November 16, 20177 yr Cleveland in the Jazz Age: Speakeasies, wild nights and progress http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/11/cleveland_in_the_jazz_age_spea.html Absolutely amazing and sad at the same time....
November 16, 20177 yr Does anyone know the symbolism of the flag behind the bar at the Speakeasy on Lorain Ave?????
November 17, 20177 yr Does anyone know the symbolism of the flag behind the bar at the Speakeasy on Lorain Ave????? Probably a ethnic cultural organization that was headquartered there. During that era Americans identified much more with their ethnic origins. It's actually kind of fun that Cleveland basically ignored Prohibition. It's not like it was enforcable, being across the Lake from Canada. I've heard it said that this is a major source of NE Ohio's contrarian mindset.
November 17, 20177 yr I've heard it said that this is a major source of NE Ohio's contrarian mindset. No it's not. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 24, 20177 yr Euclid Ave. Image from Night in #Cleveland (1913). https://t.co/RBJK7mFa3y "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 29, 20177 yr Hough, 1949, looking west from above Little Hollywood right before the overcrowding began. Hough's peak population was in 1960 when more than 76,000 people (that we know of) crammed into this small neighborhood, mostly African-Americans leaving the now-mechanized farms of the southern states. Others relocated here in the late 1950s from Cleveland's historically black African-American neighborhood, Central, as large sections of it were being demolished for the Willow Freeway (I-77). But in 1949, Hough was still a 90-percent white, Eastern European ethnic neighborhood. By the end of the next decade, it would be more than 80 percent African American, many of whom came north in the second Great Migration searching for factory jobs. Note at left Chester Avenue, newly extended east of East 55th Street. Hough was a middle- to upper-class neighborhood until the Great Depression when homeowners began taking on boarders so each could make ends meet. The proliferation of boarding houses hastened the overcrowding in Hough. The two athletic fields seen here are the former University School (closer to the camera) that was built in 1890 but moved in 1926 from Hough/E71st to Shaker Heights and the old school became Edison Jr. High (not to be confused with Addison Jr. High at the NE corner of Hough/E79th). That was about the time that most of the neighborhood's upper crust had already moved to Cleveland Heights and Shaker and was replaced by new immigrants filling the factory and warehousing jobs to the south, north and west of Hough. The other athletic field is of course League Park which had ceased hosting weekday Indians baseball games in 1946. The year after this picture, a windstorm blew down much of the outfield wall and, in 1951, most of the ballpark was demolished. Lastly, the mass of apartment buildings at the bottom of the photo was called "Little Hollywood" the reasons for which I do not know. But in the 1950s, it was where many African-Americans were crammed into. The overcrowding in this area was immense. There weren't many jobs in the neighborhood so unemployment was high. Even those that had jobs couldn't always get to work. Trolley buses and regular buses were overcrowded and often passed waiting riders without stopping because they couldn't take on any more passengers. Being denied service at restaurants, stores and elsewhere worsened the frustrations. That exploded on July 18, 1966 in the Hough Riots in which four were killed, 50 were hurt and hundreds of structures were burned. Hough-1949 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 29, 20177 yr Well, that hurts to look at... “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
November 29, 20177 yr If anyone is interested what the architecture looked like, two of the apartments still live to this day on E 75th: https://goo.gl/maps/2pbDk1uQrV62
November 29, 20177 yr ^What a surreal image. Two old apartment buildings on a street that now has McMansions and a cul-de-sac...in the middle of the city. WTF.
November 29, 20177 yr If anyone is interested what the architecture looked like, two of the apartments still live to this day on E 75th: https://goo.gl/maps/2pbDk1uQrV62 Still cannot get over the random, suburban style homes across the street from that
November 29, 20177 yr If anyone is interested what the architecture looked like, two of the apartments still live to this day on E 75th: https://goo.gl/maps/2pbDk1uQrV62 Still cannot get over the random, suburban style homes across the street from that Fannie's mansions
November 29, 20177 yr If anyone is interested what the architecture looked like, two of the apartments still live to this day on E 75th: https://goo.gl/maps/2pbDk1uQrV62 Here is an approximate view from Google Maps of the same area. Talk about depressing.
