Here is a narrative I wrote about Hough five years ago for a book that never was. Following it are a series of pictures, including some then-and-now comparisons....

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From 1850 to 1930, the Hough neighborhood (named after industrialist Addison Hough) matured as a cosmopolitan, urban community of middle- to upper-class residents living in large houses and elegant apartment buildings. Private education like University School, plus large movie theaters, hotels and shops of all kinds lined the sidewalks of this once-great neighborhood. It was also home to Hough Bakery, which had stores throughout Greater Cleveland for decades. But, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the first signs of decline began, as the sour economy forced homeowners to convert excess rooms into apartments so they could take on renters and some extra income.

 

In the years after World War II, the automation of farming in Southern states left many already-poor African-Americans jobless. They fled north to prosperous industrial cities like Cleveland in search of a paycheck. Before that, Cleveland had a small African-American population, living primarily in the Central neighborhood, southeast of downtown. In the 1940s and 1950s, construction of the Willow Freeway (Interstate 77) demolished large sections of Central; its residents moved to Hough's boarding houses and apartment buildings. That, coupled with the northern migration of job-seeking African-Americans, caused serious overcrowding in Hough and other East-Side neighborhoods.

 

Racism, as well as unscrupulous landlords using "block-busting" caused many white homeowners to flee the neighborhood. Landlords crammed as many renters into their buildings as they could. Changes came swiftly to Hough -- 86 percent of its residents in 1950 were white; just 10 years later, 75 percent were African-American. Over 76,000 people, or nearly 30,000 people per square mile, were squeezed into Hough by 1960.

 

Decrepit housing conditions, overcrowding, rising crime, unemployment and the resulting frustrations grew into a powder keg that exploded July 18, 1966 into a seven-day riot. Not only did Hough go up in riotous flames, but it spread into nearby neighborhoods where conditions were similar to those in Hough, though not as severe. As in most urban riots in the 1960s that hit major cities like Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Newark, it was the actions of a relatively small number of troublemakers that caused lasting damage to the overall neighborhood.

 

While there is no definitive report of what incident sparked the riot, the most commonly held story is that a black man was refused service in a white-owned tavern. The violence from that bar spread into the streets. During the riot, many white-owned stores were burned, while black merchants placed signs in their stores' windows that read "Soul Brother" to keep them from getting torched. It didn't always work.

 

Dozens of homes, apartment buildings and stores in Hough were set ablaze. Snipers perched themselves atop buildings and engaged in shootouts with Cleveland police and Ohio National Guard troops. A total of 15 people were injured in the Hough riot and four people were killed including one woman, 26-year-old Joyce Arnett, an innocent victim who was caught in the crossfire between a sniper and police. Another riot, though much-smaller, broke out in Glenville to the north of Hough in the summer of 1968.

 

In the days and months that followed the riot, Hough's residents organized crews to clean up the streets and re-claim their neighborhood. But they fought an uphill battle. Poor housing conditions, crime and unemployment in Hough were only accelerated by the riot. Despite the construction of public housing, new schools and parks where burned-out buildings once stood, the neighborhood's decline continued into the 1970s. Stores, homes and apartment buildings became hollow shells and were torn down, while many residents moved out in search of a better life. Hough soon became Cleveland's poorest neighborhood, where historic, once-grand homes could be bought for less than $15,000 as recently as 1995.

 

While Hough's population of 76,000 in 1960 was over-inflated by its crowded slum houses, it went the opposite direction after 1970, under-inflating to less than 20,000 by 2000. Cleveland's population suffered nearly as dramatic a fall during the same period, from over 860,000 people in 1960 to fewer than 500,000 in 2000. If any pictures provide clear evidence of the evacuation from Cleveland's once-proud neighborhoods, the present-day views of Hough serve that purpose. Gone are the ornate apartment buildings and many townhouses that collapsed or burned from neglect and riot.

