South Russell

How South Russell began

South Russell sits within historic Russell Township, first settled in 1818 by Gideon Russell and his family and named Russell in 1827; neighbors had called the area 'West Woods.' The village split from the rest of the township and incorporated on its own in 1923, the last village in Geauga County to do so. A local history quoted by the Geauga Maple Leaf traces the split to a controversy over consolidating the township's nine one-room schools.

Settled 1818 (Gideon Russell and family, first inhabitants of what became Russell Township), incorporated Russell Township organized and named 1827; South Russell village incorporated separately, 1923, by Gideon Russell.

Where the name comes from

South Russell takes its name from Russell Township, itself named in 1827 for Gideon Russell, who had settled there with his family in 1818. Before that formal naming the area was known informally among neighbors as 'West Woods.'

Before the town

No source identifies a specific, named Native American village, mound, or treaty site within Russell Township or South Russell. The area, part of the Chagrin River watershed in the northeastern Connecticut Western Reserve, lay within the range of the Lenape (Delaware), Wyandot and other nations before the Treaty of Greenville (1795) and settlement in 1818.

Nations recorded here: Lenape (Delaware), Wyandot.

Timeline

1. 1818 — Gideon Russell and his family become the first settlers of the township that will bear his name.
2. 1827-04 — Township residents elect their first trustees and the township is formally organized and named Russell, replacing the informal name 'West Woods.'
3. 1860s — During the Civil War years, local men of the township serve in the Squirrel Hunters' Brigade, taking rifles to Cincinnati in case Confederate forces crossed the Ohio River.
4. 1900 — The interurban railroad, a line from South Russell through Chardon and Hiram that separated South Russell from Bainbridge Township, and then the automobile make Russell a suburban bedroom community; the interurban's tracks are still visible.
5. 1923 — South Russell incorporates as its own village, splitting from the rest of Russell Township -- the last village in Geauga County to incorporate.
6. 1925 — A controversy over school consolidation, according to a local history quoted by the Geauga Maple Leaf, leads the southern portion of Russell Township to split off and form South Russell; Wikipedia and the village's centennial give 1923 for the incorporation.
7. 1930 — Population is 141.
8. 1950-1970 — Population grows from 349 to 2,673 as postwar suburban development reaches the village.
9. 1960 — The census counts 1,276 residents, up from 349 in 1950 and 231 in 1940.
10. 1970 — A debate over sewers in Russell Township ends with septic systems winning out, which helps the area keep its semi-rural character.
11. 1980 — The census counts 2,784 residents; the population reaches 3,402 in 1990 and 4,022 in 2000.
12. 2020 — The census counts 3,972 residents (3,819 in 2010).
13. 2023 — The village celebrates its 100th anniversary, serving as grand marshal of the Blossom Time Parade on May 28 and holding concerts at Village Park on Bell Road.

Stories

A village made by a school fight

South Russell is the youngest village in Geauga County, and a local history, as the Geauga Maple Leaf reports it, traces its beginning to a quarrel over schools. Russell Township had nine one-room schools, and a controversy over consolidating them in the 1920s led the southern part of the township to split off and form its own village; the village's centennial celebration in 2023 and Wikipedia mark the founding as 1923, while the township history article places the school dispute in 1925. The township itself was the last in Geauga County to be organized, in 1827, and neighbors in Newbury had called it the West Woods. What changed it most, a local historian says, was transportation in the 1900s, first the interurban railroad that ran from South Russell through Chardon and Hiram and separated South Russell from Bainbridge Township, then the automobile, which made Russell a bedroom community. The village had 141 people in 1930 and 3,972 in 2020, and its mayor in 2023 attributed its appeal to its 'limited government.'

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · geaugamapleleaf.com · clevelandjewishnews.com · archive.org

The Five Mile Crib, a small structure about 5 miles out in Lake Erie north of Cleveland's Edgewater Park The water here

• Cleveland Public Water System57% of residentsLake Erie
• Chagrin Falls Village36% of residentsLake Erie
• Paw Paw Lake6% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Public schools (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Police stations (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2024: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2024-11-05; later elections are not loaded yet.

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for South Russell, Cuyahoga County and its school district:

• Cuyahoga County: Miscellaneous, for Charter Amendment: Article II, Section 2.03 & Article VI, Section 6.04.
• Cuyahoga County: Miscellaneous, for Charter Amendment: Article XII, Section 12.09.
• Cuyahoga County: Miscellaneous, for Charter Amendment: Article V, Section 5.06.
• Cuyahoga County: Authorizes an additional 2.25-mill property tax levy to acquire, construct, renovate, finance, maintain & operate developmental disabilities facilities of Cuyahoga County for 10 years, beginning in 2026.
• Cuyahoga County: Renews and increases a 7.2-mill property tax levy for the general fund, health & human social services of Cuyahoga County for 10 years, beginning in 2026.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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