Historic Downtown Willoughby, Ohio

Willoughby's history is very unique. It's the only town in America that has belonged to six counties (Washington, Jefferson, Trumbull, Geauga, Cuyahoga, and Lake). It was originally settled by the French in the 1750's and called Charlton. The British followed and renamed the town Chagrin River. When the first industries sprang up it was renamed Chagrin Mills and shortened to Chagrin in 1815. Finally, in 1834 John Henderson and Dr. Westel Willoughby established the Willoughby Medical College and in 1835 the town was renamed for the last time to the City of Willoughby.

Willoughby is approximately 20 miles east of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shoreline. The people living in Willoughby have a lot of pride in the city's history and connections to the past. Willoughby's downtown area is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and worth visiting. You can start your walking tour at the Civil War memorial located at Public Square at the intersection of Euclid Ave. and River St. The Civil War memorial was dedicated in 1885. It lists the names of all the soldiers from Willoughby who have died in combat. More information and pictures of this memorial can be found at www.sculpturecenter.org.

Public Square features a beautiful, landscaped park area all four seasons of the year. Spring, summer and fall transform the area into a lush garden landscape filled with roses and flowers of the season. There is a large gazebo where you're bound to see weddings being performed on most of the summer weekends by Mayor Dave Anderson. On December 1st, the park is transformed by thousands and thousands of twinkle lights and Christmas displays that are left up until mid January. Right across River St. is City Hall at 1 Public Square. An outdoor Farmer's Market is held in the parking lot every Saturday morning from 8am to noon all summer long. Gardeners and farmers from the area come rain or shine to sell their fresh fruit and vegetables and people drive from neighboring communities to take advantage of the great bargains.