I was working with a map program, powered by MapQuest and I came upon some very bizarre sounding and unheard of landmarks, neighborhoods, junctions, or pointers on the map. I've only heard of a few of these, but they must exist - why would a map program make this stuff up!!? I wonder if some are old neighborhoods prior to the naming of the current 27 in the city. Well anyways, listen to some of these:

 

on the east side of Cleveland:

 

Dutch Alley - Woodland @ E. 73rd St.

Big Italy - Woodland @ E. 34th St.

Ambler Heights (near Stokes Blvd. @ University Circle, where Ambleside Towers are at)

Euclid Heights - Near Coventry/Cedar

Poznan - Superior @ E. 79th St.

Collamer

Coits - Eddy Road @ I-90

Doan's Corners - Where Euclid, Stokes, and Chester intersect.

Little Bohemia - Broadway @ Pershing

Karlin - Fleet @ E. 53rd St.

Nottinggam - St. Clair @ Nottingham/E. 185th St.

Sorrento - Miles @ E. 143rd St.

Josephatowa - St. Clair @ E. 32nd St.

Henry - On Broadway near Calvary Cemetery

Four Points - E. 152nd St. near I-90/Railroad Tracks

Five Points - St. Clair @ E. 152nd St.

Manhattan Beach - Lakeshore @ E. 152nd St.

 

The west side of Cleveland:

 

Westpark

North Linndale

McKinley

 

Lakewood:

 

Birds Nest - Near Madison between Bunts and W. 117th

Clifton Park

 

Broadview Hts:

 

Walling Corners

 

 

<Edit>

Others I found:

 

Bement

Bennetts Corners - Brunswick/North Royalton

Binola

Bluestone

Eagle Cliff

Falls Junction

Jaite

Noble

North Dover

Short Line Junction

West Dover

Big Italy was destroyed by the bigger inner belt.

 

Big Italy was a large neighborhood near the Cleveland Food Terminal that was taken years and years ago by the construction of 90/71.  Woodland acyually used to terminate downtown.  Several Italians lived in that area in the 1920's-40's.

Nottingham I don't know much about but I knbow Nottingham waterworks is near that intersection. 

Birds nest I am more familiar with calling it bird town.  The only thing I know is all the streets over there are named after birds.  It prety much is at the intersection of 117 and Madison.

Big Italy was destroyed by the bigger inner belt.

 

 

I just found out on a google search that Big Italy was located from E. 9th St. to E. 40th St. between Woodland and Orange, and was the largest Italian settlement in Cleveland in the 1920's until it became the inner belt. Today it's public housing, Tri-C, part of the inner belt, and so forth.

They're cool names. I'd like to see us start using some of them again.

Also, the area now known alternately as Chinatown, Goodrich-Kirtland Park and Payne-Sterling was once known as "Near Town," according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.

doan's corners goes back to the name of the body of water running undereath university circle. Its called the doan brook and its part of the cuyahoga watersheed. You can see the brook alongside MLK drive.

 

Furthermore, part of case's original masterplan was to reopen the brook along the back side of campus and re-arrange MLK boulevard coming into cedar/carnegie.....Don't know if that plan is still on the books

doan's corners goes back to the name of the body of water running undereath university circle. Its called the doan brook and its part of the cuyahoga watersheed. You can see the brook alongside MLK drive.

 

Furthermore, part of case's original masterplan was to reopen the brook along the back side of campus and re-arrange MLK boulevard coming into cedar/carnegie.....Don't know if that plan is still on the books

 

Re-opening the brook opens a huge can of worms.  It won't happen in the Cedar rapid to Chester/MLK section. 

Big Italy destroyed itself. When the American mafia was at its formative stages during Prohibition, Big Italy was the scene of many mob killings, some right out in the open. It was the city's first "bloody corner" -- which later moved east to Woodland and East 110th (another low-income Italian neighborhood where gang killings were frequent in the battle for control over corn sugar trade -- a key ingredient in making bootleg whiskey).

 

By the time Elliot Ness came to Cleveland from Chicago to be the city's new safety director in the 1930s, he was toured around Cleveland by police brass. Ness was told the area just southeast of downtown was called "The Roaring Third" because it was the Third District (as it is today) and because it was out of control with gambling dens, whorehouses and violence. Worse, police corruption protected the mob-run vice spots. Ness did his best to try to clean up the area, but it remained a mess well into the 1970s, as more building fell into decay and were torn down.

 

The Northern Ohio Food Terminal was the first major complex to demolish large sections of Big Italy. The Central Interchange came in the late 1950s, long after much of the neighborhood had been demolished. Building the Central Interchange in the middle of that neighborhood was seen as a way to improve it -- by removing it. But it only moved the problems elsewhere. Tri-C demolished more of Big Italy. Many more buildings were razed in the hopes of having a domed stadium built on that site. The rest of the area was removed when construction of Gateway began.

 

I've posted pictures of the area elsewhere on this forum -- I think in a string about what highways did the most damage to an urban setting. Just do a search from the main forum index (though I think it's in the transportation section).

