Cleveland - Ohio - History

Cleveland grew into a metropolis during the 19th century. In that century Cleveland changed roles many times. During the War of 1812 two of Commodore Oliver Perry's ships, the Porcupine and the Portage were built in Cleveland on the Cuyahoga River. Cleveland's first major role was as a ship building city. Then in 1825 the Erie Canal opened and in 1832 the Ohio-Erie canal opened. These two canals made Cleveland into an important shipping and trade center because they granted Cleveland access to almost all eastern cities by river, which was the easiest way to travel at the time. The canals were soon replaced by railroads, and Cleveland became even more important. Cleveland is located in between New York and Chicago, making it an even bigger trade center.

Because Cleveland is located in an area abundant in iron ore, coal, and limestone it changed roles into an industrial center. Many important industrial tycoons emerged from Cleveland. John D. Rockefeller founded his Standard Oil Company in Cleveland. Jeptha Wade put together 13 telegraph companies to form Western Union. Charles Brush invented the arc light in 1879, which was used as street lamps.

By 1900 downtown Cleveland began to decay. The major at that time brought in the famous architect Daniel Burnham to replace and redisign downtown Burnham wanted to build several new buildings, one of which was the Terminal Tower. There was a building boom that started in 1910, but was cut short in 1930 by the Great Depression.

The end of World War II brought servicemen back to the country, most of which bought houses in the suburbs of major cities. This hit Cleveland particuarly hard, because when the suburbs started to grow businesses left the downtown area for the suburbs. As more businesses left more people left. By the 1960's Downtown Cleveland once again was in need of repair. Erieview Plan was born. This plan was similar to the plans of the early 1900's, in that it called for several new buildings to be put up. By 1964 a 40-story office building, a 32-story federal building, and two large apartment buildings were put up.  This was an improvement, but much of downtown was still left vacant. Cleveland slowly began to rebuild until the term of Major Dennis Kucinich(1977-79) when the city went bankrupt.

This didn't last long, and in the 1980's Cleveland was on the rebound. Cleveland's reconstruction is still continuing today, with new buildings such as Jacob's Field, Gund Arena, A new stadium will soon be built for the Browns, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, rennovations to the Terminal Tower.