“Brooklyn Goes To Cleveland” – A Short Film

Every now and then, some kind person uploads a gem to YouTube. Here’s one for long time Cleveland residents: a short film, shown below, called “Brooklyn Goes To Cleveland.” It is part of a series of short films done by Arthur Cohen, who may be better known under his stage name, Phil Foster. His character, named “Brooklyn”, was featured in many short films or travelogues to cities such as San Francisco, Paris, Detroit, Las Vegas, Rome, etc. Brooklyn sometimes made sarcastic, humorous comments about what he saw, no matter what city he visited. He didn’t spare Cleveland. This film was released in 1955.

A little bit of trivia: Cohen also directed a film called “The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey” , which was a documentary on the career of Cleveland disc jockey Bill Randle. The film included Elvis Presley's first appearance on film, taken from a live performance at Brooklyn (Ohio) High School. As there were legal problems over the ownership of the film, it only had one public showing, and still has not been officially released. Some sources report that it is sitting in a vault at Universal Studios, others saying the film no longer exists. Maybe someone from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame can get this film located and/or resurrected?


Here’s the short film “Brooklyn Goes To Cleveland.” The quality isn’t too great but the audio is fine.





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CityProwl Cleveland - Listen, Walk, Enjoy!

If you live in or around the city of Cleveland, or if you are just visiting, the web site CityProwl will help enrich your visit. CityProwl provides walking tours of many of the key points of interest in downtown Cleveland, including interactive and downloadable maps, and MP3 downloads of the tours to guide you through your walk. While you can access all this information on your computer, you can also download the audio tour to an MP3 player so you can take it with you. By beginning at the designated start point, you can follow the audio instructions that take you through the tour and the sights.

CityProwl is a great tool for visitors, and can even benefit residents of the Cleveland metropolitan area who just want to rediscover the city.

So next time you’re looking for something to do, how about taking a walking tour of downtown Cleveland? Stop by CityProwl.com before you head off – it will make your trip much more worthwhile!

City Prowl Intro Video




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You Know You’re A Clevelander When…

Every now and then, someone circulates an email that starts with, “You know you’re from Cleveland when…” It lists a lot of questions involving snow, cold, winter, lake effect, polkas, kielbasa, beer, pop, sports, rock & roll, the Cuyahoga River, East side vs. West side, potholes, and orange barrels. I think those categories cover just about all the key points of which any self-respecting Clevelander should be fully aware.

This video short from Positively Cleveland features its own list of topics covering how to know if you’re a Clevelander. Take a look and see if you fit the bill. PS – if you have to ask what "kielbasa" is (mentioned above), you can't possibly be a Clevelander. If you know what it is but you’ve never eaten it, you don’t deserve to be a Clevelander even if you do live here!


You Know You’re A Clevelander When...



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Cleveland’s Best News Anchors

In the past, I’ve rated Cleveland’s morning news shows, weather forecasters, and the stations’ web sites. But it’s time to get down to business and talk about the best news anchors in town. It’s a short list, divided mostly between two stations, WKYC Channel 3, and WJW Fox 8. Viewers may think that news anchors are only as good as the copy they are given and their ability to read a teleprompter, but it is more that that. There has to be a certain “something” that an anchor has in order to keep viewers tuned in. After all, the news content is the virtually the same for every channel.



Image WKYC
Cleveland’s Best News Anchor - P.M.
Romona Robinson, WKYC Channel 3

I started writing this blog yesterday – in my head – as I was tuned in to the 6:00 PM news, watching Romona Robinson. I found myself wondering what must be going through her head, sitting up there doing the news all by herself, since Tim White left the station. In fact, it stuck in my mind so much I had a dream last night that Romona was complaining to me that she was worried she wasn’t doing very well. I’m here to tell her, and all my other readers, that Romona is doing a great job sitting in the big chair all by herself. Frankly, while I enjoyed Tim White, I always felt that Romona was the star of this newscast.

