Lost Cleveland: Seven Wonders of the Sixth City
By Michael DeAloia and Bill Barrow
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About this ebook
Lost Cleveland is an engrossing excursion into the city's rarefied architectural air during its heyday as the sixth-largest city in the country. Author Michael DeAloia recounts the histories of seven culturally significant and iconic architectural gems that defined Cleveland's position of wealth and importance during the industrial age. Inspired by noble visions of Cleveland's most elite residents, these structures reflect the vigor and imagination that suffused city leaders. From Severance Hall, still home to the Cleveland Orchestra and the only structure in this collection that remains standing, to "Andrew's Folly," the grandest house built on legendary Millionaire's Row, Lost Cleveland provides a revealing historical retrospective on the growth, development and ultimate decline of the North Coast's greatest city.
Michael DeAloia
Michael DeAloia is currently the tech columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He earned his MBA from Case Western Reserve University and his bachelor's degree from Xavier University. He is the author of "Lost Cleveland, "? a short history of some of the leading architectural wonders of Cleveland, which was published by The History Press in 2010.
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Book preview
Lost Cleveland - Michael DeAloia
University
PREFACE
I have to offer that I was not born or raised in Cleveland. Somehow the gods above (who must be in the know) graced me with gaining entrance into Case Western Reserve University for graduate school. I accepted the offer sight unseen. I had never been to Cleveland, and my first view of the city was from a U-Haul truck carrying all of my life possessions as I drove past downtown on the highway, making my way to campus. It was love at first sight. Cleveland, in my opinion, has a commanding—and at times weary—presence as it thrusts upward from the banks of Lake Erie. In fact, I can say that everything great in life, both personally and professionally, has occurred to me in Cleveland. I just owe so much to this city.
Despite the fact that my first two years in Cleveland were focused heavily on earning my graduate degree, I was fascinated by a city that had so much urban archaeology and great architecture. I would take any chance I could get to break away from my studies and drive around Cleveland enjoying the vast inventory of stunning architecture. Many of the buildings are underutilized or vacant, but I could not dismiss the fact that Cleveland is replete with simply stunning buildings. Better yet, stunning history.
Cleveland was once one of the most powerful cities in the world. For many of the citizens of this city, the previous sentence is a challenge to Cleveland’s current reality. Not too long ago, the city’s main thoroughfare, Euclid Avenue, was celebrated around the globe as Millionaire’s Row. Today, the same street has vast pockets of vacant, empty land and hundreds of empty buildings. During the early 1900s, Cleveland was the Silicon Valley
of its day, with thousands of new companies being launched and new wealth being created for many of its citizens. Today, Cleveland has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, its industrial base is in tatters and its civic institutions tend to be anti-business.
With all of that said, this is a majestic, yet worn, city that deserves much better than its current condition. A few years back, I decided to celebrate the grand history of Cleveland. A dear friend of mine, Thomas Mulready, had launched a new, vibrant website called Cool Cleveland (www.coolcleveland.com), which promotes all the hip new events around town and began to change the mindset in Cleveland, especially among Generations X and Y. Cleveland is damn cool. Thomas was a great inspiration to me. I figured if we could celebrate all the cool things happening now in Cleveland, why should we not celebrate our rich and fascinating past? Hence, I decided to launch the Cool History of Cleveland (www.coolhistoryofcleveland.wordpress.com) blog, which offered little stories about past Cleveland events, personalities, buildings and other historical miscellanea. I soon forged a partnership with Bill Barrow, special collections librarian at Cleveland State University, who had early on offered so much advice and support in my blogging endeavors. Bill offered the ultimate gift of allowing me access to the Cleveland Press Archives and its amazing collection of forty thousand photos. My blog now had visual evidence of how great Cleveland once was (and could be again).
I toiled in what I thought was obscurity with Cool History of Cleveland, but slowly a unique groundswell began to take shape. I started to receive e-mails from people who had read the Cool History blog and offered new story ideas. During my professional career, I would connect with other professionals, whom I never assumed read the Cool History blog but who would offer praise about the stories I highlighted there. People were beginning to be indoctrinated with the idea that Cleveland’s history was cool. And it is! In my own way, I was trying to show Clevelanders that they should celebrate their home. This is, indeed, an amazing place to be.
Imagine my surprise when Joe Gartrell of The History Press (www. historypress.net) connected with me one day to offer some cool praise for my blog. He then offered me a book deal. For someone who is never at a loss for words, I was momentarily rocked. Of course, I agreed immediately. I have to give Joe and all the good people at The History Press super kudos for their support during the writing of this book. Imagine everything that could go wrong with writing a book (and there are numerous things, I have come to find) and then double it. But to their credit, Joe and The History Press were übersupportive. Thanks, Joe.
There are so many people I have to thank for their support, help and inspiration in writing Lost Cleveland. Obviously, I have to send a shout out to Bill Barrow of the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University. He is the man. Also, big thanks to Maureen Mullin and Margaret L. Baughman (who has her own book on Cleveland history) of the Cleveland Public Library. The Cleveland Public Library has an extraordinary photo archive, and if you ever get the interest, go visit. I would also like to thank Dr. Judith Cetina, archivist at Cuyahoga County. I need to really thank Dawn Roginski at the Cuyahoga County Library for all the amazing research she did on behalf of the book. Most of the endnotes provided stemmed from her research. And finally, a big shout out to my friends and family for their support. It was awesome. Big thanks to John Heaney, Tim Coughlin, Pat Walker, Steve Lefkowitz, David and Melanie Moss, John McCartney, Laura Steinbrink, Brian Stark, Esra Yagan, Matt Ziaja, Bill Russell, Doug Hardman, John and Julia Briggs and Thomas Mulready. I love each and every one of you. You’re the best friends in the world, honestly. A heartfelt thanks to Rachel Winfield, who through the laughter and the tumult was always pushing me to finish the damn book.
Remember, Cleveland, you rock! Cleveland is just freaking cool. So let’s go make some cool history of our own.
THE ELYSIUM
How does one make money when one’s amusement park is closed for the winter? Such was the question considered by Dudley Humphrey, proprietor of Euclid Beach Park. Given Cleveland’s propensity for winters that are longer than the national average, an innovative entrepreneur like Dudley had to make do. Despite the fact that his famous Euclid Beach Park was only open and generating profits for six months, he still had