In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • A Guide to Greater Cleveland’s Sacred Landmarks by Lloyd H. Ellis
  • John P. McCarthy
A Guide to Greater Cleveland’s Sacred Landmarks. By Lloyd H. Ellis (Kent, Ohio: Kent State Univ. Press, 2012. 434pp. Paper $45.00, isbn 978-1-60635-121-5.)

Perhaps it is cliché to say so, but churches and other places of worship are the soul of most communities. They are centers of social life and often political activity, as well as religious centers. In 1992 the late Foster Armstrong produced A Guide to Cleveland’s Sacred Landmarks, in which he described 124 churches and other religious sites and outlined ten suggested tour routes. The current volume revisits that seminal effort and widens the scope to 154 properties and a total of fifteen driving tour routes to include portions of suburban Cuyahoga County in addition to the city of Cleveland proper.

I have never visited Cleveland, but have documented many endangered religious properties in other cities, and I found Ellis’s property discussions concise and evocative, but also sufficiently detailed to not only describe each property but to also place it in context with respect to the diverse history of the various ethnic communities and religious denominations that have made Cleveland their home. When known, the year of construction, architect, and builder are listed for each property, and major additions and alterations are similarly identified.

Each description includes a small (approximately 1.5 by 2.5 inch) black-and-white photograph of the property. It appears that these were converted from color images and many suffer from having been backlit in the field and/or low contrast in their reproduction, and if I have a major complaint about the volume, it is the quality of the photographs. Priced at $45 for the paperback edition on which this review is based, one assumes that color illustrations would have resulted in a volume prohibitively priced. The photographs are more than adequate to assist one in finding the property described while on tour, and that is their primary purpose.

The book is organized into fifteen neighborhood/regional chapters following a brief introduction, which makes some observations about the religious history of Cleveland and the organization of the volume. Readers are warned that most of the properties are private and few are open to the public for un-scheduled visits. Those that are open are identified.

Each chapter opens with a description of the neighborhood and its historical associations. A detailed description of the recommended tour route with a reasonably well-detailed map is presented, then the individual properties are presented in order of the tour route. All the properties are identified in the list of illustrations at the front of the volume, but their affiliations are not included, making it difficult, for example, to identify all the Roman Catholic churches in a [End Page 105] given part of Cleveland included in this Guide. Detailed footnotes and bibliography are included for those interested in the sources of the information presented.

In sum, the volume is a useful and informative guide to the sites associated with the religious life of Cleveland and its suburbs. The edition reviewed is sized for easy handling while touring and can conveniently be stored in the glove compartment of most cars. While the material presented is well documented, the volume is best suited for those with an avocational or casual interest rather than scholarly. That said, I will be sure to pack this book should I ever happen to find myself visiting Cleveland. [End Page 106]

John P. McCarthy
Ball State University
...

pdf

Share