November 29, 20177 yr This area is prime for new residential and commercial development though. Both will happen and the infill will be different, of course, but this area is rising again.
November 29, 20177 yr This area is prime for new residential and commercial development though. Both will happen and the infill will be different, of course, but this area is rising again. I agree with you OC17[/member] ... I truly believe the near East Side has ENORMOUS potential and is logistically much more convenient than Ohio City or Tremont. Herein lies the issue... overcoming the fear of DEADLY violence. When the aforementioned neighborhoods made their comebacks, violence was an issue, but murder wasn't typical. The same can't be said for the area around League Park right now, unfortunately. My apologies if this has to be moved to another thread.
November 30, 20177 yr If anyone is interested what the architecture looked like, two of the apartments still live to this day on E 75th: https://goo.gl/maps/2pbDk1uQrV62 Still cannot get over the random, suburban style homes across the street from that Fannie's mansions Not just her. TJ Dow attacked a proposal for an ice cream shop outside League Park. Single family homes or nothing, that's the policy.
November 30, 20177 yr ^Where did this belief come from? Was it rooted in some idea that the only way to create a strong black middle class was to replace Hough with a suburb? Obviously Hough had a particular stigma among both whites and African-Americans, but it seems foolish and naive to assume you can't build a solid mixed-income neighborhood with denser, non-McMansion housing. “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
November 30, 20177 yr ^Where did this belief come from? Was it rooted in some idea that the only way to create a strong black middle class was to replace Hough with a suburb? Obviously Hough had a particular stigma among both whites and African-Americans, but it seems foolish and naive to assume you can't build a solid mixed-income neighborhood with denser, non-McMansion housing. That was the reasoning she usually gave. I think she really was just using landbank lots as candy to hand out to people she figured would be dependable voters for her. She always resisted any central planning in Hough (the plan was in her head and given to her by god). Good buildable lots were given out by her directly to potential homebuilders. CDC's got the garbage lots, and had to kick cash to her useless "CDC" who's name I can't remember anymore for the pleasure of having them as a "partner".
December 2, 20177 yr Electrified Trains Enter New Terminal Opened Last Month in #Cleveland Found @Cleveland_PL in New York Central Lines Magazine (1930). "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 5, 20177 yr Superior Viaduct street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge in the background. Note the traffic on the D-S bridge, which was common before I-90 was pushed through into the western suburbs in 1976.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 5, 20177 yr Superior Viaduct street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge in the background. Note the traffic on the D-S bridge, which was common before I-90 was pushed through into the western suburbs in 1976.... I 90 wasn't completed until the 70's? That's amazing! I grew up on the east side so the freeways were there as long as I can remember....
December 5, 20177 yr I-90 from downtown west to McKinley was completed in about 1968 or 69. It was extended west into Lorain County until 1976. If you wanted to go from Cleveland to Chicago in your car or on Greyhound or Trailways, you would go southwest on I-71 and get the Turnpike in Strongsville. But some local-stop Greyhound buses took the Shoreway, Clifton and Lake Road west into Lorain County until 1976. I-480 along the border of Parma and Cleveland wasn't competed until 1988. When I lived in Bainbridge in Geauga County (1978-93) and had to go to the airport, we got off I-480 at Brookpark Road and drove it all the way across the south side of the city to Hopkins. BTW, ODOT routed I-480 on the Cleveland side of the border because it believed Cleveland could come up with the 10 percent local funding share better than Parma could. Cleveland filed suit against ODOT and won a settlement. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 5, 20177 yr I think I-90 west wasn't completed until a little later than that. It wasn't completed in 1977 - when I started attending CWRU - and I would be driving in from Lorain County. For awhile, you picked it up westbound at Warren Rd.
December 6, 20177 yr Could be. I know the I-90 bridge over the Rocky River wasn't completed until 1976, but that doesn't mean it was open to traffic yet. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 14, 20177 yr This is the first West Side Market, stood from 1840-1912 at the NW corner of Pearl Street (West 25th) and Lorain Avenue, now the site of Market Square Park. This is how it looked in 1901... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 14, 20177 yr ^If I am correct, that is also the spot where an anarchist detonated a bomb in 1919.