Romona delivers the news in a very deliberate, no-nonsense way. She maintains a professional demeanor, and even when a humorous moment breaks out, she still maintains her poise. But for the most part, Romona is all business while she is delivering the news, and her steady style can be calming even when the news isn’t all that good. She also isn’t one prone to overly editorialize about the news she’s delivering, a habit of which many other anchors suffer. When I turn on the evening newscasts, I want the news and I want it quick and to the point, and Romona fits that bill perfectly. While I do not know Romona, she seems to be a class act. And that’s the kind of personality a station should want in the anchor chair.


PM Runners Up
Bill Martin and Stacy Bell, WJW Fox 8

Bill Martin and Stacy Bell may actually have the best chemistry of any anchor team in town. They deliver the news in a crisp, yet light manner. Their best trait as team is their witty dialog between stories, with Stacy often looking at Bill with half condescension and the other half disdain, while Bill looks back at Stacy like she’s got a few screws loose. It’s almost like a married couple. But they know when it’s right to be serious and when it’s OK to take a jab at each other. Why didn’t I make them #1? It’s because viewers can’t always rely on one or both of them to be doing the news when they tune in to watch. It’s so bad that Bill Martin is often ribbed on-air by his co-anchors and letters from fans about his frequent absences. Of course, Stacy has missed her share of time as well. At first blush it sounds funny, but trust me, it really does annoy the viewers when they turn on their news and get stand-ins more than they get the leads. Still, when Bill and Stacy are both on the air, viewers are guaranteed a good dose of the news with some entertaining levity mixed in. It's a real treat.


Cleveland's Best News Anchors - A.M.
Wayne Dawson and Tracy McCool, WJW Fox 8

Despite the fact that they make sure that their on-air clothing matches each other, one may think that this is the biggest mismatch of anchors in town. Wayne Dawson sometimes seems too stuffy and Tracy McCool sometimes seems a little too cheerful. But, over the years, this has formed a perfect balance for the delivery of the morning news, with a fast pace that gets you up and gets you going. They seem very comfortable working together, and that can make even the most hurried morning rush seem a little more calming. Some of their best moments, though, are unscripted and impromptu. For example, in a perfect example of teamwork, in this video below, Wayne steps in to save the day when Tracy loses her “McCool” while reading a news story that is too funny for her to handle.

Tracy Loses her McCool On Air



AM Runner Up
Mark Nolan– WKYC Channel 3

Mark Nolan took over the morning anchor desk at WKYC Channel 3 a little over a year ago. The role fits him well, much better than his previous role of forecasting weather, where it seemed he couldn’t wait to be done with his segment. But Mark seems quite at ease having to sit still for a few hours weekday mornings to do the news segment from 5:00 – 7:00 AM, and he brought the spark back and some needed energy to the morning news on Channel 3. His co-anchor Abby Hamm, however, still seems a little stiff and isn’t quite the right balance for Nolan to make this a real winning team.


Honorable Mention
Ted Henry – WEWS Channel 5

Ted Henry has been on Cleveland TV news almost forever. Based on information from the WEWS web site , he’s been at the station over 36 years. Herein lies the problem. Ted has been around so long that he blends into the woodwork. It could be that he’s taken for granted, both by the stations and the Cleveland viewers. Still, Ted’s delivery of the news is reliable and comfortable. But the excitement of the Ted Henry/Dave Patterson days (video below) are long gone.



Missing in Action
Channel 19 has no standouts in the anchor category. The big problem is the tabloid style reporting of the station, which sucks any credibility out of any news stories they present. Even Walter Cronkite sitting at the anchor desk couldn’t be considered a contender.






