Sharon Center Universalist Church
Credit: Craig Doda

Sharon Center
Universalist Church

Sharon Center, Ohio
(Medina County)

I have driven by this beautiful, Greek Revival Style Sharon Township Hall on the Square many times, never realizing that it was once the Sharon Center Christian Universalist Church.

The roots of the Sharon Center Universalist Church, somewhat tangled. extend back to the beginning of the 19th century. Itinerant Universalist ministers such as Rev. Jonathan Tracey were preaching the theology of Christian Universalism throughout the area. Migrants were settling in these southern parts of the Western Reserve. Mostly from Connecticut, many were Universalists.

By 1833 there were enough Universalist in the Sharon Township area to organized as the “Sharon Universalist Society.”¹ The Society was “fellowshipped” by the Richland Association, and later, when Association boundaries changed in 1838, by the Murry Association.

It is when the Sharon Universalist Society builds their church that the roots get a bit tangled. The Ohio Universalist Association appears to have recorded a Society in Sharon and one in Sharon Center. Robinson in the chapter, “Brief Items of Local Church History,” states of the Sharon Society, “Location unknown.” He simply notes. “Organized” for the Sharon Center Church.² Adding to the entanglement, Robinson also mentions a “Sharon Academy,”³ with no mention of where it is located, other than in Medina County.

We can assume that in the early years of the Sharon Universalist Society that they met in homes, or perhaps a meeting hall, for worship. Local history now comes to the rescue: ⁴

On March 14, 1836 the Universalists dedicated the Sharon Academy. The two-story simple-framed Academy was located on the town square at the spot where in time, the church would come to be built. The Academy building did double duty, providing space for education and worship. [As a retired university professor, I find it intriguing that these Universalists were more interested in providing an education, than in building a church for worship.]

The Academy, according to accounts of the day, had a reputation throughout the region for providing am excellent quality high school education. Its first and long-serving principal, Rev. Alvin Dinsmore was recognized as an excellent and capable leader. 5 At its peak the Academy had an enrollment of 112 students. As public education became more popular, the school’s enrollment declined.

In 1845 the Sharon Universalist Society reorganized, and with the reorganization came the “Sharon Center” name change, and a desire to build a church. With declining enrollment, in 1851 the students were relocated to a nearby building, and the Academy building was demolished to make way for the new church. In 1852, construction was finished and church was dedicated.

After this the church’s story becomes somewhat of a mystery. There are a few pictures here and there, and the Harvard Divinity School Library Archives holds the membership and ministerial roles. What is missing are those stories that give life to a church. Hopefully, in time they will show up.

The church appears in Universalist Convention records until 1946, although with declining attendance and membership. The last year shows an attendance of 22 and the yearly contribution to the Convention of $1.00. The church is not listed among the Universalist Churches that entered the 1962 merger with the Unitarians. Yet, from newspaper accounts it appears that occasional services and funeral were held at the church after 1946. The latest that I have found, was a funeral in November of 1961, which was after the May merger date.

The church, as did many of those in region, appears to have had a close relationship with Buchtel College with President Ira Priest filling the pulpit on occasion. And like many Christian Universalist Churches had at least one woman minister in the early days, Inez L. Shipman.

History records that the building became the Sharon Center Grange Hall, but was still used on occasion for church services and other uses. Sometime in the mid-1900s the building became the Township Hall.

Notes:

1. At about the same time Universalist Societies were active in nearby Medina, Brunswick, Westfield Center, Copley and Akron.
2. Robinson, lists two separate “Sharon” societies. One simple as “Sharon,” (“Location unknown”) p. 160.
3. Ibid. p. 109.
4. Northrop , p. 296.
5. Dinsmore came to the Sharon Academy from the Ohio City Universalist Institute.

Bibliography:

Hambley, Stephen D. Hambley. Timeline of Medina County History. Bookmasters, 2017. https://www.medinaco.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2018-Remastered-Timeline.pdf (PDF).
Northrop, N.B. Pioneer History of Medina County. George Redway, 1861.
Robinson, Elmo Arnold. The Christian Universalist in Ohio. Ohio Universalist Convention, 1923.
Unitarian Universalist Association Directory, Boston Universalist Association of Congregations, Harvard Divinity School Library, 1961-2009.
https://viewer.lib.harvard.edu/viewer/URN-3:DIV.LIB:30758222?canvasId=https%3A%2F%2Fnrs.lib.harvard.edu%2FURN-3%3ADIV.LIB%3A30758222%3AMANIFEST%3A3%2Fcanvas%2Fcanvas-drs%3A428465216. (PDF)

Images:

Medina County Economic Development Corporation. Ariel view of Sharon Center. Medina, N.D.
Sharon Center Map (edited), Atlas & Directory of Medina County, American Atlas Co., 1897.
Wall, Ron & Sue. 1937 Image, “Sharon Center, Medina County, Ohio.” Family History Website, 2025.
Doda, Craig, "Town Hall (cropped)." "The Sharon Center Public Square District," The Historical Data Marker Database.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=202362.

[Church history may be updated as new information comes to light.]

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