 

Recovery came slowly for the devastated neighborhood, but accelerated during the late 1980s and into 1990s when thousands of new homes, apartments and condominiums were built. The change was bittersweet. Lost forever are so many architecturally beautiful buildings, erected with old-world craftsmanship that might never be replicated. In their place are cookie-cutter homes that appear as though they were transplanted from the suburbs, and lack an urban identity. But they are clearly an improvement over endless tracts of vacant land littered with dumped tires, abandoned cars and spreading weeds that characterized Hough throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s.

 

But pictures tell the tale better than words (I apologize for the poor quality of these, as most are photocopies). The old shots are some from the Cleveland Press, whose reporters and photographers sometimes put themselves in harm's way to tell Hough's tale to the rest of the city and the nation in the turbulent sixties.

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In the 1950s, the heart of Hough, at the intersection of Hough Avenue and East 79th Street, was a viable, but increasingly troubled neighborhood. I left this picture large so its detail could be seen (scroll right to see the whole picture). The view looks northeast, with Hough Avenue running from lower left to upper right. Just lower-left of center is the Hough-East 79th intersection, where Addison Junior High School stood. At the far left, a part of the "Little Hollywood" section of Hough can be seen. This large grouping of brownstone apartment buildings was one of the first areas to suffer decline.

 

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During Lent, a priest traveled around from one city neighborhood to another and spoke from the back of a truck to the masses. In 1950, he addressed an all-white audience on Hough Avenue, while a billboard for Cleveland-based Erin Brew beer loomed. Also in the background were Hough landmarks -- Kessler Drug, Pecocks Hotel and Perkins Hotel, both residential facilities -- all gone.

 

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In May 1962, church ladies fan out into the neighborhood from a small church (still standing, behind the photographer) at the corner of Crawford and Brookline avenues, just south of Hough Avenue. They spread the gospel to residents as part of the church's Save Our Streets campaign. But, by 1962, the neighborhood was already spiraling downward, out of control (see present-day view farther down).

 

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Just north of Hough Avenue, at East 86th Street and Blaine Avenue, tenement buildings were in dire need of rehabilitation in Feburary 1966. Landlords, city officials and residents let conditions here and elsewhere in the Hough neighborhood decline to such a point that frustrations soon boiled over.

 

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By the summer of 1966, frustrations and desperation began turning to violence. In an early sign of the trouble to come a month later, police turned out in helmets and toted billy clubs on June 25 at Superior Avenue and East 89th Street to quell unrest, including the throwing of burning debris into the streets.

 

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Desperation exploded July 18, 1966, at start of the Hough Riot. Numerous buildings were set ablaze, including this one at the northeast corner of Crawford and Hough avenues. Firefighters were nowhere to be found, as they were either battling other blazes or, in other cases, feared for their safety as some firefighters were shot at while trying to douse flames. Today, Crawford Avenue no longer continues to the north side of Hough, where a school was later built (see present-day view farther down).

 

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Since firefighters weren't able to attack the fire early at the corner of Crawford and Hough avenues, the building collapsed into the street in a smoldering heap. This scene became one of the enduring images of the Hough Riot, showing what can happen when even a once-proud, middle-upper class neighborhood is neglected for so long.

 

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Unfortunately, the impression by outsiders was that all of Hough's residents didn't care about their neighborhood. Not true. Even during the midst of the riot on July 19, Hough's regular broom brigade got out to clean up the streets. Here, the brigade was working on Hough Avenue, just east of Crawford. None of the buildings seen in the background exist today, not even the Loving Grill.

 

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Long faces of Hough's youth tell the story of their plight, as they contemplate the enormity of what's happening around them on July 20, 1966, at the corner of East 81st and Hough Avenue. In the background, you may be able to see several National Guard troops and Cleveland Police officers, all clad in helmets (see present-day view farther down).

 

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Proof that the Hough Riot only made things worse can be seen in these next two pictures of housing conditions from 1967. This one is at East 65th and Lexington (one block north of Hough Avenue and one block west of where League Park stood--where the Cleveland Indians played weekday games until the late 1940s).

