Posted February 2, 200916 yr (edited to fix photobucket links) Cleveland – Saint Clair from East 55th to MLK Blvd. This stretch of Saint Clair is historically the Slovenian neighborhood of Cleveland, anchored by institutions such as Saint Vitus Parish and the Slovenian National Home. The neighborhood now includes a sizeable African American population, as well as a growing Hispanic community, the largest on the east side of Cleveland. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Apartments available… 12. 13. St. Vitus Church is the largest Slovenian church in America, and was the place of worship for the late senator of Ohio, Frank Lausche. The Church building of St. Vitus is constructed in the Lombard-Roman style with pale yellow Falston brick. It is 141 feet long and 100 feet wide with an attached parish house to its West side. Its two Romanesque bell towers reach 110 feet into the sky. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Vitus_Church 14. 15. 16. No, this mural isn't tacked on the side of the building, it's on the back wall of a garage across the street. 17. St Vitus Village provides modern senior housing in the neighborhood. 18. Some side street grit: 19. 20. Back to the main drag: 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. The landmark Slovenian National Home, with a 1,000 seat social hall, was built at East 64th and St. Clair Avenue in 1924. 26. 27. Further east along St Clair: 28. 29. A flat iron (former) bank on East 79th and St Clair: 30. 31. The former White Motor Company: White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer, in existence from 1900 to 1981. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Motor_Company http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=WMC2 32. 33. 34.
February 2, 200916 yr Cool tour. As usual, these types of corridors have some large holes in their urban fabric which is what impression I'm getting from the pics, rendering them auto-dependent. There are some nice buildings, but I can imagine that crime might be deterring reinvestment, since if I remember correctly that east of Downtown past 40-something Street things get pretty hairy.
February 2, 200916 yr "White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer, in existence from 1900 to 1981. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio." My grandfather worked their as an engineer in the 40's.
February 2, 200916 yr Looks depressing, with lots of unrealized potential. I was thinking the same thing. Interesting tid bits of history though...thanks buckeye1.
February 2, 200916 yr Good photo set; the area looks better than I expected. There's not a lot of tagging visible in the photos. To me that indicates that it's not overrun with gangstas and wanna-be's. Uh-ohh! < :speech: > White Motor Company's early automobiles were steam-powered and fueled with kerosene. Steam automobiles were much more refined than typical gasoline cars of the time, smooth and quiet and typically able to outrun most internal-combustion powered cars both in a short sprint and over a long haul. When I was a teenager, a man who ran a junkyard had a collection of beautifully restored vintage cars. Among his beauties was a White, and he'd take it out for Sunday drives sometimes in summer. It was shiny bright red. He had no trouble keeping up with traffic. There were several makers of steam cars in the early 1900s, along with makers of electrics and internal-combustion autos. By the late 1920s the field had pretty much been winnowed down to internal combustion. The Great Depression mostly finished off any struggling survivors who had managed to last into the late twenties. Some of the steam car makers transitioned, and others went out of business. I think only White survived that period, as a maker of internal-combustion-powered heavy trucks. The leading steam-car makers were Stanley, White, and Doble. All steamers were high-end, with Stanley and White comparable to, say, today's Cadillac or Lincoln. I don't know that there's any contemporary American-car market niche comparable to the Doble, but if you compare it to other classics, it probably came close to Duesenberg. It was a big, heavy, powerful, luxurious car with sophisticated technology. It employed an automatic ignition system that lit using gasoline, and then burned kerosene for normal operation. From a dead-cold start it could raise enough steam in 45 seconds to back out of the garage, and by the time you got to the street, it was hot enough to make 60mph. If I remember correctly, a Doble had a massively strong frame and weighed more than three tons. It could exceed 100mph and sustain that speed with little effort. I think it got about 7mpg. Compare that with, say, a Ford of the same era. A stock model could make 40mph if properly tuned, and with a load of after-market performance gadgets, one might make 60mph. </ :speech: >
February 3, 200916 yr At least it has Ethiopian food! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 3, 200916 yr the old stock shells remain interesting. hopefully they can hang on until people move back and do something with them again. not holding my breath on that happening, which is a shame, but who knows? you can only hope. the only depressing building is the newest one, the senior center. barf.
February 3, 200916 yr Thanks for the tour. I also was expecting worse. I don't think I've ever taken that stretch of St. Clair when I 've driven East. Depressing? Perhaps. Have you ever driven down Kinsman?
February 4, 200916 yr my slovenian grandma used to live there in the 40s when she first came to the states to move closer to my grandpa's family. they were in timmins, ontario, previously. she called the neighborhood, "the garbage." and that was then. they moved to collinwood, and finally wickliffe, following the yugoslav trajectory eastbound along st. clair and into lake county. my mom worked at white at their east side location, and when they moved to eastlake. the place folded just in time for her to be pregnant with me. ameriska domovina, unfortunately, printed its last issue a few months ago.
February 4, 200916 yr ameriska domovina, unfortunately, printed its last issue a few months ago. True, but for clarity's sake, it wasn't because a lack of demand. The owners essentially retired. A new paper has started in its wake.
February 4, 200916 yr Cool tour. As usual, these types of corridors have some large holes in their urban fabric which is what impression I'm getting from the pics, rendering them auto-dependent. There are some nice buildings, but I can imagine that crime might be deterring reinvestment, since if I remember correctly that east of Downtown past 40-something Street things get pretty hairy. From my experiences here, I wouldn't call this area dangerous or harry, as much as desolate. It is definitely kind of depressing, but the demographic is different than you would think. I have a friend who drags me to one of the slovenian restaurants around here to eat every now and again... Marie's I think on 45th. Fantastic city chicken.
February 6, 200916 yr A little work would go a long way in this area. I don't get why it hasn't held up better to this point. The commercial strip is reletively intact and it's a long one. Longer than it appears here. If the old stock were refurbished and the gaps filled, this place would be great. The location couldn't be better. Though it's behind a bunch of factories and a freeway, the lake is about 2 blocks north of this strip. The area stands to benefit long term from the port relocation and the waterfront line (which inexplicably doesn't go this far yet). It's also adjacent to Asiatown, with downtown on the other side of that, maybe a 10 minute drive. It really is time for a development push here, like the one in Detroit-Shoreway.
February 6, 200916 yr I am so glad to see a neighborhood thread. I've actually never seen this neighborhood and am surprised of how intact it still is. My guess is that the Slovenian influence is keeping the commercial on St. Clair intact. Great post
February 6, 200916 yr Just east of the Slovenian part used to be a Polish part, starting at about 72nd. Some of the sidestreets to the south have very Polish names. I don't think much of that influence remains there, not like Slovenian has.
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