 or
more manufacture the following: locomo
tives, paper products, steel forgings and cast
ings, electronic components, and cranes and
power shovels. Plants employing between 500
and 1,000 persons, each, produce rubber
goods, toys, control equipment, scientific in
struments, boilers, and plumbers’ supplies.
A substantial number of establishments in
Erie which employ between 100 and 500
workers produce a wide variety of commodi
ties in both hard and soft goods lines. These
commodities include malleable iron castings,
clothes wringers, rolling mill equipment, elec
tric motors and generators, electric switch
boards, hardware specialties, asphalt and
asbestos roofing, pig iron, forge shop equip
ment, pumps and valves, nonferrous castings
and tubing, storm windows and doors, ladies’
garments, enameled products, paperboard
boxes, steam engines, bottle caps, and bolts
and nuts. Also, Erie is coming to be a center
for the manufacture of miscellaneous plastic
products, molded as well as extruded.
Of the other manufacturing centers in Erie
county, C o r r y is the largest. In Corry, there
are four large plants, with a combined em
ployment of about 2,000, which manufacture
aircraft parts, metal springs, office furniture,
and engines. At Girard is located a large
establishment producing toys and also fac
tories for manufacture of wood products and
leather goods, respectively. At North East,
there are two important food-processing
plants as well as a nonferrous-metals plant.
Several furniture plants are at Union City.
Trailers are manufactured at Albion, and
plumbers’ supplies at Lawrence Park.
Finance and Trade
The Erie metropolitan area ranks some
where between 7th and 16th among the 19
metropolitan areas of the District in respect
to the various measures of finance and trade
utilized in this survey. (See Table 3, on page
12, items 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 18.)
15
SANDUSKY-ASHLAND Area
6 counties
(Area 3.)
Bellevue®
M onroeville
®
C o llin t.
.
0
N orw alk
HURON
0 Havana
.
,
Steuben O
Clarksfleld
Olena o
o
lorth Fairfield
North
Fitchvill *0
©N e w to n d o ri-U ;^
New Haven0 Delp%
®Spencer °
Sharon Center0
°m
M E D IN A
@ W illard
©
G re e r ^ich
N0Va
©
O Savannah
o
W a d s w o rth ©
@
Homerville Leroy
Sullivan
West Salem s Burbank*
^Pnlk
W AYN E
Marshallville
Smithville
W eilersvlllea
(o)_
O rrv ille
Seediburg
Dalton©
Apple Creek Q
Kidron 0
W. Lebanon
S hreve
Fredericksburg
®
•„ ©
v U u g o n v ille
?:■ £%
H O LM ES
o
,
©Killbuck
The area ranks 2nd among the 15 town-and16
Berlin 0
Wa/nuf Creek
0Clenmonl
T
M(-Hopo_ J
°
. o ^
Wmesburg
Bcntono
M ille rsb urg ^
town-and-country area lies west and
south of the Cleveland, Lorain, and
Akron metropolitan areas. Its industrial and
agricultural characteristics link it more with
the northeastern parts of Ohio than with the
northwestern sections.
____
0Holmesville
Lakeville
Nashville
h is
M( Ea(on°
©
^ Charm
country areas of the Fourth District in popu
lation growth between 1950 and 1956, with a
15 percent gain estimated for the six-year
interval. In absolute numbers, the population
of the area, at 278,000, now ranks 10th among
the 15 town-and-country areas; in average
density per square mile, the area is 5th among
the 15.
Medium-size and smaller cities are charac
teristic of the area. The largest city, San
dusky, has a population of about 33,000,
according to estimates of early 1956. Next are
Ashland and Wooster, with about 16,000 each.
Smaller centers, ranging from 11,000 down to
about 5,000 include: Norwalk, Wadsworth,
Bellevue, Medina, Orrville, Willard, Huron,
and Rittman.
Manufacturing Strength
The importance of manufacturing in the
Sandusky-Ashland area is shown by the large
number of manufacturing employees per
1,000 of population. With 119 employees per
thousand, the area leads the list of 15 townand-country areas of the District.
