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Tavern Tales
Situated between two spring fed lakes, Tavern at Twin Lakes affords splendid views of these bodies of water which were formed when the great glacier moved across two-thirds of Ohio some 25,000 years ago. This land remained ice covered for about 6,000 years.
Tavern owner Richard Gressards great grandparents, Frank A. Merrill and Ida Haymaker Merrill, owned the two lakes and the adjacent golf course land until 1920 when it was sold and development took over. The Twin Lakes home of Frank A. Merrill played a very large role in the establishing of what is now Kent State University. In 1910, a governors commission came into the Kent and Ravenna area looking for a site on which to construct a normal school. The commission was scheduled to inspect sites in both Kent and Ravenna.
The members never got to Ravenna for the following reason. A group of Kent community leaders and the commission members traveled by automobile to the Merrill home at Twin Lakes. Here, they were served a gourmet feast consisting of platters of freshly caught Twin Lakes bluegills, fried chicken, and many side dishes plus quite a few pitchers of hard cider were consumed by the group on the Merrills spacious back porch.
After the repast, the Kent committee convinced the commission members that Kent was the best choice and consequently Kent became the Normal School site. Richards great grandfather, Frank A. Merrill, who served as Superintendent of Ravenna Schools, was made a member and treasurer of the Normal Schools first board of trustees. The first building on the new campus was named Merrill Hall. He died in 1916.
Tavern at Twin Lakes
7508 State Route 43
Kent, Ohio 44240
(330) 678-8946
Welcome to our homepage!! Let me introduce you to the Tavern at Twin Lakes! We are located near Kent, Ohio on State Route 43. We specialize in seafood but we also offer a variety of food for the meat and potatoes lover too! On the products and services page we have our full menu listed plus our specials which are updated weekly. Please browse the entire site and give us your feedback with e-mail. We would love to hear from you!
Our restaurant has grown over the last ten years each year do to word of mouth. The atmosphere is quite nice with a spectacular view of East Twin Lakes in our all glass dining area. We do have limited seating by the windows, so we highly recommend reservations to assure you get the table of your choice!!
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