 

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This view is in the "Little Hollywood" section, at East 77th Street and Hough Avenue.

 

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A year later, in 1968, this aerial view looking south shows the Little Hollywood section between Hough and Lexington avenues, with East 79th Street at the left. Most of the old brownstone apartment buildings were still standing at that time, but the markings on the picture and the notes at its bottom suggest the changes to come. However, the changes proposed in the picture only led to the demolition of every structure shown here. It would be another 30 years before Little Hollywood would see its rebirth with a new complex of multi-family and single-family homes. The old neighborhood, alas, has been swept away.

 

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HOUGH -- THEN AND NOW IMAGES

 

 

Crawford and Brookline avenues in 1962

 

 

Crawford and Brookline avenues in 2000 (KJP pic)

 

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Hough and Crawford avenues in 1966

 

 

Hough and Crawford avenues in 2000 (KJP pic)

 

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Hough Avenue at East 81st Street in 1966

 

 

Hough Avenue at East 81st Street in 2000 (KJP pic)

 

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I hope you all enjoyed this photo gallery and the historical anecdotes about a great, prosperous neighborhood gone up in flames, but since re-stabilzed somewhat. Hough still has pockets of chronic poverty, drugs and crime, but it is safe enough to travel through again with precaution. If you do visit Hough, just remember that any place you see a new home or vacant lot (there's a lot of both), a nice old house, apartment building, store, movie theater, school or hotel used to stand there until it was either burned down or fell down under the weight of neglect.

 

If it can happen to Hough, it can happen anywhere.

 

KJP

The transformation that neighborhood has seen is amazing.  The baby steps have paid off.

wow, very interesting & informative!

I dont like the direction its going in.  Large cheap looking homes is no way to replace a once great urbane neighborhood.  It seems the riots sure helped alot.

Wow, I knew there used to be alot more brownstones in Hough, but that's way more than I had realized.  Its almost Boston or New York looking.

How do you pronounce "Hough"?

"Huff" -- as in "I'll huff and I'll puff and blow your neighborhood down."

 

KJP

I agree with Xs comments about mis-IDing those old pix of the Hough...esp that arieal of "Little Hollywood"

...could be NYC or another east coast city.  That was a pretty dense neighborhood at one time.

very nice- I definitely liked the look back then..too bad, looks almost suburban now. I also had no idea League Park was in the neighborhood, I'd always assumed it was downtown- what sits on the site now?

Before WWII, home ownership wasn't anywhere near as common as it is today. For the working class, someone would have had to save their money well for a long time to own a home. Most urban dwellers lived in apartments. And, since transit was the way to get around in the cities before WWII, those factors made high-density living preferable.

 

But, you're right, Hough was a rarity for Ohio cities, and to some extent, for Cleveland. It's housing density, mix of land uses and extent of transit services easily supported a population density of 15,000 people per square mile, which is slightly more than what the average densities are for Chicago and Philadelphia, but a little less than New York's 22,000 per square mile. But Hough couldn't support the 30,000 people per square mile it had in 1960, least of all a low-income population with few neighborhood jobs and little or no transit to reach the new suburban jobs (which had been the old urban jobs, only relocated -- some things never change).

 

But, back to Cleveland housing densities... Consider the city council ward that includes the Gold Coast in Lakewood, which has 20,000 people for its one-square mile area. Or, Hampshire Road in Cleveland Heights, just west of Coventry. In fact, Hampshire-Coventry is probably Greater Cleveland's closest example today of what Hough used to be like in its peak years, from 1900-1930, in appearance, housing stock, urban amenities and mix of incomes (although Hough was wealthier in its day). And, not coincidentally, the Hampshire-Coventry area has a decidedly East Coast feel to it. But Cleveland Heights does a better job of building code enforcement than Cleveland did for Hough after the Great Depression.

 

KJP

Here's a website to learn more about League Park, which was located on the northeast corner of East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. This site has some interesting pictures and even a video...

