All Souls Universalist Church in Bellville held its first services in 1822, with early circuit riders traveling from Fredericktown to Lexington, Ohio.

The first meeting house was on the east side of Main Street. Official organization was in 1847 and the first building of Western Reserve Italianate design was constructed behind the current building in 1851.

Our “new” building, a Richardson Romanesque building was constructed in 1894-1897.

D. L. Briggs of Cleveland was the architect. The sandstone came from the Cyrus Gatton Farm on Route 97, east of Bellville, and another quarry west of the village.Stones were cut to fit and the cornerstone laid in 1894. Native lumber was used for the rough structure.

The fourteen stained glass windows were ordered through an importing firm in Boston and came from Germany.

The building was dedicated in 1897, and entered in the U. S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historical Places on January 1st, 1976.

• For the most part, the building has been maintained by the members of the church for all of the last 110 years. The care and maintenance of our building has been and continues to be a labor of love shared by many of our members.
• In the spring of 2005, we purchased “new” pews (they were only 100 years old) for our sanctuary and a crew of our members worked two mornings a week for almost exactly 1 year to rebuild, refinish, refurbish and then install them. The “old” pews were sold to offset our expenses and to facilitate getting them removed.
• Our new pews are beautiful and fit the sanctuary very well.In 2004 we replaced all the sidewalks around the building, creating a much safer surface for our members and guests to walk on.
• The year 2005, by a memorial gift, we rewired and reheated the building, including installation of separate heat and air-conditioning for the two floors in the church, and installed a new sound system in the sanctuary.
• The fall of 2006, by another generous memorial gift, saw the original front entrance steps replaced and a hand rail added to help people get up the steps to the sanctuary.
• In 2007, we refurbished the front doors and are working to rebuild the back door into the church. The front doors are original, circa 1897, and were completely refinished, then weather-sealed.
• April 24, 2009 a new back door was installed, built to match the original – inside and out, which was worn out.

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