The city is also the location for multiple parks in the Lake Metroparks system, as well as the Holden Arboretum.

After the founding of the United States, northern Ohio was designated as the Western Reserve and was sold to the Connecticut Land Company.

The densely forested, clay soiled, high, hilly, land of Kirtland was settled later than surrounding townships: Mentor in 1798, and Chester in 1802.

[10] Joseph Smith moved the church to Kirtland in 1831, shortly after its formal organization in April 1830 in Fayette, New York.

The temple was built with a degree of opulence, considering the underdeveloped nature of the area and the poverty of most early church members.

Many sections from the Doctrine and Covenants, considered modern revelations and canonical by most denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement, originated in Kirtland during the 1830s.

Ownership of the Kirtland Temple came into question after the main body of Latter Day Saints moved west.

On March 5, 2024 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and Community of Christ announced that ownership of the site had transferred to the former as part of a $192.5 million acquisition of historic sites and objects.

[9] During this period most of the wooded areas near Kirtland were cleared for agriculture, with corn and apples being the predominant crops.

One of the old school houses can still be found at the corner of Baldwin and Booth Roads in Kirtland Hills.

James Naughton was the first mayor of the village, which became a city when the 1970 census showed population exceeded 5,000.

Naughton was succeeded as mayor by Doug Guy, Wesley Phillips, Mario Marcopoli, Edward Podajol, and Mark Tyler.

In April 1989, Jeffrey Lundgren, a religious extremist, coerced some in his cult into murdering a family of five and hiding their bodies in a pit dug inside a barn,[14] on Chardon Road (U.S. 6).

[16] As part of the project, to create a pedestrian-friendly area, Kirtland-Chardon Road was rerouted along the eastern side of the site, while Ohio State Route 615 was rerouted around the northern side, eliminating what had been a busy intersection right in front of the Whitney home and store.

The Whitney home was restored to its 1830s appearance, while historically accurate replicas of the original John Johnson Inn, schoolhouse, sawmill, and ashery were researched and constructed on or near their original sites, along with a new visitor center.

[17][18] In 2023, the church completed and dedicated the restored Joseph and Emma Smith home on Chillicothe Road, just north of the Kirtland Temple.

[19] From 2004 through 2016, a group of volunteers produced an annual musical theater production celebrating the city's Latter Day Saint history called "This Is Kirtland!

Kirtland is located in the snowbelt region of Lake Erie, and has snowfall and weather patterns similar to nearby Chardon.