Brownhelm Historic District

Brownhelm is a small rural settlement strung along North Ridge Road, on an old Lake Erie beach ridge southeast of Vermilion in Lorain County, Ohio. Old houses, a Congregational church and a brick school sit among farmland, linked by large shade trees. Most buildings predate the Civil War and are wood-framed, mainly Greek Revival, with some Federal transitional and Italianate examples. Landmarks include the Alfred H. Betts House, the Fairchild House, the Greek Revival church with its pyramidal cupola, and the school, built in 1899, enlarged in 1909 and remodeled in 1922. Brownhelm was the main settlement in its township. It is also tied to James Harris Fairchild, who grew up there and became the third president of Oberlin College, and to Reverend Alfred H. Betts, who preached to scattered settlers and served as pastor of the church from 1821 for twelve years. Several early houses have been restored in recent years, and the district survives as one of few largely intact pre-Civil War settlements in the area.