Welcome to the Chagrin Falls Historical Society

We are a non-profit (501 c-3) organization of over 300 volunteers, and celebrated our 60th anniversary in 2009. We are located in downtown Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022, at 21 Walnut Street, next door to the Fire Department, about 30 miles east of Cleveland. We work to acquire, collect, preserve and share artifacts from our Village, from its earliest times (it was settled in 1833), including a large photographic collection of early settlers, houses, factories, businesses and community events, parades, and objects owned by early settlers, such as clothing, kitchen tools, household furniture and personal effects. We also have a substantial doll collection left by our first museum curator.

We have collected a number of products produced by the Village's mills, foundries and factories that were originally water-powered by the Chagrin River, which attracted the first settlers from mill towns in New England. We also have collections of artworks by two well known primitive artists - Henry Church Jr. and Max Barnard - who lived in the Village most of their lives. Our museum is open to the public on Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m., and by special arrangements for out-of-town guests or organizations by contacting our Volunteer Curator Pat Zalba (440/247-5209).

We have archives with records of local organizations and businesses, and our early local weekly newspaper, The Exponent, which was published from 1874 to 1963, along with family records and diaries, and furniture and clothing of early Chagrin Falls families. We publish a monthly newsletter and offer free monthly programs on historical themes, and bus trips to historic places in the Spring and Fall. We have published a number of books on the history of the Village, and of early factories and businesses there. We also-co-sponsor a Winter Concert Series at our local library, along with The Friends of the Library, and a biennial Home & Garden Tour in the Village, in conjunction with Downtown Chagrin Falls.

We encourage you to visit our museum, attend our programs and bus trips, and join the Historical Society if it is of interest to you.