The largest plants in S a n d u s k y manufac
ture the following products: ball bearings,
auto parts, radios and television, washing
machines, and paper products. Other impor
tant products manufactured in Sandusky in
clude: steel castings, chain couplings, alumi
num and magnesium smelter products, rubber
toys, school supplies, gray iron castings, ferti
lizers, nuts and bolts, porcelain insulators,
and concrete pipe. Sandusky is important as
a lake port, especially in coal shipments, boat
building, commercial fishing, and summer re
sort business. The city is also a center of the
wine-making industry. Elsewhere in Erie
county the notable products are Portland
cement in Baybridge, lighting fixtures in
Vermilion, and nonferrous bearings in Bir
mingham. Stone quarrying is also important
in Erie county.
A s h l a n d has a large plant for the manu
facture of water pumps and sprays as well as
several rubber plants producing a score of
rubber products. A large commercial printing
establishment is also located in the city. Other
important products manufactured in Ash
land are: pipe fittings and castings, men’s
and boys’ wearing apparel, and veterinary
medicines.
An auto-bus factory is located at Loudonville (Ashland county) and a plant manu
facturing plumbing fixtures at Perrysville.
In Wayne county, the largest single plant,
located in Rittman, manufactures paper boxboards; also in Rittman is a salt plant. A
variety of hard goods are produced in
W o o s t e r , including: household rubber goods,
pumping equipment, seamless steel tubing,
steel building parts, nonferrous foundry
products, and cooking utensils. Steel castings,
preserved foods, and mechanical controlling
instruments are manufactured at Orrville,
porcelain electrical supplies at Shreve, and
pottery products in Fredericksburg.
A large match factory with approximately
1,400 employees is located at Wadsworth in
Medina county. Other leading products of
Wadsworth include valves, rubber footwear,
and gray iron castings. Products of M e d i n a
include, among others: nonferrous castings,
heating equipment, and apiary supplies.
In Huron county, electric lamps, farm ma
chinery, and vegetable oils are produced at
B e l l e v u e ; wool carpets, valves, and furni
ture at N o r w a l k ; rubber products at Wil
lard; and men’s apparel at New London.
Products manufactured in Holmes county
include building stone at Glenmont, rubber
products at Killbuck, and furniture at
Millersburg.
Agriculture
Agricultural activity in the SanduskyAshland area reflects its proximity to the
Cleveland area as well as to several other
metropolitan areas in Northern Ohio. Dairy
ing and raising of hogs, poultry, and beef
cattle, together with other complementary
enterprises, represent a balanced farming.
According to the 1954 Census of Agri
culture, the value of all farm products sold
amounted to $66 million, representing a re
turn of $46.80 per acre of farm land. Such
an average income per acre is appreciably
above the District average and places the
area 4th among the 15 town-and-country
areas of the District.
17
ASHTABULA-KENT Area
Nearly two-thirds of cash income is realized
from the sale of livestock and livestock prod
ucts; dairying brings in about 30 percent,
while sales of poultry, hogs, and cattle ac
count for approximately 36 percent. Wheat,
corn, and soybeans are also important.
3 counties
(Area 4.)
Wayne and Erie counties enjoy considera
bly higher returns per acre than other coun
ties in the area. Their returns per acre are
$61.00 and $57.40 respectively, while in
Medina, Holmes, and Huron counties the
returns are closer to the Ohio average of
$42.20 per acre. In Ashland county, the
return per acre is approximately $7 below
the Ohio average.
©Kingsville
}
E. A shtabula
Geneva-on-the-Lake
© G eneva
A SH TA BU LA
-:*0 Unionville o Austinbur8
Pierponto
Jefferson
,TL
o Dorset
Thompson
®Rock Creek
©Chardon
C larid o n °r O
The area ranks 3rd among the 15 town-andcountry areas in demand deposits at commer
cial banks, on a per-capita basis, as of the
same date. Furthermore, with a growth of 39
percent in demand deposits between 1950
and 1955, the area takes 1st place in the
rate of growth of demand deposits during the
five-year interval. In growth in savings ac
counts, as here measured, the area ranks 7th
among the 15 town-and-country areas.
