Lorain County Ohio

Lorain County, Ohio is home to a relatively large number of communities that range from moderately large cities to smaller villages and townships. The City of Lorain is located in the extreme northern part of the county, and is famed as a steel town due to its close proximity to the ports of Lake Erie (Lorain elected officials include Mayor Tony Krasienko). In the eastern part of the county, closer to Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, are quickly-growing and affluent communities like Avon, Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville (North Ridgeville elected officials include Mayor David Gillock).

The City of Elyria, which is the county seat, is located in a more central position in the county. and is the second largest community in the county following the City of Lorain (Elyria elected officials include Mayor Bill Grace and Councilman Garry Gibbs). Amherst Ohio, a smaller city, is located just south of Lorain (Amherst elected officials include Mayor David Taylor, Councilman At-Large Phil Van Treuren, and Councilman Joe Gambish. In 2011, Gambish announced he will challenge Taylor for the Mayor's seat. Councilman Joe Gambish has announced he will run as an independent in this race), South of Amherst is the CIty of Oberlin, which is known for the famous Oberlin College. Still further south are other smaller villages and townships, such as Wellington.

The county is governed by the board of Lorain County Commissioners, which currently (as of 2011) consists of Commissioner Tom Williams, an Amherst Republican who was first elected in 2010; Commissioner Ted Kalo, a Lorain Democrat; and Commissioner Lori Kokoski, also a Lorain Democrat.

State Representatives who represent the people of Lorain County at the Ohio Statehouse include Terry Boose, Dan Ramos and Matt Lundy.

Weather in Lorain County is temperate and warm during the spring and summer months, but the entire greater Cleveland area can experience very cold and snowy winters due to lake-effect snow generated from Lake Erie to the north. The area is also famous for the Lorain County Fair, which is the second largest county fair in the entire state of Ohio!

Lorain County is unique in that it has two major newspapers, the Morning Journal and the Chronicle, that serve such a relatively small reader area. Other papers in county include the Oberlin News-Tribune and the Amherst News-Times.

Lorain County is also famous for several different festivals in various cities, such as the Lorain International Festival, the North Ridgeville Corn Festival, the Wellington Cheese Festival and the Elyria Apple Festival.