 

http://www.clevelandmemory.com/league/

 

Below are some pictures from my collection...

 

This is what League Park and its neighborhood looked like in its heydey (1920s), with the streetcar line on East 66th. There also was an intersecting streetcar line from downtown, running east down Lexington Avenue, that many baseball players used to ride with the fans to the park:

 

 

This is what League Park looked like in 2000 (KJP pics):

 

The park's original, main office still stands at East 66th and Lexington. There have been plans on and off for the last 50 years to improve the site with a better park and a baseball musuem, including for the "Negro League" players, but they haven't led anywhere. Hopefully another, recent push will.

 

 

This is the Linwood Avenue side of League Park, which still has a baseball diamond, but the large bleacher/stands are long gone. Linwood is seen in the old postcard above, in which Linwood runs from the lower right to the upper/middle left.

 

 

KJP

Excellent post.

Little Hollywood actually looks more urban that Coventry or the Gold Coast because alot of those buildings look like they have no setback, or a very small setback at most.  Why did they call it "Little Hollywood"?

That's true about the setback, but I was referring more to the types and extent of brownstone apartment buildings.

 

I'm not sure why the area was called Little Hollywood, but it was a name that was once used describe all of Hough Avenue, much the way Millionaires Row described Euclid Avenue. Perhaps local actors and musicians resided there, owing to its proximity to the theaters and concerts at University Circle and to downtown. But, I'm just guessing here.

 

I found an interesting site about Hough....

 

http://www.nhlink.net/ClevelandNeighborhoods/hough/hough.htm

 

Plus, Randy Newman mentions Hough in his song about Rednecks keeping blacks down. I won't post the lyrics here because of its use of the N-word, even though Newman uses it in the verbiage of rednecks. But it's a word I won't use or spread.

 

Pretty appropriate we're having this discussion on the approach of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (it wasn't intended on my part). MLK Jr. was born two weeks before my father, though we're celebrating my father's 76th birthday tonight as he will leave with my mother for their winter home in Florida on Monday. I'll bet King would still be alive, too, if he hadn't been assassinated. I often wonder what this country would be like if he hadn't been killed....

 

KJP

Wow what a great post.  Talk about a neighborhood that's rarely been mentioned.  Too bad your book didn't happen, it would have been excellent.

Thanks for saying. I was more interested in booze than books at the time...

 

KJP

KJP, just out of curiosity have you ever approached a publisher with your manuscript?

 

 

Yes. They liked the manuscript, but not my photography. I couldn't come up with a decent photographer with the amount of money they were offering.

 

KJP

^Umm...MAYDAY??!!

I was really intrigued by that postcard view of League Park.

 

That was a interestng building.  From the street side it looks like a large commercial block at a busy intersection, but behind the impressive facade (did it house offices in the upper floors and stores at the base?) was grandstands and a ball diamond.  I think Wrigly Field is another old-time ball park probably from the same era, but it doesnt relate to the street in the same way.

 

 

Great pix and text, great photos.

 

I am a third generation native Westside Clevelander.

My mother always talked about taking the "Hough" Streetdar to visit my aunt when she was in training at Mt. Sinai.

 

I also have fond childhood memories of Kuchen and other goodiies from the Hough Bakery branch on Lorain Ave.

 

Our family always pronounced it Hoff.

 

Curious what others say: Huff or Hoff?

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/brent_larkin/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1152952638240110.xml&coll=2

 

Six convulsive days

Hough was a powder keg in 1966, and one word blew it sky-high

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Brent Larkin

Plain Dealer Columnist

 

It was right around sundown on a hot, humid night in Hough, when the black man walked into the white-owned Seventy-Niner's Café to ask for a glass of water.

 

The Seventy-Niner's sat on the cor ner of Hough Avenue and East 79th Street. It was a dank, dark dump with 20 stools and a couple booths. Muggers sometimes worked the restrooms, and prostitutes the sidewalk out front.

