Preservation
of South Newbury Union Chapel

This little Chapel has stood steadfast and witnessed a lot of history over its 166-year lifetime! Periodically, the Chapel requires some maintenance and restoration work to preserve it and the history it contains. This is an ongoing process by the Trustees in collaboration with our partners.

What has been done to preserve South Newbury Union Chapel so far

• Building Assessment Study by Perspectus Architecture, courtesy of Geauga Park District

• Structural Engineering Study by Barber and Hoffman, courtesy of Geauga Park District

• Currently undergoing thorough documentation per Historic American Building Survey standards by Preservation Toolbox, LLC 

What the studies and surveys have revealed for the Chapel's future restoration needs

• Foundation and sill reconstruction, which will entail lifting the Chapel off of its existing foundation

• Belfry stabilization, repair and re-enclosure with transparent materials to showcase the original bell to return the tower to its pre-1953 appearance 

• Roof replacement 

• Lab analysis of paint, plaster, wood, and mortar by an architectural conservator to maintain the historical character of the building while necessary repairs are undertaken

• Wood window and door restoration 

• Exterior paint

• Interior restoration work, including re-plastering the walls/ceilings and repairing the stage and floors

Additional updates recommended by surveyors for the Chapel in the future 

These enhancements would be completed according to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and would enhance the functionality of the Chapel as an open public gathering space.

Interested in "digging into" the history of the South Newbury Union Chapel site?

Geauga Park District, in cooperation with the South Newbury Union Chapel Trustees, hosts archaeological excavations periodically. Please watch the Geauga Park District program offerings and our Union Chapel website to register for upcoming archaeology programs offered during the warm months. Check out some of the interesting artifacts discovered below.

PLEASE JOIN US AT 2:00 P.M. SUNDAY JANUARY 25 AT WEST WOODS/GEAUGA PARK DISTRICT FOR A DEBUT OF SELECTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS AND A POWERPOINT PROGRAM ON "SOUTH NEWBURY UNION CHAPEL:  A BOLD PAST, A BRIGHT FUTURE"

A Community Digs Its Past by Bari Oyler Stith

It’s a quiet little place and one might be forgiven for thinking that not much has ever gone on here.  But once we turned over the soil in Geauga Park District’s first ever South Newbury Union Chapel Archaeological Dig, we found compelling bits and pieces reminding us of the vibrancy of this site in Geauga County history. 

Special finds included a bottle neck with no seam that glowed slightly pink in the sun and a scalloped-edged dish with designs of dusky blue and burgundy fading to rose.  There were enough fragments for Naturalist Karie to piece much of the dish together.  What had these held?  Who dropped them when they shattered?

We uncovered bits of brown crockery, reminding us that local suffragist Mary Collister Hodges was known for her pickles.   According to the reminiscence of Irma Redfield McIntyre, “No one made pickles to equal one kind she [Mary] made. They were first put in a brine, then freshened, then packed in a deep crock, the vinegar solution poured over them [with] grape and horseradish leaves on top. Good to the last crisp pickle!”[1]

There were broken bits of dishes with patterns I recognized, including clear thumbprint glass just like my grandmother’s candy dish.  Were some of those blue and white shards the Blue Willow pattern my mother used for everyday in the 1960s?  That dish pattern had a resurgence in popularity after Aunt Bee used them on the Andy Griffith Show.[2] And there were bits of ironstone, green glass (Coke bottles?) and amber glass that is good for liquids sensitive to light.  

All in all, these pottery and glass shards are a testament to the long history of picnics and dinners hosted at the Chapel and on the surrounding grounds.  The Northern Ohio Health and Dress Reform Association as well as the Newbury Woman Suffrage Political Club were well known for picnicking at conferences held at Union Chapel to fire up support for their social reforms in the 19th century.  And in the 20th century, the Ladies Aid Society (later renamed the Chapel Belles) held potlucks, luncheons, and teas as part of their regular meetings. From 1919 to 1980 these women’s organizations also hosted strawberry festivals, ice cream socials, and community dinners (ham and bean, creamed chicken) to raise money that they poured back into Geauga County by helping shut ins, the ill, the disadvantaged, victims of home fires, senior citizens, and those on welfare.  They used the funds they raised to help the Red Cross, Geauga Opportunity School, Geauga Community Hospital, Pope Home for the Aged, Hospital Ship S. S. Hope and troops in Vietnam.  And, of course, they were the prime preservers of Union Chapel, using some of their proceeds for maintenance.[3]

Equally exciting were the square nails and spikes.  Were they dropped when the Chapel was built by community members ca. 1858?  Were they part of a one-story outbuilding once located at the southeastern corner of the Chapel?  Had that metal Stoneman Hardware label been affixed to a tool used at the building site?  Incorporated under the name Stoneman Hardware Company in 1911, this Chagrin Falls business dated back to 1857 when it was known as Nettleton’s and continues to operate today as Chagrin Hardware & Supply Company.[4]

Bits of coal we found may have come from one of the stoves used to heat the Chapel.  And what was that maple spile doing buried behind the Chapel?  Is that a ceramic washer and could it have been used in the plumbing that was added to the back of the chapel?  And who lost their little pocket knife?   An Indian Head penny, a button, a brick – how do these related to the multitudes of people who used the Chapel and it’s grounds?  

What else will we find when we return for more excavation?  And how will these bits and pieces help us tell a more accurate and complete story of the people who valued this little historic site that had such a big impact on Geaugans, Ohioans, and Americans?

Any contribution to our South Newbury Union Chapel Restoration Campaign would get us one step closer to preserving the Union Chapel for generations to come. South Newbury Union Chapel is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and contributions are tax deductible to the extent permissible by law. Contributions are accepted by mail or online.