Images from Clark-Fulton and vicinity, Summer 2010.

While there are major holes in the urban fabric, there are a good number of original buildings that remain. It is a very diverse area, the LiveCleveland Center says it's home to Latino, African-American, Appalachian and Middle Eastern cultures. It is the center of Cleveland's Puerto Rican community.

It is located south of I-90 (south of Ohio City) and west of Tremont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The intersection of W.25th & Clark.

This building at the NE corner of the intersection caught fire several years ago. Instead of bulldozing the corner, a close replica was rebuilt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The c. 1905 Aragon ballroom. There were plans for this but they have evidently fallen through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The expanse of Clark Ave. looking east

 

 

 

Clark Ave. looking west

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former neighborhood church, St. Procop's which served the Czech community. Recently closed by the diocese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old St. Procop's school which now is home to educational and social services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Rocco's area (on Fulton Rd.) which has Italian influence.

I think this was a former brewery way back. Not sure though.

 

 

 

 

This building once served the Italian community.

 

 

 

Now it serves the Puerto Rican community.

 

 

 

 

The entrance to St. Rocco's church. Their festivel just took place on Labor Day weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The veneable Johnny's on Fulton. Probably the best old-school restaurant in town (along with Johnny's in the Warehouse Dist.)

 

 

 

Back out to Clark Ave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The larger building was a Czech social hall at one time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The former brewery of Cleveland's famous P.O.C. Beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great photos! Love the old brick structures in this area. The storefronts on the old buildings are really designed with pedestrians in mind and I would love to see them restored and the boards removed from the corner-like entrances. When I get tied of the same old focus on the same areas of revitalization it is nice to see the potential in other areas like this and in creating something new in them. Thanks for posting something really different--Everyday life as is.

Some great buildings!  I'm impressed that they rebuilt the one building after the fire.  Also, that former Czech social hall is a beauty!

That building used to serve the Czech community, now it serves the "Millionaire Gentlemen's" community.

Wow, awesome.

The prickly pear cactus, as seen in one photo,  produces a flavorful edible fig-like fruit that is loaded with vitamin C. This plant grows in...and has Ohio as a part of its range.

Weeeeeeeeeeepaa!

Nice to see some brick duckbills.

Nothing worse than chain link in the front yard.  I'm not against front yard fencing, as I love brick and iron combos with some ivy mixed in, but chain link in the front just screams 'trash' to me.

They don't look so bad when some people paint them dark and plant a lot of vegetation around them....grape vines and the sort. Then you cannot see them. They're good for that sort of thing.

Wow this is great! I never knew Cleveland had such a large Puerto Rican community.  Was there a PR parade, or why all the flags??

 

Also, you can really see how different Cleveland and Cincy are from each other.  Cleveland is much more diverse, I think, and they look so different too.  I love how Ohio has both of these completely different awesome cities.

... Was there a PR parade, or why all the flags??

 

Yes. I pass through the neighborhood every once in a while and I took this on the weekend of the parade.

The parade/festivel used to be on Clark Ave. but has since moved to downtown.

 

 

 

Nothing worse than chain link in the front yard. 

 

This is a chain link neighborhood for better or worse. Even the historic St. Mary's cemetery on the left hand side of this pic has chain link. That could and should be changed, it's inappropriate, IMHO. For the residential, it's what the homeowner has chosen. But yes wrought iron or wood would look much better.

 

 

Love Clark Ave.

Wow this is great! I never knew Cleveland had such a large Puerto Rican community.  Was there a PR parade, or why all the flags??

 

Also, you can really see how different Cleveland and Cincy are from each other.  Cleveland is much more diverse, I think, and they look so different too.  I love how Ohio has both of these completely different awesome cities.

 

We run this town!  Although the Cubans, Brazilians, Platanos and Avogadro's people are trying to come up!

... I'm impressed that they rebuilt the one building after the fire...

 

Interesting point.

My take on it is this... in Cleveland this is the kind of neighborhood where such rebuilding would occur.

Something like that happens in Tremont, Ohio City, Univ Circle and especially downtown the owner is immediately salivating at the prospect of an instant surface parking lot for visitors of the latest gotta-go-to restaurant, etc.

Heck... structures (that just need a little TLC) are torn down in the aforementioned places for a few extra parking spaces without a second thought.

Please don't misinterpret...the latest and greatest restaurant scene is all good. But not when it means leveling the immediate area for parking (for example the surroundings of United Bank Bldg with the relocation of Crop Restaurant at 25th & Lorain).

Yes, a lot of Clark-Fulton's urban fabric was torn up in the 60s/70s. But, generally speaking, there are not enough suburbanites or cross-town hipsters (or even locals) that drive to the intersection of W. 25th & Clark today to warrant more parking areas (at least not yet).

 

Great photos of a neighborhood often unknown or unecessarily feared by outsiders. I covered this neighborhood for Sun Newspapers for four years (2005-09) and it was never boring! While it is a poor community financially, it is a very wealthy community culturally. I seem to recall that enough teachers to speak 40 languages or more are needed at Lincoln-West High School because of all the different ethnic groups in that neighborhood. Just before I left working as a staff writer, there was a serious push emerging to capitalize on the International Village concept for Clark-Metro. I see from the photos that this concept is still crystalizing.

