About Extension

Portage County

Derived its name from the Native Americans who lived, hunted, and fished there – they had to portage, or carry their canoes between the rivers. Now a mixture of urban, suburban, and rural townships, Portage County once was supported primarily by agricultural commodities.

In 1912 Dan Hanna Called the first meeting of the Portage County Improvement Association, a group of local farmers and businessmen, and the association launched its membership with over two thousand members. The first action was to secure the services of a county Agricultural Agent. In 1913 H.P. Miller, a staff member of the Ohio Experiment station, assumed his duties in Portage County as the first County Agent in Ohio and the twenty-third Extension Agent in the United States.

The Portage County Improvement Association’s goal were improved the roads, livestock services, and cooperative farming services and to establish a county cooperative store. The association also made provisions to sponsor the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, which would later evolve into 4-H clubs

Through many years of dedication and help from our county Commissioners we have grown to an office of seven extension professionals. We have Extension professionals in 4-H, Horticulture, and Family and Consumer Sciences.