Local events in Willoughby Hills
27 events in the next 90 days from 3 public calendars. All local events in Willoughby Hills
Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Willoughby Hills began
Willoughby Hills is what remained of old Chagrin Township -- settled in 1797 by gristmill operator David Abbott and renamed Willoughby Township around 1834-1835 -- after seven other communities split off from it one by one between 1853 and 1948. Its remaining residents incorporated as a village in April 1954 to keep what land and population the township had left, and the city reached that status in 1970. The community's best-known landmark, Squire's Castle, began as a wealthy oilman's gatehouse for a manor house that was never built, and now stands as a roofless stone shell inside a Cleveland Metroparks reservation.
Settled 1797 (David Abbott, in what was then Chagrin Township), incorporated April 1954 (village); city status in 1970.
Where the name comes from
Willoughby Hills carries forward the name of the older Willoughby Township (itself renamed around 1834-1835 from Chagrin Township, for public health official Westel Willoughby, Jr.), with 'Hills' added to distinguish the newly incorporated remainder of the township from the city of Willoughby that had split off from it a century earlier.
Before the town
Willoughby Hills' own city history states that the area was inhabited by the Whittlesey culture from roughly AD 900 to 1650, consistent with the documented Whittlesey presence recorded elsewhere in Lake County along the Chagrin and Grand River valleys. No named historic-era Native village or specific archaeological site within present Willoughby Hills is documented in the sources consulted. That broader regional history includes the documented Whittlesey-culture earthwork at Indian Point in LeRoy Township.
Nations recorded here: Whittlesey culture.
Timeline
- — David Abbott becomes the first permanent resident of Chagrin Township (later Willoughby Township), building a home and gristmill along the Chagrin River.
- — Chagrin Township is renamed Willoughby Township, honoring public health official Westel Willoughby, Jr.
- — Standard Oil executive and former Wickliffe mayor Feargus B. Squire buys 525 acres of forest within the township for an intended English country estate, 'River Farm Estate.'
- — Squire builds a stone Romanesque Revival gatehouse -- his planned manor house is never built -- completed by 1897 with no electricity, gas, running water or sewer.
- — Seven communities split off one by one from the original Willoughby Township: Willoughby (1853), Wickliffe (1916), Willowick (1922), Waite Hill (1928), Lakeline (1929), Timberlake (1947) and Eastlake (1948).
- — Squire sells his estate to developers, who go bankrupt; the Cleveland Park Board (predecessor to Cleveland Metroparks) acquires the land from the bank in 1925 and renames the gatehouse 'Squire's Castle.'
- — Remaining Willoughby Township residents incorporate as the Village of Willoughby Hills in April, to preserve what land and population remained after the earlier splits.
- — The 1970 census shows population above 5,000, and Willoughby Hills becomes a city; voters adopt a new city charter the same year.
Stories
The castle that was only ever a gatehouse
Feargus Squire made his money at Standard Oil and, around 1890, set out to spend some of it on an English country estate in the forest east of Cleveland -- 525 acres he called River Farm, with a manor house he never got around to building. What he did build, starting in 1895, was the gatehouse: a rustic, turreted stone structure of quarried Euclid bluestone with leaded glass windows, finished by 1897 without electricity, gas, running water or a sewer connection. Squire used it as an occasional weekend retreat -- most of the summer of 1903, by one account -- but his wife disliked the place and he rarely visited after 1908. He sold the property to developers in 1922; when they went bankrupt, the Cleveland Park Board bought the land from the bank in 1925, stripped the gatehouse's upper floors and filled in its basement, and gave it the name that stuck: Squire's Castle. A popular local legend holds that Squire's wife Louisa died there after falling down a staircase during a storm -- but the story does not hold up against the record, which shows Louisa Squire died in 1927 at the family's other home, Cobblestone Garth in Wickliffe, not at the castle at all. The roofless stone shell still stands today inside Cleveland Metroparks' North Chagrin Reservation, restored modestly in 1995 and visited far more as a hiking-trail curiosity than the manor Squire once imagined building beside it.
