Chagrin Falls: A town built around a waterfall
By Ashley Brooks
The town of Chagrin Falls grew up around the natural waterfall on the Chagrin River from which it got its name. Established in 1844 from three townships in two countries, the town still boasts this central feature in the center of Main Street, where the falls are bordered over a bridge with sidewalks and fences so that people can overlook them and enjoy the beauty of this natural phenomenon. The loud roar of rushing water can be heard all the way down Main Street.
To the left of the bridge is a little ice cream shop called the Popcorn Shop which is one of Chagrin Falls’ most famous attractions according to resident Kelly Simunich, who has lived in this town with her family for 20 years. The Popcorn Shop has two red doors with signs that say “entrance” and “exit.” The smell of the sweet popcorn lingers outside of the shop.
To the left of the Popcorn Shop are stairs where people can walk all the way down to the rocks that lie next to the falls and enjoy the waterfall up close. From the rocks, the bridge where Main Street runs north and south is visible. All along Main Street are boutiques that are run and owned by locals. Main Street also has plenty of food places along the strip.
One of the most popular breakfast places in Chagrin falls is Yours Truly, according to TripAdvisor. Yours Truly has outdoor seating and indoor seating along with all kinds of foods, from breakfast omelets to lunch gourmet cheeseburgers.
“Yours Truly is one of my favorite restaurants because of the large food selection and visible site of the falls and town,” said Nancy Garcia from a phone interview, a resident of Chagrin Falls for 16 years.
Along with the boutiques and restaurants, Chagrin Falls is surrounded by the laughter and smiles of the residents and visitors. “Chagrin Falls is a safe and entertaining community with tons of lending hands,” Garcia said.
When observing Chagrin Falls, there were a lot of people walking their dogs and taking their children to the park to play even though the weather was not the warmest.
“The boutiques are such a big part of Chagrin Falls,” said Vilija Hopkins, the store owner of Nouveau Vie. She opened her own boutique in July 2016. Although Nouveau Vie is not located on Main Street, it is in a plaza off of Main Street. According to Hopkins, this hurts business at times because it isn’t on the main strip of the falls.
Hopkins has lived in South Russell, 10 minutes away from Chagrin Falls, for 22 years. She chose to open her boutique in Chagrin Falls because her children grew up in the school systems and she always enjoyed spending time there.
“I wanted a place with a lot of foot traffic along with the whole local shops idea was a huge attraction, I didn’t want to be in a congested commercialized place either so Chagrin was the perfect fit for me,” Hopkins added.
The town really frequents the boutiques, as was shown by the large number of people that walked in and out of every shop to see what each one was selling. Although, Hopkins said “I kind of get bummed out by the so-called browsers, who come in to kill time but don’t end up purchasing anything.”
For the residents and visitors, the boutiques are a great attraction whether they decide to purchase merchandise or not. For the store owners, the browsers aren’t their favorite because they have to make the sales to keep up with the expensive costs of owning a store in Chagrin Falls.
Hopkins also praised the support that residents give the boutiques, hers in particular. “The residents that are loyal go above and beyond to stop in and say hello and make sure that our store is the first place they go to if they need a new outfit, although those who aren’t loyal don’t contribute much to the store.”
Chagrin Falls has a population of 4,113 people and overall, the town stays pretty steady with the number of residents they have each year according to Suburban Stats.
Garcia explained from the phone interview how every summer, in the park of Chagrin Falls, the town puts on a weekend festival called Blossom Time. It is always the last weekend in May and starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday. Throughout this weekend there are a lot of activities for the residents and visitors. The weekend kicks off on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with carnival rides, which stay open for the whole weekend. On Friday, along with the carnival rides, a hot air balloon launch takes place at the Chagrin Falls high school. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., more than 20 food trucks and vendors come to the park for people to enjoy. The smells of the food trucks invite people into the festival even if they weren’t planning on going.
On the last day of the weekend festival, starting at 9 a.m. there’s a five-mile run and one-mile fitness walk called Blossom Time Run for people to participate in and potentially win a gift certificate.
“The Blossom Time weekend is something I look forward to every summer, no matter what age you are there is something for everyone to do and enjoy,” Garcia said.
Chagrin Falls still keeps its older features, dating back to its founding. Some of the roads have red brick instead of pavement and there are many older style buildings.
Chagrin Falls is a town full of day and night life, with community events to keep Main Street crowded. People’s dress ranges from casual to formal, depending on their reason for going to the town. Some people were dressed casually in workout clothes as they walked their dogs while others were dressed formally as they entered the restaurants such as M Italian or Jekyll’s.