 

St. Rocco's area (on Fulton Rd.) which has Italian influence.

I think this was a former brewery way back. Not sure though.

 

That may have been a textile mill. There were a number of these in the neighborhood given its proximity to the old Stockyards. Some of those between Clark and Train Avenues were proposed to be converted to housing or offices in 2008 when the credit crunch hit.

Great photos of a neighborhood often unknown or unecessarily feared by outsiders. I covered this neighborhood for Sun Newspapers for four years (2005-09) and it was never boring! While it is a poor community financially, it is a very wealthy community culturally. I seem to recall that enough teachers to speak 40 languages or more are needed at Lincoln-West High School because of all the different ethnic groups in that neighborhood. Just before I left working as a staff writer, there was a serious push emerging to capitalize on the International Village concept for Clark-Metro. I see from the photos that this concept is still crystalizing.

 

True.  Most of my cousins on the Westside attended Lincoln-West and at that time they had the largest number of immigrant/international students in the state.

 

Now many of their children attend L-W and it's has even more first generation families.  IIRC, I read in one year book that the student body speak something like 75 different languages and from over 100 countries.  Something like that.  when my cousins where there, the area was majority Italian, Irish and the Spanish speaking community was small and now it dominates.

Awesome pics. Makes me homesick. The true Cleveland spirit seems to come through.

 

Thanks Marky_mark.

Welcome to the forum.

... I'm impressed that they rebuilt the one building after the fire...

 

Interesting point.

My take on it is this... in Cleveland this is the kind of neighborhood where such rebuilding would occur.

Something like that happens in Tremont, Ohio City, Univ Circle and especially downtown the owner is immediately salivating at the prospect of an instant surface parking lot for visitors of the latest gotta-go-to restaurant, etc.

Heck... structures (that just need a little TLC) are torn down in the aforementioned places for a few extra parking spaces without a second thought.

Please don't misinterpret...the latest and greatest restaurant scene is all good. But not when it means leveling the immediate area for parking (for example the surroundings of United Bank Bldg with the relocation of Crop Restaurant at 25th & Lorain).

Yes, a lot of Clark-Fulton's urban fabric was torn up in the 60s/70s. But, generally speaking, there are not enough suburbanites or cross-town hipsters (or even locals) that drive to the intersection of W. 25th & Clark today to warrant more parking areas (at least not yet).

 

 

I have to disagree here.  Anecdotally it may seem that gentrification in certain neighborhoods is endangering building stock, but if you compare the fate of building stock in Tremont or Ohio City to non-gentrifying neighborhoods, it becomes obvious quite quickly that the latter is a much more precarious position for a historic structure.  I'd wager that for every structure removed for parking in a "hip" neighborhood, 3 are demolished in declining neighborhoods because of neglect.  They become a vacant lot.

^agreed. and I bet that ratio is actually somewhere between 5-10 to 1

Very nice. I love Clark Avenue.

... I'm impressed that they rebuilt the one building after the fire...

 

Interesting point.

My take on it is this... in Cleveland this is the kind of neighborhood where such rebuilding would occur.

Something like that happens in Tremont, Ohio City, Univ Circle and especially downtown the owner is immediately salivating at the prospect of an instant surface parking lot for visitors of the latest gotta-go-to restaurant, etc.

Heck... structures (that just need a little TLC) are torn down in the aforementioned places for a few extra parking spaces without a second thought.

Please don't misinterpret...the latest and greatest restaurant scene is all good. But not when it means leveling the immediate area for parking (for example the surroundings of United Bank Bldg with the relocation of Crop Restaurant at 25th & Lorain).

Yes, a lot of Clark-Fulton's urban fabric was torn up in the 60s/70s. But, generally speaking, there are not enough suburbanites or cross-town hipsters (or even locals) that drive to the intersection of W. 25th & Clark today to warrant more parking areas (at least not yet).

 

 

I have to disagree here. Anecdotally it may seem that gentrification in certain neighborhoods is endangering building stock, but if you compare the fate of building stock in Tremont or Ohio City to non-gentrifying neighborhoods, it becomes obvious quite quickly that the latter is a much more precarious position for a historic structure. I'd wager that for every structure removed for parking in a "hip" neighborhood, 3 are demolished in declining neighborhoods because of neglect. They become a vacant lot.

 

This neighborhood is in very immediate danger of becoming "over-demoed".  A lot of the stimulus money that was received by the city has gone to ramping up demolition efforts in neighborhoods like Clark-Fulton and Slavic Village.  The residents here generally prefer that an abandoned house be torn down as quickly as possible, because these vacant structures tend to become magnets for illicit uses.  This is exacerbated by the fact that most of the houses have garage access off of alleyways which become conveniently hidden "marketplaces".  I used to work at the CDC in Stockyard/Clark-Fulton and a large volume of resident complaints related to these vacant home problems.