Classic Video – Dave Patterson and Ted Henry



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Cleveland Area Former Nike Missile Sites

Nike Ajax, Hercules, and Zeus Missiles
Photographer and Location Unknown

Somewhat by accident I found that only a few hundred feet from a company where I used to work in Eastlake Ohio, there was a Nike Missile site. No, I’m not talking about a type of shoe, but real honest-to-god missiles that are used for war and blow things up. I became curious about the subject and with a little digging, I found that at one time, there were several Nike missile sites in the Cleveland area.

Photo from Dana Ryan and Burke Lakefront Airport staff

The Nike missile program was named after Nike, the goddess of victory from Greek mythology. The program brought Nike Ajax and/or Nike Hercules missiles to the Cleveland area and other locations across the nation during the “Cold War” era to combat a perceived Soviet threat. The missiles were part of a “line-of-sight” anti-aircraft missile system. They were put in place in the mid-1950s, and remained in place until the early 1960s when most locations in the Cleveland area became obsolete and closed, with the exception of the Parma and Warrensville locations. All bases in the Cleveland area were closed by 1971, and all locations were eventually reconfigured to serve other purposes more useful to their communities.

At Burke Lakefront Airport
Photo by Howard L. NewmarkerThe missile location in the confines of the actual city of Cleveland was at Burke Lakefront Airport. All locations in the Cleveland area were as follows:
CL-02 Bratenahl
CL-11 Painesville (Lake County)
CL-13 Willowick.Eastlake (Lake County)
CL-34DC Warrensville
CL-34 Warrensville/ Highland Hills
CL-48 Garfield Heights
CL-59 Parma/ Midpark Station
CL-67 Lakefront Airport (Burke)
CL-69 Lordstown Military Res/Fairview Park

You can find more detailed information about the program, and these Cleveland locations, in the links below.

By the way, I dug deep into my “archives” and found some old aerial photographs taken of the company where I worked in Eastlake. The photos were from the early 1960s – long before I worked there – but you can spot the location of the missile site in the photos.

Additional reading and reference:
Encylcopedia of Cleveland History Nike Missile Bases, which includes addresses for most locations

Nike Missile Sites in Ohio

The Nike Historical Society

Detroit-Cleveland Defense Area



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The Cleveland Police Historical Society Inc. and Museum

There are many big museums in Cleveland but one that is not as well known is the Cleveland Police Historical Society Inc. and Museum, which is located on 1300 Ontario St, on the first floor of the Justice Center.

Founded in 1983, it came to be as a result of the efforts of a group of Cleveland policemen and area citizens. The idea was hatched as a result of a visit to Scotland Yard’s Black Museum in London, England by Cleveland Police Detective Robert Bolton, who then convinced Chief William Hanton that Cleveland should have its own police museum. Over a period of 7 months, members of the department and private citizens worked together to create a nonprofit historical society. At first, the museum was only was allotted 1200 sq. ft. of space on the first floor of the Justice Center, and 4 years after its founding, the museum was one of only 12 of its kind in the United States. It received visitors not only from local areas but also from around the world. It features exhibits documenting the history of the Cleveland Division of Police from its inception in 1866, and differentiates itself from other museums of its kind as it is funded completely by private citizens and is not controlled or funded by the Cleveland Police Department or state or federal tax dollars.

The museum now has a larger area than when it began, currently with over 4,000 square feet of space. It continues to work to preserve the history of the police department, in addition to fostering a better understanding of the role of law enforcement within the community. My husband’s grandfather was a police officer in Cleveland from the late 1920s to the early 1940s, so the family has a great appreciation for the police officers that are on the front lines of keeping Clevelanders and the city's visitors safe. It’s nice to know that their efforts are being recorded and maintained for future generations to appreciate.

If you would like more information on the Cleveland Police Historical Society Inc. and Museum, you can visit their web site, here.

