The building, located along Gougler Avenue in central Kent near the Cuyahoga River, was built in 1837 and has served as the seat of government for Franklin Township since 1840.

[1] This proved incorrect and the Panic of 1837 combined with northeast Ohio's unfavorable climate for silkworms led to the business failing.

[2] On August 23, 1859, the hall was the site of a local Republican Party convention to nominate a state senator.

The meeting produced a deadlock, and so to break it, James A. Garfield, who had not held any political office up to that point, was nominated.

[3] Garfield would go on to win the election as the state senator for an area which included Portage and Summit counties.