Churches
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The Federated Church
The Beginnings: the Bible Christian Church on Bell Street The history of the Federated Church of Chagrin Falls began with the Bible Christian Church, a congregation that included many immigrants from England. As its membership grew, the congregation outgrew its original one-story frame building on Front Street, now known as Bell Street, at 112–114 Bell…
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Valley Lutheran Church
The history of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, includes the development of several religious congregations that served the spiritual and social needs of the growing community. Valley Lutheran Church began holding services in Chagrin Falls Town Hall in 1937. Within a year, the congregation grew from its original 68 members to nearly 100, demonstrating a strong demand…
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St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church
More Than 60 Years of Faith and Community St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church has been an important part of the Chagrin Falls community for generations. Founded in 1948 as a mission of St. Rita Parish in Solon, Ohio, the parish grew from a small church into a thriving Catholic community with its own church,…
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St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
The history of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, includes the development of several religious congregations that served the spiritual and social needs of the growing community. St. Martin’s Episcopal Church began with a group of 21 families who met at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre in 1953. Together, they formed the St. Martin’s Episcopal Mission, establishing the…
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First Church of Christ, Scientist
Christian Scientists first gathered in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, in 1911. As the congregation grew, members met in several locations, including the Tenny Building on North Main Street and the American Legion Hall on the north side of East Orange Street. In 1940, the congregation purchased a lot on Walnut Street, where the Disciples of Christ…
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The Bible Christian Church
The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination, founded in 1815 by William O’Bryan in Shebbear, Devonshire, England. Starting in 1836, a large number of families immigrated from Devonshire to the Chagrin Valley and in 1846, a congregation of Bible Christians was formed. They built a one-story church house on Front Street (now Bell Street)…
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Free Will Baptist Church
The Free Will Baptist Church was organized in Russell in 1839. The congregation met in Russell until 1842 when they moved to Chagrin and built a Union Meeting House on the point of land where Front (Bell) and Vincent Street meet. They shared the building with the Wesleyan Methodists who split off from the main…
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Disciples of Christ
In 1831, Adamson Bentley, a former Baptist minister in Warren, Ohio, organized a Disciples of Christ church in the nearby settlement that would become Bentleyville, Ohio. In 1843 the Disciples began worshiping in Chagrin Falls, and in 1853 relocated to a new church building on Walnut Street. James A. Garfield, the future 20th president of…
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The Methodist Episcopal Church
In 1837 the Methodist Episcopal Church was formed, meeting at private homes and schoolhouses. In 1842 the Methodist Church was officially formed as the Wesley Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Chagrin Falls. Their first church was built in 1846 on the East side of South Franklin Street. A new church was built on…
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The First Congregational Society
The First Congregational Society was formed in 1835, just two years after the settlement of Chagrin Falls by Noah Graves. The first members of the Church were Thomas and Rebecca West, Alexander and Polly Hart, Timothy and Sarah Osborne, Saloma Crosby, Andrew Dickinson and Thomas Hart. In 1844, the Trustees of the Congregational Society raised…