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Cleveland's Nela Park

Mention Nela Park to anyone in the Cleveland area, and the thought of Christmas lights immediately leaps to mind. That’s because for years, Nela Park has put up some beautiful lighting displays for Christmas. It is also nationally known for its contribution to the creation of lighting for National Christmas Tree in Washington DC. It is, after all, the General Electric Lighting and Electrical Institute. NELA stands for one of the facility’s original names - National Electric Lamp Association - before GE acquired it in 1911.

The institute was first organized by entrepreneurs Franklin Terry and Burton Tremaine, originally called the National Electric Lamp Company. General Electric invested in Nela, despite the fact that it was a competitor, to further the goal of standardizing the screw base that was invented by GE.

It is frequently referred to as the first industrial park in the world. Its campus resembles a university setting, with the buildings modeled in the Georgian Revival architectural style. All but four of the 20 buildings were built before 1921, and these were all designed by the New York architectural firm of Wallis and Goodwillie. Nela Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History provides some details on its origin:

Nela Park, at Noble and Terrace roads in East Cleveland, is one of the earliest (if not the first) planned industrial research parks in the nation. It was conceived in 1910 by Franklin Terry and Burton Tremaine, officers of the Natl. Electric Lamp Co., which soon became the lamp division of General Electric Co... .The site was selected in 1910, a small plateau 234' above Lake Erie, with some dense woods and a picturesque ravine. The building program began in 1911 and was entrusted to one architect in order to achieve a consistent scheme…The complex was very advanced in its handling of mechanical systems, with underground tunnels for all utilities. The main conception of the campuslike park is a perfect representation of the early 20th-century academic ideal. The office and laboratory complex includes 20 major buildings and several smaller structures located in a landscaped park of approximately 90 acres.

Nela Park was also the first facility of its type in the world that devoted itself solely to the teaching of lighting, a purpose it still serves today. The Lighting & Electrical Institute continues to receives thousands of customers and lighting professionals each year for conferences and training programs.

There is quite a bit of information available on Nela Park, and here are some of the more interesting links for further reading:

GE’s History of Nela Park

GE’s Nela Park: Modern Product Showroom in 18th-Century Garb

A Brief Early History - Terry Management Style and Incandescent Lamp Advances

Photo tour

Nela Park fun facts



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The Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion of 1944

All photos from The Cleveland Press Collection
The Cleveland Memory Project

With all the focus on fuel prices these days, we probably spend more time thinking about the price of gas for our cars than we do about the natural gas costs to heat our homes. Maybe, once a month when the gas bill comes, we moan about it but we also want to be warm in the winter. Sometimes we are reminded of the explosive power of natural gas when we hear a report of a house that has exploded from a gas leak.

Clevelanders were made very aware of the power of a natural gas when, on a Friday afternoon on October 20, 1944, a massive natural gas explosion virtually leveled an entire neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, killing 131 people and obliterating one square mile of the surrounding area. This event is on record as being the worst disaster in the city’s history. (Let’s hope it stays that way.) Time Magazine listed the event as one of the “major catastrophes of the modern industrial era”. It is also regarded as the largest liquid natural gas explosion in the 20th century, and to date. The death toll could have been much worse, as the explosion occurred while children were still in school, and many adults were at work.

The disaster took place at an East Ohio Gas (now known as Dominion East Ohio) tank farm in eastern Cleveland. The huge tanks of gas didn’t just contain “normal” natural gas. They contained liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is natural gas converted to liquid form by removing certain components, such as dust, helium, water, and heavy hydrocarbons. This greatly reduces its volume for easier storage and transport. LNG was still relatively new during the time of the blast, and little was known about the dangers of LNG at the time. When East Ohio Gas first set up this location in 1941, it was only the second installation of its kind in the country.

