Cleveland, Ohio

City History

The year 1769 surveyors of the Cleaveland Land Co. plotted Connecticut's western reserve into townships, and at the same time the capitol city plans were laid out. It was named Cleaveland after the leader General Moses Cleaveland. Lorenzo Carter was the 1st resident; he built a cabin on the Cuyaho River. Soon after, a settlement sprang up and Cleaveland was incorporated on December 12, 1814. The Spelling of the city was changed in 1831 to "Cleveland" when the "a" was dropped to fit a masthead for the local newspaper. Ohio and Erie canals were finished in 1832. It linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River. The canals made Cleveland a transportation hub, as the half-way point between iron ore and raw materials from the west to the factories of the east. Cleveland soon became a manufacturing center and it was home to numerous steel producers. By 1920, Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller had made his fortune refining and shipping from Pittsburgh. Cleveland became the 5th largest city in the country by the 1930's. The great Lakes Exposition debuted in 1937 boosting the cities economy during the Great Depression. Another boom occurred during World War II when Pittsburgh's factories rolled out tons of needed supplies. After the war, growth continued during the post-war consumer goods production. In sports the Cleveland Indians won the World Series in 1948 and the Cleveland Browns dominated football during the 1950's. The cities population peeked at 914,808 and soon after the "All American City" title was given to Cleveland OH in 1949. During this area Cleveland was proclaimed "The Best Location in America for Business!" People seeking newer housing in the suburbs and a slump in heavy industry in the 1960's and 1970's caused the cities population to fall. The city recovered by shifting to technology, service and tourist industries. Cleveland has become an excellent e3xample of public-private partnership. This partnership has revitalized urban areas with construction of the Gateway Complex, Jacob's Field. Quicken, the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, the Cleveland Brown's Stadium and the Great Lakes Science Center. Cleveland has defiantly earned their nickname- "the come-back city."

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