December 14, 20177 yr I can't read the articles, just the headlines. Does anyone know why these officials in these cities were targeted?
December 14, 20177 yr I can't read the articles, just the headlines. Does anyone know why these officials in these cities were targeted? I remember from a course I took in college re: Anarchy as a philosophy... These cities at the time were each home to respective titans of industry that were seen to be controlling the US Government and life in the US via their monopolies and oligopolies. Cleveland had Rockefeller Pittsburgh had Mellon and Carnegie Boston has a slew of financiers In their opinion, it were these forces that were behind the purge of socialists and communists from mainstream life.
December 14, 20177 yr I can't read the articles, just the headlines. Does anyone know why these officials in these cities were targeted? They didn't just target officials. They bombed all sorts of places where economic power was seated. They bombed Wall Street. They derailed trains (including one on the busy Erie Railroad near the Hiram-Garrettsville station). They attacked corporate headquarters (bombs, fires, etc). And yes, they targeted political and corporate leaders including killing President McKinley of Canton and near-assassination of Carnegie Steel President Henry Clay Frick, a noted union buster. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 14, 20177 yr The Cleveland Press Building, 1961. Northeast corner of East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 14, 20177 yr I can't read the articles, just the headlines. Does anyone know why these officials in these cities were targeted? They didn't just target officials. They bombed all sorts of places where economic power was seated. They bombed Wall Street. They derailed trains (including one on the busy Erie Railroad near the Hiram-Garrettsville station). They attacked corporate headquarters (bombs, fires, etc). And yes, they targeted political and corporate leaders including killing President McKinley of Canton and near-assassination of Carnegie Steel President Henry Clay Frick, a noted union buster. But McKinley and others were assassinated by anarchists, the perps of much of the political violence before WWI. The bombings mentioned below were in response to the first Red Scare and Palmer Raids, correct - a response to/by Communists.
December 15, 20177 yr The Cleveland Press Building, 1961. Northeast corner of East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue. And below is what was supposed to be built on top of that structure which was proposed by former Cleveland Press owner Joseph Cole. From wiki: North Point Tower was proposed by Cleveland Press owner Joseph Cole in 1979. In March 1980, The North Point Plan was revealed as a 500-foot (150 m), 41-story office tower with a glass-enclosed atrium. There were plans to build a hotel on the site and an atrium displaying Press printing machines to the public. The tower would have been built on top of the 1957 structure. When the Cleveland Press folded on June 17, 1982, the North Point Plan did too. Construction of a more modest North Point I began in 1983, and the Cleveland Press building was demolished. It was completed in 1985. North Point II (North Point Tower) was added in 1990.
December 15, 20177 yr ^Even that layout is far better than what we ended up with. Looking at that photo, in the original plan, the tower was on the corner of 9th and Lakeside--great street presence and energy. What we got today is a much short building set WAY BACK from the corner and a stupid green lawn or whatever on the corner of 9th and Lakeside.
