On March 28 of this year, a fire destroyed the former Pentecostal Determine Church of God in Cleveland, Ohio.
On March 28 of this year, a fire destroyed the former Pentecostal Determine Church of God in Cleveland, Ohio’s Union-Miles Park neighborhood.
The building originally housed the Miles Park United Methodist Church, which was founded in 1832 by Lyman Ferris in Newburgh Township. The congregation first met in a farmhouse near Harvard Avenue and East 71st Street before relocating to Newburgh’s town hall. In 1841, it received a plot of land at Miles Park Avenue and present-day East 91st Street from the estate of Theodore Miles. A new frame church was built on this site in 1850.
As the steel industry expanded in the 1850s, the congregation grew. In 1872, the original church was moved to East 92nd Street and Walker Avenue to make way for a larger structure. Between 1872 and 1883, a new Gothic Revival-style church was constructed. The building lost its 85-foot steeple to a fire in 1925, and the interior was modernized in 1937. Despite these changes, the church remained part of the Miles Park Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Union-Miles Park neighborhood began to decline in the 1960s due to economic shifts and urban redevelopment. The Miles Park United Methodist congregation disbanded in 1978, and the church was sold the following year to Allen Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, a predominantly African American congregation. It was later acquired by the Pentecostal Determine Church of God. In 2020, after the church’s roof failed, the congregation relocated, leaving the building vacant.
Lapsed Clevelander here, feeling helpless. It seems that some of the city may be coming back to life, but I grieve for its former self.
Looks like it was a beautiful church at one time. Was there two separate fires? Appears to have photos of the church with rafters (no roof) and stained glass. Then some photos showing it completely gutted. Thanks for sharing, I’m sure it’ll be missed by many in the community.
The final sentence of the article mentions that the “roof failed” in 2020. I assume the photos with the rafters intact were taken after 2020, and prior to the devistating fire.
I grieve for Cleveland. It was pretty far along in the 1960’s, but I didn’t expect an empty Downtown, nor the sort of destruction seen here. It looks, however, that a few sane people have taken a degree of control, but I don’t think they can deal with the race problem.