In 1944, a much larger LNG tank was added as demand for natural gas increased in the Cleveland area. As World War II was still going on, steel was not available to build the tank, so another alloy was used. Unfortunately, this alloy was unable to withstand the cold temperature required to contain the LNG, and a leak in the tank developed. The gas began to escape, appearing as a fog in the area, which even seeped into the sewer system. As not much was known about the dangers of LNG, city officials and those living in the area were oblivious to the extreme danger that this fog posed. All that was needed was one spark to set off an explosion. It's been speculated that the spark came from someone trying to repair the tank, but no one knows for sure, since the area and the people directly in the area were obliterated with the blast. But, as the gas fog had spread through the surrounding area, it’s anyone’s guess where that spark really came from.

Here is what happened that day, according to Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:

The East Ohio Gas Co. explosion and fire took place on Friday, 20 Oct. 1944, when a tank containing liquid natural gas equivalent to 90 million cubic feet exploded, setting off the most disastrous fire in Cleveland's history. Homes and businesses were engulfed by a tidal wave of fire in more than 1 sq. mi. of Cleveland's east side, bounded by St. Clair Ave. NE, E. 55th St., E. 67th St., and the Memorial Shoreway. At approx. 2:30 P.M., white vapor began leaking out of Storage Tank No. 4, which had been built by the East Ohio Gas Co. in 1942 to provide additional reserve gas for local war industries. The gas in the tank, located at the northern end of E. 61st St., became combustible when mixed with air and exploded at 2:40 P.M., followed by the explosion of a second tank about 20 minutes later. The fire spread through 20 blocks, engulfing rows of houses while missing others. The vaporizing gas also flowed along the curbs and gutters and into catch basins, through which it entered the underground sewers, exploding from time to time, ripping up pavement, damaging underground utility installations, and blowing out manhole covers.

The entry in Wikipedia adds to this account:

At first it was thought that the disaster was contained, and spectators returned home thinking that the matter was being taken care of by the fire department. At 3:00 p.m., a second above-ground tank exploded, leveling the tank farm.

However, the explosions and fires continued to occur, trapping many who had returned to what they thought was the safety of their own homes. Housewives who were at home suddenly found their homes engulfed in flame as the explosion traveled through the sewers and up through drains. The following day, Associated Press wire stories contained quotes from survivors, many of whom were at home cleaning in preparation for the coming Sabbath. Survivors said that within a split second after the explosion, their homes and clothes were on fire…The toll could have been significantly higher had the event occurred after local schools had let out and working parents returned to their homes for the evening. In all over 600 people were left homeless, and seventy homes, two factories, numerous cars and miles of underground infrastructure destroyed.

Ohio History Central said, about the survivors:

For the people who survived, most lost everything. The flames destroyed several blocks of homes. Many of these people also had withdrawn their savings from banks during the Great Depression, as numerous banks had failed. The flames destroyed these people's life savings. As a result of the explosions, the East Ohio Gas Co. began to store its natural gas underground. The company also helped rebuild the community by paying more than three million dollars to neighborhood residents and an additional one-half million dollars to the families of the fifty-five company workers who lost their lives.


A historical marker is located at the site near Grdina Park at East 61st and Grdina, and it says:

At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 1944, an above ground storage tank that held liquefied natural gas in the East Ohio Gas Company's tank farm began to emit vapor from a seam on the side of the tank that dropped into nearby sewer lines. It mixed with air and sewer gas and ignited, resulting in explosions and fires that brought damage to nearly one square mile of Cleveland neighborhoods. With 79 homes and two factories destroyed, nearly 700 people were left homeless, 131 killed, and 225 injured. The East Ohio Gas Company took responsibility for this tragedy to aid those in need through direct financial assistance and by rebuilding the community. The disaster also led to a movement by public utilities and communities across America to store natural gas below ground without tanks.


The use of Liquid Natural Gas is much more prevalent these days, and handled with extreme care. According to the Center for Liquid Natural Gas:

FROM COAST TO COAST
LNG is shipped on secure and specially designed ships from countries that export natural gas to countries that import natural gas. Carriers have traveled more than 100 million miles without a major incident in LNG’s 45-plus year shipping history. LNG carriers are double-hulled, with more than six feet of space between the outer hull and inner hulls. This design makes LNG ships extremely strong, minimizing the likelihood of leaks or ruptures in the unlikely event of an accident.

