Welcome to Massillon, Ohio, the second largest incorporated territory in the Canton-Massillon, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area!

The orginal settlement of Kendal was founded by a Quaker from New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Hartford Connecticut, Thomas Rotch. Later on, James Duncan arrived in Kendal, recording the plot for Massillon in 1826. The name comes from French Catholic Bishop Jean Baptiste Massillon, at the request of his wife. The plat itself was established on the east bank of the Tuscarawas River, the surveyed route of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Massillon would quickly become a major port town along the canal route, after the canal itself was completed in 1832. The first telegraph lines would then reach Massillon in 1847, with railroads coming in 1852.

Massillon has also been the home of several notable people, including R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, Iowa State Cyclones Head Coach Matt Campbell, former Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley, MLB pitcher for the Detroit Tigers Dillon Dingler, suffragist Caroline McCullough Everhard, the first Black person to ever play in a college football bowl game Bobby Grier, the 1956 Sugar Bowl, Civil Rights activist James Lawson, as well as several more others (all information courtesy of Wikipedia.com, image courtesy of Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) / CC BY-SA).