LOST CLEVELAND
Once upon a time... there was a city by a lake, bright and shining, rich and powerful, the sixth largest in all the land. It bustled with commerce, hummed with industry and nurtured thousands of people.

What happened? Where did it go?

Michael DeAloia's wonderful book "Lost Cleveland" lists the "Seven Wonders of the Sixth City" and examines the Elysium, Andrew's Folly, the Hipp, Severence Hall, the Superior Viaduct, Luna Park and the Great Lakes Exposition in fascinating detail.

An out-of-towner, Michael came for graduate school at Case. He found success in the computer IT field and his "Cool History of Cleveland" blog is a labour of love.

Now we'll search for our own in the glass and steel canyons, through the neighborhoods and amongst the ruins. First, we should remember what it was like.

"The post-war years were a Golden Age for Cleveland, a city built on a rock-solid foundation of steel mills, heavy manufacturing and shipping. In the 1950s, Cleveland was the 6th largest city in the United States, with a population of nearly 1 million people. The ciy's economic strength was mirrored on the playing field of the NFL and MLB, as athletic heros like Bob Feller and Lou "The Toe" Groza brought championships to Cleveland. In the 1950s, northeast Ohio appeared to be a place of limitless possibilities." quoted from the Drew Carey series, "Reason Saves Cleveland."

Its a story familiar to many Rust Belt cities; economic downturn, social unrest, racial violence and population decline. The Huff race riots of 1966 and the fire on the Cuyahoga River in 1969 provided an iconic image of an ungovernable, unlivable, urban nightmare. The 1970s brought pitched battles over school desegregation that pitted blacks against whites and liberals against conservatives. Heavy industry relocated to the South or overseas, homeowners fled bussing and the tax base eroded. In 1978, Cleveland defaulted on a 15 million dollar loan. By 2000, Cleveland had lost half of its population. More than 10,000 vacant homes in the city remind us of Cleveland's economic catastrophe. Is recovery possible? Where there is faith, there is hope!

In the Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 23, 2010, Michael O'Malley reports this tragic story...
"The Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, with its storied history, suffered a terrible blow Tuesday when a fierce fire, perhaps ignited by a bolt of lightning, gutted the 123-year-old stone edifice at East 96th Street and Euclid Avenue."

"Tucked within the steel-and-glass canyons of the sprawling Cleveland Clinic campus, only charred outer walls remained standing when firefighters, battling from midnight until sunrise, finally extinguished the blaze. Priceless stained glass windows, a grand pipe organ, rare historical documents and precious artwork were all destroyed."

"Euclid Congregational traces its roots to a Sunday school started by Sally Mather Hale in 1828. Fifteen years later, ten women and nine men met in Hale's log cabin schoolhouse and organized a church." Her work inspired the Euclid Ave. Sunday School!


In 1887, the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church dedicated this new building on their lot at the SW corner of E. 96th and Euclid. Nicknamed "Millionaire's Row", it was a quiet neighborhood of stately homes on tree-lined streets.

We turn left from the church and proceed along Euclid, past E. 101st (Republic St.), past where the Sunday School, Burying Ground and Stone Church once stood, to Doan's Corners, the NW corner of Euclid and 105th where they're building new apartments.

Euclid Ave. Congregational Vintage Postcard

The boom started when University Circle, two blocks east, was developed in the 1890s with the Case School, Western Reserve University, the Symphony, the Cleveland School of Art and later, the Elysium arena.

By 1905 it spread to Doan's Corners, where we see mixed use residential-retail construction.

The Cleveland Trust replaced the brown shed in 1908.

The Woman's General Hospital opened on E. 101st in 1912.
Euclid Ave. at 105th St. Vintage Postcard


"The Circle" became a hotbed of popular cultural attractions and performing arts venues. The Alhambra, the Elysium, all the ballrooms, night clubs, movie theaters and chinese restaurants! Henny Youngman and Milton Berle did vaudville and while Bob Hope hawked newspapers.

Doan's Corners became a Jazz Mecca. The Esquire Lounge, the Club 100, the Bamboo Garden, the Town Casino, the Trianon, Danceland and Lindsay's Sky Bar all hosted world-class talent.


Early in his career, while Lindus 148/2 was building a store in Collinwood, he attended the nearby Congregational Church and became a Deacon and Trustee in 1879. The church grew and by 1895, they had reared this beautiful edifice. Lindus and Amelia moved across town to Longfellow Ave and used their experience to start a non- denominational Gospel Church.

The Congregationalists folded in 1967 and the Baptists worship here today in this quiet, neat neighborhood.

Collinwood Congregational Vintage Postcard

Collinwood Congregational

The Gospel Church on Cedar at E 74th St. is now the Messiah Baptist Church. The beautiful cathedral-style windows have been bricked over, for simplicity and economy. But little has changed, except the view is obscured by the urban blight of a telephone pole with wires.

Active and involved, this church serves the community still. Click for their Facebook page!

Below, the church as it is today. Urban blight is depressing, especially if you live there, mouseover the image for a clear view!

Cedar Ave Gospel Church at East 74th St.


Lindus and Amelia's Beulah Park Church on Saranac Road at Cardinal Avenue.
This is Lindus and Amelia's Beulah Park Church as it is today, the church has moved across Cardinal Ave. to a modern building where they host a Food Pantry.

The Cleveland Co-operative Stove Co. Finally, the magnificent hulk of the Cleveland Co-operative Stove Co. on Central Ave. at 2323 E. 67th Street. While searching for the location of the Baden Ave. Mission, we found this most curious bit of graffitti. A pentagram is surrounded by the "C" and "dy", thereby containing the energy. What does it mean? Maybe nothing, except "We remember you, C☆dy."

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams...

So goes the Randy Newman song, "Burn On" from 1972. The lyrics express what many of us felt when the Cuyahoga River caught fire!

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