Lakewood:

 

Birds Nest - Near Madison between Bunts and W. 117th

Clifton Park

 

 

The area in Lakewood is known locally as "Bird Town", I've never heard it called "Bird's Nest".  Bird Town is an area that was settled primarily by Eastern European immigrants who worked at the National Carbon Company plant at W. 117th and Madison.  Here is some additional information:

 

http://www.tccweb.org/lakewood.htm

 

 

Clifton Park is in the northwest corner of Lakewood, bordering the Rocky River and Lake Erie.  Here is some info I found:

 

http://www.lkwdpl.org/lore/lore89.htm

 

 

 

 

Ambler Heights was the original name for Cleveland Heights, when it was a developer's scheme on the edge of town.  There is still an Ambler Heights Historic District on the west edge of CH.

 

Little Bohemia, Karlin, and Warsazca are a part of what we now call Slavic Village.  They were little sub neighborhoods.

 

Poznan is a Slovenian neighborhood, still barely clinging to existence.

 

Five Points is a five way intersection, and a major commercial point, in Collinwood.

 

Westpark was a suburb of Cleveland, the last major annexation in the early 20th century.  Riverside, Jefferson, Kamm's Corner, and Puritas-Longmead are all a part of Westpark.

 

 

Hi all,

 

I always thought that BIG ITALY was located in the Lorain Fulton area and south in the St. Rocco area. This according to my Italian aunt Rose, she was born and lived there until she married my uncle. Bear hugz to all.

 

Jim S.

That was another big Italian area, along with W. 65th and Detroit and portions of Collinwood.  Cleveland has alot of Italian hoods.  Big Italy was definitely just south of downtown, though.

 

Someone may have posted these somewhere else, but I'll post them again:

Poznan - Superior @ E. 79th St.

This sounds like it would be a Polish neighborhood as Poznan is a city in western Poland, called Posen in German (there are a few Posens around the US, too)

 

Josephatowa- St. Clair @ E. 32nd St.

Again, perhaps Polish or slavic, St Josephat parish...the "towa" or "towo" suffix denotes a parish or community.  Presumably their was a St Josephat church in the area?

 

I recall KJPs pix of Big Italy here....impressive urban density.

 

 

Poznan - Superior @ E. 79th St.

This sounds like it would be a Polish neighborhood as Poznan is a city in western Poland, called Posen in German (there are a few Posens around the US, too)

 

It's likely that this area had a mix of eastern europeans ethnicities, because I'm pretty certain that it was never the dominant Slovenian neighborhood.  That was centered more around St. Vitus, near St. Clair and E. 61th.  I think that there is a Slovenian Home near this Poznan area, but again I'm pretty certain that Slovenians are all but gone from there these days, as the someone said above.  Most Slovenians that are left in Cleveland are near St. Vitus and St. Mary's in Collinwood, off of 152nd.

X, those maps rock...

If only I could remember where I got them.

wow I love the maps from X. Finns on whiskey island? who knew?  I wonder what other little neighborhood names there are out there? for instance Irish Bend is right down here in the flats. a little strand of condos are named Irish Bend, keeping the name alive. That may be one of the more common ones.  the etiology of some of these is vexing. I mean, birds nest/town???

You got maps from CSU memory project, I know cause I have them too.

That sounds right.  Credit to the Cleveland Memory Project.

As far as I know, they're from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.

Nice finds team...this is a very interesting discussion!

I realize these maps are from the 1920's. Are there any around from the beginning of the century?

I ask because there is a very large Jewish cemetery on Ridge Road south of Denison Avenue. I have never actually gone in to check out the dates on the individual stonework, so I am not sure of its age. However, JewishGen.org had this to say about it

Chesed Shel Emeth: 3740 Ridge Rd., zip 44144. Also known as Ridge Road #1. Contact Chesed Shel Emeth Association, 216 946-2691 or 216 631-4493 (at cemetery). On land purchased in 1905, the cemetery has over 2,300 burials. Partial database on Chesed Shel Emeth is available at the Cleveland JGS.

The ethnic maps above state this are was largely German in the 20's. This makes sense to me seeing as the Cudell family owned a pretty large portion of the upper west side. I could guess that the Jewish families wanted nothing of them after WWI.

So I guess I am just wondering how large the Jewish community was on the West Side before the war.

I don't think the Jewish community was ever very large on the West Side...I would guess the cemetery's location had more to do with available/affordable land in 1905.

 

I don't think the Jewish community was ever very large on the West Side...I would guess the cemetery's location had more to do with available/affordable land in 1905.

 

 

there was a big PD article about the cemeteries on the west side, maybe a few months ago in the metro section.....

Josephatowa- St. Clair @ E. 32nd St.

Again, perhaps Polish or slavic, St Josephat parish...the "towa" or "towo" suffix denotes a parish or community.  Presumably their was a St Josephat church in the area?