Local history sources: willoughbyhills-oh.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Water
Lake Erie, drawn through a 60-inch intake pipe extending about 3,100 feet offshore from the Aquarius plant in Willoughby The water here
- Lake County West Water Subdistrict91% of residentsLake Erie
- Aqua Ohio - Mentor9% of residentsLake Erie
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Willoughby Hills's boundary: 1 fire or EMS station, 1 public school, 1 private school, 4 poor-rated bridges, 1 library, 1 police station, 1 public charging site, 1 Toxics Release Inventory facility and 3 spill cases. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Willoughby Hills Fire DepartmentWilloughby Hills
- Address
- 35455 Chardon Road, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
- Coordinates
- 41.58890, -81.43221
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Public schools (1)
-
School of Innovation5 of 5 stars · Willoughby
- Address
- 32500 Chardon Rd, Willoughby, OH 44094
- School district
- Willoughby-Eastlake City School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 446
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 27
- Report card, 2025-26
- 5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 98.4%
- Ohio building IRN
- 015137
- NCES school ID
- 390451005822
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES EDGE public school locations 2024-25 and Common Core of Data 2023-24 (type, students, teachers); Ohio School Report Cards 2025-26 (Department of Education and Workforce), matched by name within the district.
Private schools (1)
-
Cornerstone Christian AcademyPrivate, conservative Christian · Willoughby Hills
- Address
- 2846 Som Center Rd Ste 1, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
- Kind
- conservative Christian
- Students, 2023-24
- 466
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 10.6
- Students per teacher
- 43.9623
- Phone
- (440) 943-9260
- NCES private school ID
- A0108618
Source: NCES Private School Survey 2023-24.
Bridges rated poor (4)
-
Bishop Road over StreamPoor · built 1978
- Condition
- Poor: a deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale
- What it is
- Bridge
- Built
- 1978
- Length
- 11 ft
- Owner
- County
- Vehicles a day
- 9,626
- Coordinates
- 41.57873, -81.47850
National Bridge Inventory (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Chardon Rd over IR-271Poor · built 1963
- Condition
- Poor: a deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale
- What it is
- Bridge
- Built
- 1963
- Length
- 150 ft
- Owner
- State
- Vehicles a day
- 5,796
- Coordinates
- 41.58504, -81.44812
National Bridge Inventory (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Eagle Road over Chagrin RiverPoor · built 1952
- Condition
- Poor: a deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale
- What it is
- Bridge
- Built
- 1952
- Length
- 46 ft
- Owner
- County
- Vehicles a day
- 2,223
- Coordinates
- 41.60329, -81.40522
National Bridge Inventory (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Usr 6 over Chagrin Riv .85 Mi E 174Poor · built 1951
- Condition
- Poor: a deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale
- What it is
- Bridge
- Built
- 1951
- Length
- 117 ft
- Owner
- State
- Vehicles a day
- 8,595
- Coordinates
- 41.58780, -81.40088
National Bridge Inventory (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory 2025. "Poor" means one major part rated 4 or below on the 0 to 9 scale; it calls for repair, not closing, unless the state posts or closes the bridge.
Public libraries (1)
-
Willoughby Hills BranchBranch · Willoughby Hills
- Address
- 35400 Chardon Rd, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
- What it is
- Branch
- Library system
- Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library
- Open
- 2,704 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 4,300 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 235,716
- System's loans, FY2024
- 1,018,500
- People the system serves
- 66,639
- Phone
- (440) 942-3362
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Police stations (1)
-
Willoughby Hills Police DepartmentWilloughby Hills
- Address
- 35405 Chardon Road, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
- Coordinates
- 41.58953, -81.43325
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Public EV charging (1)
-
CLASSIC LEXUS CUSTOMER2 Level 2 · Willoughby Hills
- Address
- 2551 Som Center Rd, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
- Ports
- 2 Level 2
- Plugs
- J1772
- Network
- ChargePoint Network
- Hours
- 24 hours daily
- Phone
- 888-758-4389
Station Locator (NREL) ↗ Alternative Fuels Data Center (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center station list (May 2026), public and open stations, the posts at one address counted as one site.
Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)
-
Swagelok Manufacturing Company LlcToxics Release Inventory · Willoughby Hills
- Address
- 26651 & 26653 Curtiss Wright Pkwy, Willoughby Hills, OH 44092
- County
- Lake County County
- Status
- Reports to the Toxics Release Inventory (open)
- EPA program ID
- 44092TLNTC26651
- EPA registry ID
- 110013701850
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Toxics Release Inventory reporters. Reporting a release is required of large users of listed chemicals; it is not by itself a violation.
Spills reported since 2021 (3)
-
Oil Transformer Non Pcb Reached water2025-04-22 · Willoughby Hills
- Reported
- 2025-04-22
- What spilled
- Oil Transformer Non Pcb
- Largest amount reported
- 30 gallons
- Reached a waterway
- 99 - Unnamed
- Where
- Willoughby Hills, Lake County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2504EPA0000613
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Antifreeze Vehicle Cooling2023-07-21 · Willoughby Hills
- Reported
- 2023-07-21
- What spilled
- Antifreeze Vehicle Cooling
- Where
- Willoughby Hills, Lake County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2307EPA0001239
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road)2026-06-17 · Willoughby Hills
- Reported
- 2026-06-17
- What spilled
- Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road)
- Largest amount reported
- 50 gallons
- Where
- Willoughby Hills, Lake County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2606EPA0001080
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Willoughby Hills, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
Local government
Who holds office in Willoughby Hills, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Who holds office
| Office | Name | Party | Term ends | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Chris Hallum | Republican | 2027 | 2937 Lamplight Ln Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 |
| Council-at-Large 1 (1/1/26 Term) | Julie A. Belich | Republican | 2029 | 37200 Chardon Rd. Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 |
| Council-at-Large 2 (1/2/26 Term) | Vicki Miller | Republican | 2029 | 2857 Hayes Dr. Willoughby Hills, OH 44092 |
| Council-at-Large 3 (1/3/26 Term) | Daniel L. Knecht | Republican | 2029 | 29341 Eddy Rd. Willoughby Hills, OH 44092 |
| Council-at-Large 4 (1/1/26 Term) | Joseph Jarmuszkiewicz | Republican | 2027 | 31301 Eddy Rd. Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 |
| District 1 (AA,BB) | Mike Kline | Republican | 2027 | 38531 Dodds Landing Dr. Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 |
| District 2 (CC,DD) | Tanya Taylor Draper | Republican | 2027 | 29027 W. Miller Rd. Willoughby Hills, OH 44092 |
| District 3 (EE,FF,GG) | Kathleen Sivo | Republican | 2027 | 29828 Chardon Rd. Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 |
Roster as of 2026-01-23: county board of elections.
Money issues on the ballot since 2025: 1 of 1 passed.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-04 | 8: 8 Willoughby Hills City Proposed Tax Levy Renewal | 1,313 | 553 | Passed (70.36% for) |
| 2025-11-04 | 9: 9 Willoughby Hills City Proposed Charter Amendment #1 | 1,225 | 586 | Passed (67.64% for) |
| 2025-11-04 | 10: 10 Willoughby Hills City Proposed Charter Amendment #2 | 933 | 876 | Passed (51.58% for) |
| 2022-11-08 | 6: Issue 6. Local Option Sunday Sales (Lobster Pot) - Willoughby Hills City, Precinct EE | 465 | 75 | Passed (86.11% for) |
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Financial Health Indicators (the Auditor of State's 17 measures; critical / cautionary / positive): 2020 0 / 1 / 16; 2021 0 / 0 / 17; 2022 0 / 0 / 17; 2023 0 / 0 / 17; 2024 0 / 1 / 16; 2025 0 / 0 / 16.
- Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-10-09
The county
Lake County: 8 ZIP codes, 23 cities, villages and townships, 232,447 people.
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Willoughby Hills, day by day, from 1871 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 1.62 in
- 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-28
- rain so far in 2026
- 33.6 in
- 4.3 in below normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 40.4 in
- a normal year brings 75.8 in
- a normal year
- 45.9 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 1.62 | — | 28 |
| September 2026 | 3.16 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 6.94 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 2.77 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 3.02 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 3.86 | 0.0 | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.75 | 0.0 | 30 |
| March 2026 | 3.99 | 1.6 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.49 | 7.3 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 2.04 | 31.5 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 2.77 | 13.6 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.97 | 6.8 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 71.2 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1963 — 22.0 in |
| Snowiest year | 1969 — 138.2 in |
| Wettest day on record | 28 July 2006 — 5.46 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 10 December 2016 — 16.91 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 14 November 1996 — 32.75 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Willoughby Hills, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
56,914 days of records, 1871-01-01 to 2026-10-28. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Environmental permits and filings
What Ohio EPA has on file for Willoughby Hills: permits, inspections, violations, cleanups and the state loans behind sewer and water work. Every line links to the agency's own document.
- facilities and sites on file
- 9
- those placed on the map inside Willoughby Hills
| Program | Facilities and sites |
|---|---|
| Wastewater and stormwater discharge | 5 |
| Hazardous waste | 2 |
| Air pollution | 1 |
| Wetland and stream fill | 1 |
| Date | Facility or site | What |
|---|---|---|
| KLARICH FARMS LLC | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| SWAGELOK MANUFACTURING COMPANY LLC | Hazardous waste notice of violation | |
| LAK-90-293 PID 112663 | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| LAK-IR 90-293 SLOPE PID 112663 | Wetland and stream fill permit | |
| LAK-IR 90-293 SLOPE PID 112663 | Wetland and stream fill permit | |
| LAK-IR 90-2.93 SLOPE, PID 112663 | Wetland and stream fill permit | |
| LAK-IR 90-293 SLOPE PID 112663 | Wetland and stream fill permit | |
| WILLOUGHBY EASTLAKE SCHOOLS TRANSPORTATION CENTER | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| SWAGELOK MANUFACTURING CO LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| WILLOUGHBY HILLS DOLLAR GENERAL | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| SWAGELOK MFG CO LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| LAK-90-293 PID 112663 | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| AZALEA RIDGE SUBDIVISION | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| SWAGELOK MFG CO LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| SWAGELOK MFG CO LLC | Air pollution notice of violation | |
| SWAGELOK MFG CO LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| SWAGELOK MFG CO LLC | Air pollution permit | |
| CVS PHARMACY #4348 | Hazardous waste notice of violation |
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.
Quick answers
What county is Willoughby Hills, Ohio in?
Willoughby Hills is a city in Lake County, Ohio, with 9,875 residents.
When was Willoughby Hills, Ohio founded?
Willoughby Hills was settled 1797 (David Abbott, in what was then Chagrin Township); incorporated April 1954 (village); city status in 1970. Source
How did Willoughby Hills, Ohio get its name?
Willoughby Hills carries forward the name of the older Willoughby Township (itself renamed around 1834-1835 from Chagrin Township, for public health official Westel Willoughby, Jr.), with 'Hills' added to distinguish the newly incorporated remainder of the township from the city of Willoughby that had split off from it a century earlier. Source
What ZIP code is Willoughby Hills, Ohio?
Willoughby Hills is served by ZIP codes 44092 and 44094; 44092 holds the largest share of its residents.
Where does Willoughby Hills, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Willoughby Hills (Lake County West Water Subdistrict): Lake Erie, drawn through a 60-inch intake pipe extending about 3,100 feet offshore from the Aquarius plant in Willoughby.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Willoughby Hills, Lake County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/willoughby-hills/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