December 17, 20177 yr This large Christmas tree stood in the northeast corner of Cleveland Public Square in 1935, presented by the May Company to the city. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 28, 20177 yr I'm working on an idea for the West Shoreway, but wanted to first learn some of the history of its predecessor -- the old Bulkley Boulevard. It's really a shame that more effort wasn't made during this latest reconstruction effort to restore the grand boulevard that Bulkley was up until it was reconstructed as a brutalist highway in 1939-40. But that was the era when folks like Normal Bel Geddes (a Cleveland Institute of Art graduate!) advocated for redesigning American cities to get more cars through them faster. Here's how Bulkley Boulevard looked on a 1922 insurance map of Cleveland... BulkleyBlvd-Westend-1922 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr BulkleyBlvd-Middle-1922 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr BulkleyBlvd-Eastend-1922 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr Here are a few photos taken of Bulkley Boulevard in 1938, the year before construction got underway on the Shoreway highway. I'm presenting them in the same manner as the maps, from west-to-east. But I'll revisit this first photo because it had me stumped a bit. I figured it was the railroad underpass at the Westinghouse plant, but guessed wrong on which direction the photo was taken.... BulkleyBlvd-RRbridge-westward-1938s by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr Looking west, between West 29th and West 45th intersections... BulkleyBlvd-W28th-westward-1938s by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr Looking east from the West 29th intersection. That was the first of three closely spaced intersections in this area -- West 29th, West 28th and West 25 where the boulevard ended. Note the old St. Malachi Church (it burned down in the 1940s and quickly replaced) as well as Terminal Tower to the right of the decorative light pole... BulkleyBlvd-W28th-eastward-1938s by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr Looking west from the West 25th intersection... BulkleyBlvd-W28th-westward2-1938s by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr Back to the underpass. I drive or ride under this underpass almost every day. Except it's not this underpass. Bulkley Boulevard's underpass was maybe 100 feet east of the current West Shoreway underpass which was built to ease the curve on the new highway. In fact, there's a stone abutment along the Shoreway that I didn't know was built along the edge of the old Bulkley Boulevard. Sadly, it's one of the few remnants of the old boulevard that's still visible from both the ground and the air. It's visible to the right side of the 1938 and 2017 pictures (and yes, it looks like the Shoreway curve was super-elevated/banked by a few feet so cars could take it faster -- note where the grassy surface meets the stonework today)... BulkleyBlvd-RRbridge-westward-1938s by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr BulkleyBlvd-wallremnant-2017-2 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr This image helps to show how much the Shoreway was realigned vs. the old Bulkley Boulevard, the retaining wall for which starts to the right of and immediately next to the Shoreway. That stone wall gently curves away from the Shoreway and then points directly at the railroad, making for a near 90-degree angle for its underpass. Any evidence of that old underpass has long since vanished from view... BulkleyBlvd-wallremnant-2017 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 29, 20177 yr Looks like the old boulevard might have gone thru were the "poo" plant is now,where the road to Wendy park is?
December 29, 20177 yr When was the gigantic Westinghouse building built? Had to been after the rebuilding of the boulevard.
December 29, 20177 yr When was the gigantic Westinghouse building built? Had to been after the rebuilding of the boulevard. If Emporis is correct, the 8-story building was completed in 1915. https://www.emporis.com/buildings/201301/westinghouse-building-cleveland-oh-usa "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 29, 20177 yr Great old photos! To me this is more evidence to take the current Shoreway blvd down to two lanes of traffic, which would allow for a bike/breakdown lane along with slowing down traffic.
December 29, 20177 yr Most likely 1915,old school Chicago style. Looks like it is just to the left out of frame in the old pic. Maybe those shadows in the foreground are from the building?
January 1, 20187 yr #Cleveland Of Years To Come (1922). Found @Cleveland_PL in Cleveland: A Prediction. It might have happened if not for the Great Depression and World War II. Funny that they did not include the Terminal Tower complex which was just about to start construction in 1922, although the tower itself was an afterthought. Cleveland had just become the nation's fifth-largest city in 1920, so this vision wasn't improbable. https://t.co/YloSPKtG2z "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 1, 20187 yr #Cleveland Of Years To Come (1922). Found @Cleveland_PL in Cleveland: A Prediction. It might have happened if not for the Great Depression and World War II. Funny that they did not include the Terminal Tower complex which was just about to start construction in 1922, although the tower itself was an afterthought. Cleveland had just become the nation's fifth-largest city in 1920, so this vision wasn't improbable. What is the line of thinking on World War II slowing the growth of Cleveland? I thought the war helped the city with its industrial might away from the coasts? Or do you mean the white GI's running for the burbs after the war?
January 1, 20187 yr That picture is from 1922?! That's a vast number of what I think qualify as skyscrapers, for that time period.
January 1, 20187 yr That picture is from 1922?! That's a vast number of what I think qualify as skyscrapers, for that time period. Catch the vision!
January 1, 20187 yr Oh, it's an old-school rendering? It looks real. I probably should have read the whole thing. I didn't go past the first sentence. I got distracted, wondering if "built" was a word back then.
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