Atwater, Ohio

Driving in on route 224 which leaves Akron, Ohio you have to make a dog leg through a small town called Atwater.

Wait, stop - I hope you didn't blink while you were coming through cause you may of missed it. Well ok so it's not that bad but Atwater consists of: one 4-way stop sign, a blinking yellow light, one gas station, one restaurant with a gazebo, post office, 2 townhalls (the older of which serves as a makeshift sheriffs station I think) and several churches of all religion types.

I recently learned that Atwater is serviced by Waterloo School District, I do not know where that is, but I do know that they need to teach the children that it's ok to walk to a central spot to be picked up for school instead of each drive way which are no more than 50 ft apart in some areas!

Do you like to hunt or fish? Than you're in luck! Atwater is good for fishing walleye, bass, carp and I'm sure many others. Nighttime, aided by the lights of their trucks, seems to be the most favored time for locals to fish. And there is also several state regulated hunting areas, eek.

For the most part there isn't a history except for old farms and German Church Road which is within walking distance from my house. Atwater used to have a large Germanic population in the late 1800s and early 1900s - the church was demolished by I hear a fire but members of the church were buried on the old site of the church - it's a very photographic spot.

Atwater is for someone who likes being not to far from civilization but then again still not close enough to get a decent pizza delivered. Atwater is about 30 miles east of Akron, 60 miles southeast from Cleveland and 35 miles west of Youngstown.

We do have locally camping also at West Branch State Park. Which everything from horseback riding, motor boating to camping can be done. I've personally been there and it's a very nice park, very clear water and has a beach also, but it's unguarded.

For those looking to get away from the city lights, Atwater is your ticket - although it'll do you no good to bring your cell phone because to spot a cell phone tower around here is out of the ordinary. Also it's not good for internet acces also, very few connections for us dial-uppers and only cable TV access!

And for the transplants into the area, there is life after k-6!

Local colleges include: Kent State University, Akron University, Hiram College, Mount Union College, and Youngstown State University. There is also a hodge-podge of vocational business schools in neighbooring towns, the most famous type of vocational school is beauty school.

What the feds have to say about Atwater

2000 Census report
Total Population: 2762
Caucasian 2715 98.30%
Black or African Am. 4
Am. Indian and Alaska Nat. 13 0.47%
Asian 4 0.14%
Nat. Hawaiian and Other Pacific Isl. 0 0.00%
Some other race 2 0.07%

Ohh plus local animal friends you might run into are: alpacas, cows, chickens, dogs, cats, turkeys, deer, llamas, horses etc.

Because primarly I just moved here and it's quite a culture shock still - especially moving from a city to, no where.
If you ever drive thru Atwater, you'll see how/why it earned it's nickname 'Deadwater'