Just curios...since it is largely dominated by the Latino community, I wonder how many exist in the neighborhood legally if born somewhere else, but not in PR.

 

 

Disclaimer: I am sure I will be hug out to dry for that query, so excuse me for asking this question as a legal US born citizen. I'm very sorry for that... I know how terrible it is of me to even wonder such a thing because afterall, according to my Shawnee friend, we are all illegal immigrants!

 

I seemed to have noticed some added photos? Great photos depicting simple daily life. It would be nice to see more of the historic structures properly restored and cherished. I like looking at old photos of this area in the 1930's... streetcars and all... what a seemingly clean and thriving look it had.

 

Ooops.. am I allowed to say that? I hope that is not taken all the wrong way and twisted around.

 

Anyway, great pics Clueless...  great for sharing a lesser known but really interesting area still boasting the original structural fabric. I would love to see that old theater around there restored... Of course, Cleveland is more than usual Tremont and Ohio City of where we see so many photos.

 

Good point Bumsquare... I love preserving the history as well.. But if a place sits so long and no one is doing anything with it, such a place IS a dirt magnet that will eventually undermine the value of any existing nicer properties---even historic ones.

^agreed. and I bet that ratio is actually somewhere between 5-10 to 1

 

Yeah, but since I was wagering I wanted to be conservative! :wink:

Just curios...since it is largely dominated by the Puerto Rican community, I wonder how many illegal immigrants exist in the neighborhood.

 

 

Disclaimer: I am sure I will be hug out to dry for that query, so excuse me for asking this question as a legal US born citizen. I'm very sorry for that... I know how terrible it is of me to even wonder such a thing because afterall, according to my Shawnee friend, we are all illegal immigrants!

 

I seemed to have noticed some added photos? Great photos depicting simple daily life. It would be nice to see more of the historic structures properly restored and cherished. I like looking at old photos of this area in the 1930's... streetcars and all... what a seemingly clean and thriving look it had.

 

Ooops.. am I allowed to say that? I hope that is not taken all the wrong way and twisted around.

 

Anyway, great pics Clueless... great for sharing a lesser known but really interesting area still boasting the original structural fabric. I would love to see that old theater around there restored... Of course, Cleveland is more than usual Tremont and Ohio City of where we see so many photos.

 

Good point Bumsquare... I love preserving the history as well.. But if a place sits so long and no one is doing anything with it, such a place IS a dirt magnet that will eventually undermine the value of any existing nicer properties---even historic ones.

 

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

^ My bad.. You're right, I stand corrected, thanks..... I meant to cover a wider demographic that would include anyone not born here and not in PR. I corrected it. Still a commonwealth and not a state, though, is that it?

^ My bad.. You're right, I stand corrected, thanks..... I meant to cover a wider demographic that would include anyone not born here and not in PR. I corrected it. Still a commonwealth and not a state, though, is that it?

 

Commonwealth/Territory.  It's not a state.  Like DC, Guam or the Virgin Islands.

 

 

 

This neighborhood is in very immediate danger of becoming "over-demoed".  A lot of the stimulus money that was received by the city has gone to ramping up demolition efforts in neighborhoods like Clark-Fulton and Slavic Village.  The residents here generally prefer that an abandoned house be torn down as quickly as possible, because these vacant structures tend to become magnets for illicit uses.  This is exacerbated by the fact that most of the houses have garage access off of alleyways which become conveniently hidden "marketplaces".  I used to work at the CDC in Stockyard/Clark-Fulton and a large volume of resident complaints related to these vacant home problems.

 

^agreed. and I bet that ratio is actually somewhere between 5-10 to 1

 

Yeah, but since I was wagering I wanted to be conservative! :wink:

 

The first quote here is referring to residentail and I think the second quote(s) are too.

 

 

To clarify what is was trying to say, I wasn't talking about single family, duplex or even multi family dwellings on residential streets (I don't see many surface parking lots in residential areas. Apt bldg parking lots aren't even considered "surface parking lots" in that sense either).

I had in mind a narrower scope of building stock...commercial buildings at commercial intersections or within commercial corridors.

I said that that building at 25th & Clark "caught fire". It actually burned down, the whole front half was essentially missing except for some of the ground floor and that entranceway pole. I think they deserve some props for re-building that, especially since they tried to do it to look historically accurate. I stand by my assertion that this would definitely not be the case downtown (or definitely Midtown) and I can't think when this sort of thing occurred elsewhere in the city but I would love to know if it has. This re-building kept that intersection dense. In so may old Cleveland neighborhood intersections I've seen, very rarely do all 4 corners retain the original (pedestrian) scale.

 

I love the hollyhocks. They're a great way to dress up a chain-link fence and draw attention away from it.

 

Was Clark once a significant highway route through Cleveland, maybe Ohio 2, before the viaduct was torn down? I rode through there in 1961 with a friend and I recall looking into the valley from the viaduct and seeing lots of active smokestacks. I know the air was pretty acrid; It smelled of sulfur and made my eyes water.