 

Yep. St. Josaphat's, on E. 33rd between St. Clair and Superior. It's now an art gallery (and quite an impressive one).

 

As for West Side Jews, I think Straphanger is right. The cemeteries were there but the Jews themselves were always nearly 100% East Siders. (There's another, really old, Jewish cemetery on Fulton and Monroe, in Ohio City/Clark-Fulton.) Today there is one West Side synagogue, in West Park. That's it. On a side note, it's too bad how the Cleveland Jews have so thoroughly suburbanized themselves. I wish they had at least put the Maltz Museum in the city.

Westlake used to be known as Dover, Ohio; which is probably where North and West Dover come from... Their school mascot is the Demon, which came from people calling them D-men (Dover men).

On a side note, it's too bad how the Cleveland Jews have so thoroughly suburbanized themselves. I wish they had at least put the Maltz Museum in the city.

 

Even worse, I think a lot of the good stuff from The Temple collection at UC was moved into the Maltz Museum (though maybe just on a loan basis).

Westlake used to be known as Dover, Ohio; which is probably where North and West Dover come from... Their school mascot is the Demon, which came from people calling them D-men (Dover men).

 

Never really understood the name "Westlake" for a 'burb that isn't even on the lake...

Ambler Heights and Euclid Heights were two 'garden suburbs' that combined to form Cleveland Heights; Euclid Heights was the area around Cedar Hill and it served as a model for the Van Sweringen's Shaker Heights. Also, Nottingham was a former town that was absorbed by Cleveland, which is why E. 185th turns into Nottingham Rd. south of I-90.

Ambler Heights and Euclid Heights were two 'garden suburbs' that combined to form Cleveland Heights; Euclid Heights was the area around Cedar Hill and it served as a model for the Van Sweringen's Shaker Heights. Also, Nottingham was a former town that was absorbed by Cleveland, which is why E. 185th turns into Nottingham Rd. south of I-90.

 

Awesome, thanks GA_Lancer! Have you any info. on some of the other names mentioned?

Anyone know where Duck Island comes from?  This came up in a conversation I was having today and I was shocked to know that I had no answer!

I have been told by people familiar with the area's history that criminals used to "duck" into that area as a getaway from police.  Because it is surrounded by lower elevations (thus island, although it is more like a hill, but actually just a high spot surrounded by ravines), it was easy to get up there and then see the police coming, and make in another direction or hide out or something.

My mom was in the last kindergarten class (for half a year only) in Nottingham School before it closed in 1960 (give or take) and students were moved to Paul Bellamy (which is now also closed). I think the school was why there's a pedestrian bridge over I-90/SR 2 between 156th and 185th.  IIRC, the school lot is now a scrap metal place.  It shows up on Google Earth when you view schools and it comes up as historical. 

Here's the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry on Collamer (short answer: it was once part of E. Cleveland)

 

COLLAMER was the section of the present city of EAST CLEVELAND that stretched from Lakeview on the west and Ivanhoe on the east. Bisected by Euclid Ave., Collamer was intersected by such roads as Noble, Taylor, and Lee to the south, and Doan, Shaw, and Collamer to the north. The original settlement of Collamer was established in 1812 when a tannery and gristmill were started by David Crocker near Collamer St. and Euclid Ave., where NINE MILE CREEK crossed. Named in 1850 for Judge Jacob Collamer, postmaster general under Pres. Zachary Taylor, the little colony had previously been known as Nine Mile Creek or Euclid Village. Some of the earliest churches in the Western Reserve were established in Collamer, including the Plan of Union Church (later the FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF EAST CLEVELAND). Because of the large number of ministers who came to reside there, the area was referred to as Saints' Row. From 1870-79, Collamer was the largest grape-shipping point in the U.S., followed by Dover, OH. It was also noted as the territory of the Lakeview & Collamer Railroad, which ran north of Superior, turned east, and ran north of Euclid, where it again turned east to Chardon. Part of this route was used later for the rapid transit, which ran from E. Cleveland to PUBLIC SQUARE. Collamer was included in the township of E. Cleveland (est. 1847) and the village (later the city) of E. Cleveland (est. 1895).

 

 

As for Dutch Alley, the Encyclopedia says this in the "Dutch" entry:

 

The Cleveland Dutch settled in a segregated pattern according to their place of origin and religion. The Zeelanders and some from Overijssel Province lived in 3 east side neighborhoods: along Central Ave. between E. 33rd and E. 39th streets, where the True Holland Reformed Church (later East Side Christian Reformed Church) was built in 1872; along Lexington Ave. and E. 55th St., where the First Holland Reformed Church was built in 1864; and at E. 75th St. and Woodland Ave. in "Dutch Alley.

Interesting that they didn't note "Dutch Hill", now a part of Tremont.

if you ain't dutch, you ain't much!

anyone know more on these "districts" or "neighborhoods" in lakewood:

 

Berkshire

Captains Cove

Edgewater

Indian Heights

 

the other 3 are already defined: bird's nest (aka birdtown), clifton park, and the gold coast.