Chesterland
]
?
East Clarldon
Burton0
Andover^
°N e w Lyme
Huntsb irg
G EAU G a "
The Sandusky-Ashland area is first on the
list of all 15 town-and-country areas of the
Fourth Federal Reserve District in respect to
per-capita savings accounts (as measured by
time deposits at commercial banks plus shares
of savings and loan associations). The area’s
figure of $814 per capita is taken as of Decem
ber 31, 1955.
0 Hartsgrove
Montville,
Tops in Savings
C.Orwelt
o
Windsor
©o
Orwell
Williamsfield_
Colebrook
M iddlefie
QSouth Russell
Welshfieldr
Parkman0
°Geauga Lake
PO RTAG E
®Aurora
©Hiram
©Mantua ©G a rre t
W indham ©
© F re e d o m Sta.
Kent
o•
mfield
oCharlestown
0
Ravenna
New Milford
Rootstown
o M o g a d o re
Deerfield.
Randolph®
Atwater
a r t
of this three-county area borders
PLake Erie; much of it lies between the
Cleveland and Youngstown metropolitan
Retail Trade
areas.
The area is also relatively strong in retail
trade, as judged by the Census of 1954. In
retail sales per capita, as of that year, it was
4th among the 15 town-and-country areas.
The growth of retail sales between the years
1947 and 1954, the Sandusky-Ashland area
ranks 9th among the 15 comparable areas.
Although one of the three counties
(Geauga) is sparsely populated, the average
density of population of the area, at 123 per
square mile, is the greatest for any of the
15 town-and-country areas of the Fourth
District.
Also, the Ashtabula-Kent area ranks first
among the 15 town-and-country areas of the
18
District in growth in population between
1950 and 1956; its increase for the period was
17 percent.
As of early 1956, Ashtabula’s population is
estimated at 26,000. Next in size in the area is
Kent (Portage county) with about 14,000,
not including 6,000 university students; then
comes Conneaut (Ashtabula county) with
about 11,000 and Ravenna (Portage county)
also with about 11,000. Smaller centers of
about 5,000 eaeh include Geneva, Lakeville
and Windham.
Industrial Growth
Manufacturing industries in the AshtabulaKent area employ approximately 20,000 per
sons, or 100 per thousand of the area’s
population. The value added by manufacture
during 1954 was $139 million. That figure
represents a 75-percent growth between the
two Census years 1947 and 1954. This rate of
growth in “ value added” is 3rd highest
among the 15 town-and-country areas of the
District. The area is also in 3rd place in the
rate of increase in manufacturing employ
ment over the same period. (See Table 3,
page 12.)
The leading manufacturing centers of the
area are Kent and Ashtabula, which are about
equal in number of manufacturing employees.
workers are employed by the Federal Govern
ment at the Ravenna Arsenal at Apco. Else
where in Portage County, rubber tires are
produced at Garrettsville and refractories at
Windham.
Scores of different products, in both hard
and soft goods lines, are produced in A sh ta
b u l a . Plants employing more than 100 each
are found in the following lines: ferro-alloys,
sodium and titanium extraction, electric
motors and generators, leather goods, forg
ings and stampings, auto parts, chemicals,
radio parts, hand tools, plastics, ship boilers,
paperboard boxes, electrical appliances, and
power-transmission equipment. Commodities
produced by principal plants in C onneaut
( A shtabula county) are: radio and television
parts, concrete products, lighting fixtures,
and hand tools. In Geneva, the leading prod
ucts are sporting goods, forged steel wheels,
and builders’ hardware. Paperboard boxes
are manufactured at Jefferson.
Summer resort business is important to
Geneva, Conneaut, and Ashtabula.
A variety of rubber products are made at
Middlefield and Char don, in Geauga county;
accounting forms are also produced at
Chardon.
