About Brimfield Township

Brimfield Township is one of the eighteen townships in Portage County, Ohio.  The township is named after the town of Brimfield, Massachusetts. The original proprietors were Israel Thorndike and John Wyles, both of whom came to the area in 1816 to view their land and divide it. While neither settled in Brimfield, Thorndike sent his nephew Henry Thorndike to act as his agent and settle in the township. Brimfield was known by a succession of different names during the first few years, mostly in reference to the swampy land within its borders. It was first known as "Swamptown", followed by "Beartown", "Greenbriar", and "Wylestown", before town leaders agreed to name it "Thorndike" at the establishment of the township government in 1818 after Thorndike had agreed to donate land for a town square. Thorndike never followed through on his agreement, so residents petitioned to have the name changed to "Brimfield" in honor of John Wyles, Jr., who had inherited his father's land interests and at the time resided in Brimfield, Massachusetts. 

Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:

·        Franklin Township - north

·        Kent - north

·        Ravenna Township - northeast corner

·        Rootstown Township - east

·        Randolph Township - southeast corner

·        Suffield Township - south

·        Springfield Township, Summit County - southwest corner

·        Tallmadge - west

·        Stow - northwest corner

Brimfield Township covers an approximate total area of 21.4 square miles of which 20.5 square miles is land.

According to the 2020 census, there are 11,352 residents in the township.

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1st of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election.