The Village is located in in the western portion of Belmont County and is home to approximately 1400 residents. In town there is the Epworth Park which hosts the Chautauqua Days Festival in July.

Fun Facts

Bethesda has had three names: Burrs Mills, Fairmount, and Bethesda. When the railroad reached the village in 1852, the Central Ohio Railroad built a station and named it Burr’s Mills in honor of Merrick S. Burr, who operated a sawmill in the area. In 1855,[10] Burr laid out a village which he called Fairmount because of its high and beautiful location.

Prior to that time, there was a store, the Bethesda Methodist Church and a post office, all located about 2 miles south of the current town on what now CR 26, and the post office was named after the church. The store proprietor was the postmaster and when he moved his store to the town, the post office also was relocated but retained its name. As a result, the town was called Fairmount while the railroad station was Burr’s Mills and the post office was Bethesda.

In the late 1800s the name of Bethesda was finally chosen for the town. Bethesda was incorporated as a village in 1910.