Conneaut and Ashtabula are important
Lake ports, especially in respect to shipments
of iron ore.
K e n t , in Portage county, has one large
machine shop, employing nearly 1,700 per
sons and several smaller machine shops em
ploying more than 100 each. There are also
large plants manufacturing motors for buses
and electric motors. Other important prod
ucts of Kent include bolts and nuts, diesel
engines, and air compressors. Significant for
the economic, as well as the educational, life
of the community is the very rapid growth of
Kent State University in recent years.
There are approximately 7,700 farms in the
Ashtabula-Kent area, averaging about 90
acres in size, which brought in $22.5 million
of cash income to the area farmers during
1954, according to the Census of that year.
The return of $33.30 per acre of farm land
brought the area a rank of 6th among 15
town-and-country areas in this respect.
In R a v e n n a , also in Portage county, there
are several plants producing a variety of rub
ber items, a foundry turning out gray iron
castings, and a plant for manufacture of
power cranes and shovels. A large number of
Dairying makes up the leading source of
income. According to the Census of 1954,
nearly 50 percent of total cash income of the
area comes from the sale of dairy products.
Poultry and hogs bring in 15 percent and 5
Agriculture
19
percent respectively, while sale of cattle ac
counts for 4 percent of the total.
Portage county derives 10 percent of its
total farm income from truck crops and 5
percent from wheat.
Greenhouse crops and fruit account for a
significant portion of income in Ashtabula
county. Prominent in the greenhouse crops
are vegetative flower plant cuttings.
Forest products bring 5 percent of total
cash income to Geauga county. Maple syrup
is a prominent item.
savings-and-loan associations. At the same
time, the area ranks 11th out of the 15 in de
mand deposits at commercial banks, expressed
on a per-capita basis. (Both measures are as
of the close of 1955.)
The area ranks 5th among the 15 town-andcountry areas in its growth in savings ac
counts (as defined above) between 1950 and
1955. Its ranking is 4th among all 15 townand-country areas in growth of demand de
posits during the same period. (See Table 3,
page 12.)
Strength in Trade
Finance
The Ashtabula-Kent area appears to rank
higher in savings accounts than in demand
deposits. It is 3rd among the 15 town-andcountry areas of the Fourth District in percapita savings accounts, in the form of time
deposits at commercial banks plus shares of
The Ashtabula-Kent area scores 3rd among
the 15 town-and-country areas of the Fourth
District in retail sales per capita, according to
the Census of 1954. The area’s rank is also
3rd in growth of retail sales between the two
Census years 1948 and 1954.
Table 4
LIST OF THE 34 ECONOMIC AREAS OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT
NORTHWESTERN OHIO
A. Toledo metropolitan area
Lucas County
B. Lima metropolitan area
Allen County
1. Fremont-Bryan town-and-country area
Counties included: Defiance, Fulton,
Henry, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, San
dusky, Van Wert, Williams, Wood.
2. Marion-Findlay town-and-country area
Counties included: Auglaize, Crawford,
Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Marion, Mer
cer, Seneca, Union, Wyandot.
E. Mansfield metropolitan area
Richland County
F. Akron metropolitan area
Summit County
G. Canton metropolitan area
Stark County
H. Erie metropolitan area
Erie County (Pa.)
3.
Sandusky-Ashland town-and-country area
Counties included: Ashland, Erie,
Holmes, Huron, Medina, Wayne.
4.
Ashtabula-Kent town-and-country area
Counties included: Ashtabula, Geauga,
Portage.
5.
Oil City-Meadville town-and-country area
Counties included: Clarion, Crawford,
Forest, Jefferson, Venango, Warren.
(all in Pa.)
CLEVELAND AND EASTERN
LAKE ERIE
C. Cleveland metropolitan area
Cuyahoga and Lake Counties
D. Lorain-Elyria metropolitan area
Lorain County
20
PITTSBURGH, YOUNGSTOWN AND
THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY
J.
