National Register reference number.77001052- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1903 to 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
91 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19031994
The ground it stands on
23,212 words
The chapter on Cleveland City in History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870 names Cleveland. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
At the Erie Conference M. EK. Church, in the fall of 1838, resolutions were passed dis approving any expression by the churches on the question of American slavery. This action was received with disfavor by a portion of the members of the church in Cleveland. On September 1, 1839, an organization was effected, consisting of about sixty members, who withdrew from the First Methodist Episcopal Church for that purpose. This new church stood alone until May, 1843. when it sent delegates to a convention held at Utica, New York, and there went into the organization which has ever since been known as the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America.
John W. Allen was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1802. He resided in Chenango county, New York, from 1820 to 1825, when he removed to Cleveland, where he has ever since lived. He was admitted to the bar the next year, and for several succeeding years was engaged in the active practice of his profession.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 2,817 specimens
collected within 10 miles of St. Stephen Church between 1849 and 1975: 2,385 Animalia, 223 Fungi, 126 Plantae, 77 Protozoa, 5 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. D. Selby, A. G. Newhall and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
20 workings within 5 miles of St. Stephen Church: 10 unknowns, 6 producers, 3 past producers, 1 plant.
7 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Zirconium, Silica, Halite. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Cleveland, the town this property stands in, in 95 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 51 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 11 flash flood, 3 lightning.
The reports record 3 deaths and 6 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
During a sailboat race on Lake Erie, two people who were not wearing life preservers, were swept overboard by high waves and drowned. A total of four boats capsized and twelve people were swept overboard.
Thunderstorm wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph blew down two large tents on the west side of Cleveland. Three people inside were injured when the tents collapsed. One person was hospitalized. A peak wind gust of 36 mph was measured at nearby Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
During the afternoon hours of the 2nd, a severe thunderstorms moved over downtown Cleveland. This thunderstorm remained nearly stationary over the downtown area for around an hour, and dropped as much as four and a half inches of rain. Several rainfall reports of 3.0 to 4.5 inches were received from downtown Cleveland. This rain fell in less than 90 minutes. Local streets and highways throughout the downtown area quickly filled with water. Many roads, including Interstate 90 were impassable by flood waters as much as four feet deep. Many vehicles became stranded in the flood waters. Once the rain ended, the high water receded quickly. This was a very local event in Cuyahoga County as the southern part of the county remained mainly dry. In fact, Cleveland Hopkins Airport did not receive any rainfall from this thunderstorm.
Heavy thunderstorm rain caused widespread flooding of roads and low lying areas in Cleveland and surrounding suburbs. In Newburgh Heights, Interstate 77 was flooded with three to four feet of water and an elderly couple had to be rescued from their floating car. Over five inches of rain was measured in some southern and eastern sections as storms repeatedly crossed the area for several hours.
Thunderstorms dumped up to three inches of rain on downtown Cleveland during the late afternoon hours. A television station located just east of downtown recorded 2.75 inches of rain in only 48 minutes. Major street flooding occurred and dozens of cars became stuck in water up to four feet deep. Several motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles.
Broadcast media posted a photo on social media of a large tree that fell on a house on the west side of Cleveland. The time was radar estimated. The media also reported 25,000 residents within the metropolitan Cleveland area lost power. One Giant Eagle grocery store had to throw out all of their refrigerated items after losing power. Tree limbs were also reported down on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Rainfall amounts of 2 to 3.5 inches fell over Cleveland during a span of 60-90 minutes. Citywide flooding resulted as storm water systems were overwhelmed. Many roads including I 480 were flooded and closed for a brief period.
The Big Creek in Cuyahoga County (drainage basin 35.3 square miles) cuts through parts of Brooklyn and Cleveland before draining into the Cuyahoga River. On the morning of the 7th radar estimated rainfall amounts between 1.5 and 1.75 inches over the Big Creek basin. Some roads adjacent to the creek were closed. Most notably, the Cleveland Metropark Zoo was closed as water flooded their parking lots and threatened the veterinary clinic and other buildings.
16 papers published in this town,
digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be
looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
1s a statue of St. Stephen. Set back angle butressing is used throughout the ediface. After the 1953 tornado, the slate roof was replaced. All dormers were removed at marble altar table. The sanctuary floor, like the aisles are made of marble tiling. Several of these were damaged during the tornado, but soon were restored to their original CONDITION UNEXPOSED DETERIORATED UNALTERED FAIR this time. The height of the interior is 75 ft.There are five columns separating the nave from doors are flanked by niches containing statues of the four evangelists.Above the center during the tornado and never replaced.
found grouped symmetrically over the facade.There are three portals.The two smaller wooden statuary.An elaborate oak tabernacle complete with life-size rood stands above the Mexican onyx and brass are the materials used in the altar railing.A free-standing the side aisles. The apse end once held three stained glass windows that were destroyed CHECK ONE ornate Gothic frames l6 ft. in height.The church contains 17 stained glass windows. dagger motif.All columns are surmounted by crocket capitals.
The lancet motif is XEXCELLENT The exterior is made of amherst stone, which was sandblasted after the l953 tornado and XALTERED XORIGINAL SITE beauty.The choir loft contains an 1886 Johnson pipe organ.It was rebuilt in 1935 by are 4o ft.high.The style is Gothic and the floor plan is in the form of a Latin cross. There is a single tower l4o ft.in height. Four pinnacles at the top once had finials is just now turning black.The church is 165 ft.in length and 75 ft.in width.The walls -GOOD RUINS oak pulpit and canopy are located in the crossing of the church.
sanctuary; installed the following: three altars, pulpit, niches and canopies for statuary, few alterations made from its original design. Father Reichlin, the first pastor, made shows the Baptism of King Windukind, a great Saxon leader. Another window depicts the turn of the century. Proportions such as length and height of nave, placement of windows architectural design, such as domed and vaulted rooms, and Renaissance, Gothic and Islamic INVENTION SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD ECONOMICS EDUCATION ENGINEERING 1400-1499 LAW TRANSPORTATION PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE RELIGION LITERATURE PHILOSOPHY sure that the church would reflect its' German parish.One of the stained glass windows INDUSTRY Holy Family with a fair complexioned blonde-haired Madonna.
German saints fill niches _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT XARCHITECTURE _CONSERVATION throughout the church. Architecturally, St. Stephen Church is one of Cudell and Richardson's best religious architecture.Figures and finishings add to the illusion of depth. Christ.Two other angels hold tools that represented the trades of the German immigrants; pinnacles.The most striking attributes of the church are its sculped statuary and St. Stephen Church was built specifically for the influx of Catholic German immigrants. the Stations of the Cross and the rest of the woodwork comprises some of the finest The structure is now the oldest standing German church in Cleveland and has had relatively examples of wood carving in the area.
The church also has some of the most beautiful _COMMUNICATIONS and lighting system installed;1893 -frescoed second time; marble tiling in aisles and apse windows destroyed;1956 -outside statues added;1968-69-Church repainted. _COMMERCE tower at each end of the gabled roof are two sets of unusual replacements for Gothic stained glass of its time.In almost every window, there is a great deal of attention XART was torn off, one section of the framework was shifted 3 ft.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 77001052, 12 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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