 

As the story goes, the bartender de nied the man the water, tossed in the N-word for good measure, and ordered him out the door.

 

A few minutes later, an angry crowd of about 50 had gathered outside. Soon after, Hough was ablaze. Fires erupted over a 20-block area, the sounds of gunfire filled the air, widespread looting began in retail districts. When several hundred police rushed to the scene, some were targeted with thrown bricks and an occasional Molotov cocktail.

 

It was July 18, 1966 - 40 years ago this Tuesday.

 

.......

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/wide/hough.gif

thanks KJP. very interesting and amazing.

Awesome post! Very interesting read, and great pics!

Wow good read, I know so little about Cleveland it is always enlightening to read up on Cleveland city history.

Great post, you should revive your book. People would have a lot of interest esp with the gentrification interest in Hough given the Clinic's gigantic presence nearby.  People need to know what we lost and that the faux suburban look of the hood is not what was originally there.

Thanks, but it will be a long time, if ever, before I write that book. It's a huge commitment of time for very little income, and I'm too poor right now to devote time to projects of little pay.

 

Maybe someday I'll write a book or two. Some subjects I'd like to write about are Lost Cleveland (including an appreciation of what our truly urban neighborhoods such as Hough were like), or people like Al Porter (probably the most influential person that Greater Clevelanders under the age of 40 have heard little or nothing about), or maybe a book about Bob Stark if he succeeds with Pesht. Who knows, maybe I'll write an autobiography about how I was able to energize community officials to restore a few transit services that Al Porter destroyed.

 

But I'd also like to write about a wonderfully devoted friend I had until very recently, a cat named Abe. He was the only living creature not related to me that I've ever loved, and he gave me a reason to live when I was fighting an alcohol addiction that nearly killed me. He deserves to be known beyond just my immediate family.

KJP, I'd pre-order any book you pen. This Hough thread really was a gem and deserves to be published even if not for several years when it's a more realistic possibility for you.  The pangs of loss, social and architectural, are really depressing but perhaps a bit motivating too for all of us here who'd like to see the city rebound.

 

Deep sympathies for the feline loss- I understand how strong that bond can be.

Thanks for your comments, StrapHanger. Maybe someday I will write a book or two.

You've mentioned investigating/writing about the mob in Cleveland before, haven't you?  That could certainly make for marketable book - assuming you didn't get "taken care of" in the process, of course!

 

 

Excellent post.

 

God, I was so nice in 2005.  Ugh.

Please remember that when making your New Year's resolutions for 2007.

You really are a funny man ;).

Very interesting thread.

What is the racial makeup of Hough today? Is it predominately black? Great thread...

Yeah, almost entirely (high 90 something percent).

96.1% black

2.1% white

1.0% multi-race

1.0% hispanic

HELLO KJP THANKS FOR THE REMARKS ABOUT THE RIOTS IN CLEVELAND. WELL I AM ONE OF THE LADIES WHOS MOTHER DIE IN THE RIOTS HER NAME WAS JOYCE ARNETT.SHE WAS THE FIRST TOO DIE, AND I HOPE YOU WOULD WRITE A BOOK. AND I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE INFO  I KNOW. I TOO WOULD LIKE TOO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT MY LIFE. CAN YOU HELP ME. "THE CHILD IN THE FIRE OF OTHER MISTAKE"

HELLO KJP THANKS FOR THE REMARKS ABOUT THE RIOTS IN CLEVELAND. WELL I AM ONE OF THE LADIES WHOS MOTHER DIE IN THE RIOTS HER NAME WAS JOYCE ARNETT.SHE WAS THE FIRST TOO DIE, AND I HOPE YOU WOULD WRITE A BOOK. AND I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE INFO  I KNOW. I TOO WOULD LIKE TOO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT MY LIFE. CAN YOU HELP ME. "THE CHILD IN THE FIRE OF OTHER MISTAKE"

 

Welcome to UO.