Pittsburgh metropolitan area
Counties included: Allegheny, Beaver,
Washington, Westmoreland
(all in Pa.)
K. New Castle metropolitan area
Lawrence County (Pa.)
L. Youngstown metropolitan area
Counties included: Mahoning and Trum
bull (Ohio) and Mercer (Pa.)
Q. Dayton metropolitan area
Greene and Montgomery Counties
R. Springfield metropolitan area
Clark County
S. Columbus metropolitan area
Franklin County
10. Zanesville-Newark town-and-country area
Counties included: Coshocton, Fairfield,
Guernsey, Knox, Licking, Morrow, Mus
kingum, Perry, Tuscarawas (all in Ohio)
M. Wheeling-Steubenville metropolitan area
Counties included: Belmont and Jeffer
son (Ohio) and Brooke, Hancock,
Marshall and Ohio (West Va.)
11. Piqua-Delaware town-and-country area
Counties included: Champaign, Clinton,
Darke, Delaware, Fayette, Madison,
Miami, Pickaway, Preble, Shelby,
Warren.
N. Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area
Counties included: Boyd (Ky.), Cabell
and Wayne (W. Va.) and Lawrence,
Ohio.
12. Chillicothe-Hillsboro town-and-country
area
Counties included: Adams, Brown, Cler
mont, Highland, Ross.
6. Butler-Kittanning town-and-country area
Counties included: Armstrong, Butler,
Indiana (all in Pa.)
7. Uniontown-Waynesburg town-and-country
area
Counties included: Fayette, Greene,
Somerset (Pa.) and Tyler and Wetzel
(West Va.)
8. East Liverpool-Cadiz town-and-country
area
Counties included: Carroll, Columbiana,
Harrison.
9. Portsmouth-Marietta town-and-country
area
Counties included: Athens, Gallia, Hock
ing, Jackson, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan,
Noble, Pike, Scioto, Vinton, Washington
(all in Ohio)
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN OHIO
O. Cincinnati metropolitan area
Counties included: Hamilton (Ohio) and
Campbell and Kenton (Ky.)
P. Hamilton-Middletown metropolitan area
Butler County
EASTERN KENTUCKY
T. Lexington metropolitan area
Fayette County
13. Richmond-Maysville town-and-country
area
Counties included: Bath, Boone, Bour
bon, Bracken, Clark, Fleming, Garrard,
Grant, Harrison, Jessamine, Madison,
Mason, Montgomery, Nicholas, Pendle
ton, Robertson, Scott, Woodford.
14. Somerset-Morehead town-and-country
area
Counties included: Carter, Clay, Elliott,
Estill, Greenup, Jackson, Laurel, Law
rence, Lee, Lewis, Lincoln, Magoffin,
Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Powell, Pul
aski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Wolfe.
15. Middlesboro-Hazard town-and-country
area
Counties included: Bell, Breathitt, Floyd,
Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Leslie,
Letcher, McCreary, Martin, Perry, Pike,
Whitley.
(Turn page for the OIL CITY -M E A D V IL L E area ivhich
concludes the “ Cleveland and Eastern Lake E rie” section.)
21
OIL CITY - MEADYILLE Area
6 counties
Mmm.------ --
- - -
CRAW FO RD
SpringQoro©
■
Spartansburg0
C am b rid g e S p rs P
© C o n neautville
1
Lincolnvilleo
Cenlerville 0
Woodcock
0 Grand Valley
©Saegerstown
c rB/j
Ct "
°
B,0° ming Va" ey°
A Meadville
■ Hartsiown 0
oA lh n llc
oTownville
...
Hydetown0
.
