About North Canton

The City acquired its first existence as a recognized political entity when the Village plat was recorded on February 19, 1831 as New Berlin.  As a result of sentiment against Germany World War I, the name of the Village was changed to N. Canton on January 31, 1918.

N. Canton, Ohio was organized as a city effective January 1, 1962: the City is a home-rule municipal corporation operating under the laws of the State of Ohio.  The City’s current charter, its municipal constitution, has been amended six times since its original adoption on November 8, 1960.  The laws of the State of Ohio prevail when conflicts exist between the charter and the state constitution and in matters where the charter is silent.  The City of N. Canton’s charter can only be amended by a majority vote of the City’s registered voters.

The City of N. Canton is a Charter City with municipal home rule. The municipal government of the City of N. Canton is known as the “Mayor-Administrator-Council form of government.”

The City has a population of about 16,500 residents and is popularly known as the “Dogwood City”.

Christmas Then and Now

This may be the very first tree placed on the lawn near where Bitzer Park is now located in North Canton, in celebration of the Christmas Season.   As best our “historians” can tell us, it was probably in 1921.  At that time, the tree placement was part of what was then referred to as the “Community Christmas”.  The building with “North Canton” across the top is what was, at that time, the North Canton Post Office, and the tree is standing in front of Dr. Steele’s office.

Thanks to the North Canton Heritage Society, we were given a black and white picture and the history as they knew it.  We were later informed by Nan DeMusey that there was a painting of the picture done by Ellesworth P. Smith, a former resident of North Canton.  After providing the City with a copy, we wanted to share it with the public!