Very interesting read. 

jynette1966, thanks for your message. There is a Kent State student who registered on this site under the name matt. He is researching the Hough and Glenville riots and may write about what happened. I encourage you to contact him via UrbanOhio's Instant Message. If you would prefer e-mail, feel free to contact me at [email protected] and I will pass along Matt's contact information.

Fascinating time but a very sad chapter in Cleveland history. On a personal note; when I was born my parents lived on E 71st between St Clair and Superior. I was only 4 1/2 yrs old when the riots occurred and of course remember nothing. My mother recalls it well and tells of the multiple sirens and the pop pop pop of gunfire. With all that was happening she still got ready on the morning of the 19th for her normal routine. She would walk up to St.Clair and catch the first of two buses to make her way to Nela park where she worked for General Electric. This particular morning, before she could reach St Clair, she was turned back by two uniformed soldiers and they physically walked her back to her front door with a few comments amounting to how crazy are you. My guess is she got the escort since she is white, or maybe because she was 8 months pregnant with my brother, or both. Mom doesn't rattle easy; 4 years in a communist concentration camp toughens you up quite a bit.

thanks for posting this.  Excellent read.

I know, I know...this thread is very old.  It is still an extremely interesting read that the newcomers may need to see:

 

After searching www.historicaerials.com, I think I've found the very last two remaining apartment buildings left of the main part of "Little Hollywood."

 

Check out the aerial view of 1952 compared to present day:

 

Note the last two apartment buildings standing on E.75, just below the circle to the left.

 

Here is the Google Streetview (address 1612 E.75th St):

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1612+e+75+cleveland+hough&layer=c&sll=41.509848,-81.636404&cbp=13,215.78,,0,5.2&cbll=41.50985,-81.63639&hl=en&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1612+E+75th+St,+Cleveland,+Ohio+44103&ll=41.509848,-81.636404&spn=0.003945,0.010568&t=h&z=14&panoid=EmAeFy0MIqJy5M2fkE9K4w&source=embed&output=svembed

 

It's good to see this thread bumped. In the 1980s I worked with a man my age (born pre-WWII) who grew up in Hough and then came to Indiana with his family in the late 1950s when his dad took a job relocation with GE. He remembered the stores and the pleasantness of the neighborhood and taking transit downtown with a buddy when he was twelve or thirteen and how his Mom had been concerned but not alarmed when she learned what they had done.

 

In the 1970s he and his family went to Cleveland to visit relatives, and he took his dad on a drive through Hough to see the place where they had lived. They found nothing but devastation; the block where they had lived was totally obliterated. His dad said later that he wished he hadn't seen that.

Interesting note, my friend tells me that at one time the famous-but-closing Hough Bakery was selling their name brand and all of their recipes for something like $10,000.

 

With their name recognition and the nostalgia factor, it seems to me that would have been a good investment.

 

 

 

 

I know, I know...this thread is very old.  It is still an extremely interesting read that the newcomers may need to read!

 

 

Thanks for reviving it, MH. I've done a number of comparisons using Historic Aerials. Hough is very difficult to look at, but at least there's been some attempts to stabilize the neighborhood. The comparisons with the Kinsman-East 79th area are at least as difficult to see.

 

Great story, Rob. In the 1970s, my dad would take our family on drives through Cleveland. We had a foreign exchange student from Holland stay with us one summer and we took him on a city tour. He'd heard of Hough and wanted to see it. All I remember of it was seeing a huge, overgrown field in Hough with a big pile of discarded tires and kids playing on them.

 

surfohio -- I agree. Whoever bought those things is sitting on a gold mine.

Thats painful.

Thats painful.

 

... And a powerful example of the social costs of prioritizing convenient automobile use over the integrity and vitality of city neighborhoods.

Murray Hill - if your photo from above is right, these are the remaining buildings from Little Hollywood.

 

Cringed looking at those old photos...  My father told me stories of watching the sky from Collinwood and seeing "hough on fire"