Kerrtown©©Nebbon.HiH. 0
©Conneaut Lake
Adamsville0
©Tidioute
0 Tryonville
Harmonsburg r/c^
Linesville ©
°
Clarendon®
W ARREN
^ W oodcock
y
oGeneva
Truemansville 0
E. Hickory Q Endeavor
,r
0 May burg
Titusville®
Plateau Hts.
f o r e s t
""'’
I
° K ,ll' t ,,i " e
Rouseville©
Reno
Franklin a® Rocky
-
'
Brookston0
Pleasantville©
fT
VEN A N G O
0 Cooperstown
Cochronton©
___________
0 Enterprise
i i H
Marienville©
r
© O il City
G ro v e
° Seneca
u
—
0 Tylersburg
is w s
it s
- J~ 7 3Marble
o rb /e
-----i a
C L A R IO N
0
Q
C° ° ksbUrgf J^ /^ la n n g to n
^Lucinda
Lucmda
Shippenville
_____________
JE F F E R S O N
Fisher 0
°M iola
°Sige'
^ C lario n
Strattanville
oCorsiCa
.B r o o k v ille
Fads Creek c
o Limeslone
©Summerville R eyn o ldsville Rathnel
KnoxDaleo
© op° J oftv, (e
r
,
.
o C o o ls p n n g
0 W o rth ville
...
o
Soldier0 ©
S yk esv ille
„
’
Cramer©
®0e Lancey
oDoro Walstono Big Run®
Punxsutnwney©
©Valier
Hamilton°
0m
e
town-and-country area, comprising 6
Smaller centers include Clarion, Brookville
counties of northwestern Pennsylvania,
and Polk, each with about 5,000.
lie south and east of Erie county. Oil City, The six-county area has a total population
which is close to the center of the area, and
of about 282,000, or 8th largest among the
Meadville, near the Ohio border, are about
15 town-and-country areas of the District.
equal in population; each has approximately
The average density of population is not
20,000, as of early 1956.
great; with 66 persons per square mile, the
h is
T
Other cities include Warren, with about
15,000; also Franklin, Punxsutawney and
Titusville with approximately 10,000 each.
22
area’s average density ranks 12th among the
15 town-and-country areas of the District.
One of the counties of the area, i.e. Forest
County, contains no city or village larger
than 1,000.
plastics, furniture, metal shelving, electric
lamps, and railroad supplies. A large forge
plant is located in Irvine.
Manufacturing
In Jefferson county, the principal products
are radio and television sets and parts, glass
containers, and clay products.
The Oil City - Meadville area ranks 3rd
among the 15 town-and-country areas of the
District both in terms of the total value added
by manufacturing and in terms of value
added per manufacturing employee. In re
spect to the number of manufacturing em
ployees per 1,000 population, as well as to the
monthly payrolls of all insured employment,
the area ranks 5th.
Crawford county leads the industrial
activity of the area, especially because of sev
eral large plants located in M e a d v i l l e and
Titusville. In Meadville are three large plants,
together employing approximately 5,000 per
sons, for manufacture of slide fasteners,
rayon yarn, and heating equipment, respec
tively. Other important commodities pro
duced in Meadville include nonferrous cast
ings and bearings, malleable-iron castings,
machine tools, and hand tools. Principal
products manufactured in Titusville are:
steel plates, fabricated metals, and steel forg
ings. A food processing plant is located in
Springboro, and a rubber-products plant at
Conneautville; advertising novelties are pro
duced at Cochranton.
In Venango county, near O i l C i t y , petro
leum refineries are located at Rouseville,
Emlenton, Reno and Franklin. There are a
number of important manufacturing plants,
centering in Oil City and Franklin, some of
which are associated with the historic oil
industry of the county. The following product
lines are represented, in approximate order
of number of employees: oil well supplies and
steel pipe, machinery and mining equipment,
air compressors and diesel motors, glass bot
tles, structural steel, steel containers, and
tin cans.
Largest manufacturing plants in " W a r r e n
(Warren county) employing 100 or more per
sons produce radio and television sets, steel
shapes, petroleum products, steel tanks,
Substantial employment in Clarion county
is provided by the glass containers industry.
Also significant are rubber goods and clay
products.
Important commodities produced in Forest
county are glass containers and lumber
products.
Mineral-Extractive Industries
Prominent in the area’s economy are
mineral-extractive industries. The area pro
duced 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas in
1954. Two counties, Clarion and Jefferson,
accounted for more than 90 percent of the
total.
Over ten thousand oil wells produced 1,565
thousand barrels of crude oil in 1954. Of this
total, 56 percent was produced in Venango
county which ranked 2nd in the state of
Pennsylvania in crude oil production in that
year. Warren county, which ranked 3rd in
the state, accounted for 30 percent of the
area’s oil output, and Forest county’s share
was about 7 percent.
The value of bituminous coal mined in the
area was approximately $13 million—nearly
all mined in Clarion and Jefferson counties.
Sand and gravel, also, are extracted in Craw
ford, Venango, and Warren counties.
Agriculture
According to the Census of 1954 the area
had 9,574 farms which brought nearly $25.5
million of cash income to farm owners. This
figure was equivalent to $2,661 per farm, or
$24.56 per acre of farm land. In respect to
both of these figures, the area ranks 10th
among the 15 town-and-country areas in the
District. While the income per acre of farm
land is below the Ohio and the District aver
23
ages, it is above the average for the United
States. Between 1949 and 1954, the two Cen
sus years for agriculture, total farm income
of the area increased by 5 percent (for the
rank of 11th).
crops. Principal field crops of the area are:
com, wheat, oats, and hay.
Crawford county, with income of $27.98
per acre of farm land, leads the area’s list of
six counties.
The Oil City - Meadville area ranks 2nd
among all 15 town-and-country areas of the
Fourth District in respect to demand de
posits at commercial banks, expressed on a
per-capita basis. That is based on data as of
December 31, 1955.
Dairy products are the area’s most impor
tant source of income. In 1954, cash income
from this source amounted to $14.2 million,
representing 56 percent of the total farm in
come. About 14 percent of income is derived
from livestock and livestock products; 13 per
cent from poultry; and 12 percent from field
Finance and Trade
In the other measures of finance or of re
tail trade volume, as included in this survey,
the area’s ranking is not outstanding. (See
Table 3, page 12.)
APPENDIX
Classification o f Areas. The “ metropolitan areas”
used in this study are the Standard Metropolitan
Areas as defined by T7. S. Census in agreement with
other governmental agencies. The official current
list, however, does not include Mansfield, Ohio, and
New Castle, Pa. Those two have been considered as
metropolitan areas for this study, insofar as their
recently estimated population makes it appear appro
priate to do so, and it may be anticipated that the
official list will soon include them. Also, it may
be noted that the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan
area (covering counties in three states) is included
in this study, although only part o f the area lies
within the Fourth Federal Reserve District. The
part of that area lying outside o f the Fourth Dis
trict, however, has been excluded from Fourth Dis
trict totals appearing as benchmark figures in the
next-to-final column of Table 3.
The “ town-and-country areas’ ’ used in the study
are, for the most part, identical with the “ nonmet
ropolitan” state economic areas used in Census
classification. (For the basis of classification, see
State Economic Areas, by Donald J. Bogue, Bureau
24
o f the Census, U. S. Department o f Commerce, 1951.)
Exceptions have been made where necessary due to
the fact that the boundaries o f the Fourth Federal
Reserve District cut across several o f the officially
designated state economic areas. One additional ex
ception has been made in order to place Ashtabula,
Ohio, and East Liverpool, Ohio, in separate areas,
which seems a more desirable treatment than that o f
the standard classification.
In the standard classification o f nonmetropolitan
state economic areas, numbers but not names are
assigned to the various areas. In this study, it has
been found necessary to use an independent numbering
system and also to assign names. In the case o f
each town-and-country area designated here, the first
named city is the largest city o f the area; the sec
ond named city is chosen either with reference to
geographical location within the area or because it
is the second largest city within the area. Examples:
Zanesville-Newark area, Fremont-Bryan area; in
these cases, Newark was chosen mainly because of
its size, while Bryan was chosen largely because o f
its location near the extreme western end of its area.
@FedFRASER