Upon reaching U.S. waters, the Coast Guard oversees the movement of LNG ships through ports. It also has the authority to review background checks of crews, order internal ship searches and require the use of Sea Marshals (specially trained and armed Coast Guard personnel.)

FROM SHIP TO PIPELINE
Upon arrival at its destination, LNG is generally transferred to specially designed and secured storage tanks and then warmed to its gaseous state – a process called regasification. It is transported via pipelines to consumers, industries and power generators who rely on natural gas.



It’s somewhat comforting to know that great improvements have been made in the transport, storage, and handling of LNG since that tragic explosion. And now you also know that learning those lessons cost many Clevelanders’ lives.


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Cleveland’s Sidaway Bridge

Image from Google Street View

Image from the Historic American

Engineering Record (HAER)

With all the talk about the Cleveland’s Innerbelt Bridge, I thought it was a good time to talk about a bridge in Cleveland that most don’t know about or have never seen. It’s the Sidaway Bridge , Cleveland’s only suspension-style bridge, built in 1931, at 680 feet long. The bridge was designed by Wilbur J. Watson and Associates, Consulting Engineers. It is a pedestrian footbridge, spanning a ravine known as Kingsbury Run, connecting Sidaway Avenue to Kinsman Road, near East 65th Street. (On a side note, Kingsbury Run was also the scene of the area’s infamous, gruesome, and unsolved ”Torso” murders from the 1930s, but I’ll think I’ll pass on that topic. )

The neighborhoods the bridge connected were Slavic Village and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Garden Valley estates. During the mid-sixties, at a time when racial tensions were running very high in the Cleveland area, someone set fire to the wooden deck, and some planks from the southern end of the bridge were removed.

As the wooden deck is missing, the bridge is no longer used. It is a graceful looking structure, and maybe it can stand long enough for someone to restore it and put it to good use.

Photo HAER

Here is a short video – a little shaky – that someone took of the bridge in December of 2007.




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Cleveland Metroparks: The Emerald Necklace

Tinker's Creek Gorge, Bedford Reservation

The Cleveland Metroparks public park system is a true jewel of the Cleveland Metropolitan area. It is a series of parks, hiking trails, biking trails, horse trails, nature preserves, scenic wonders, and public golf courses that circle the city of Cleveland. They are nicknamed “The Emerald Necklace” because collectively from above, they look like a necklace of green around the city. They also seem to follow many of the main rivers, creeks, and streams that flow through the area. As a result, these parks also can be great places to fish, bird watch, and see other wildlife. In the winter, they are sometimes filled with cross country skiers, sleds, and toboggans. Of course, they can be the perfect place to have a picnic. It also includes the ever popular Cleveland Zoo . And, if you’re so inclined, you can even do some geocaching . While most of the park areas are in Cuyahoga County, the North Chagrin Reservation is in adjacent Lake County, and the Hinckley Reservation is in Medina County. (Residents of Lake County also have the added benefit of the Lake Metroparks , which are easily accessible to Clevelanders and offer many, if not all of the same benefits.)


According to The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:

The Park Dist. was the brainchild of Wm.A. Stinchcomb (1878-1959). Stinchcomb's efforts secured passage of state legislation permitting the establishment of park districts and the creation of the Cleveland Metropolitan Park Dist. as a separate subdivision of the State of Ohio. The district was created on 23 July 1917, and the first park property was acquired 2 years later. Stinchcomb was appointed director of the district in 1921 and served in that position until 1957. In its early years, the district concentrated its efforts on acquiring land before advancing values and private development placed it beyond reach. During the Depression, federal work projects contributed in a substantial way to the further development of the parks. The district's activities are directed by a Board of Park Commissioners consisting of 3 citizens appointed by the administrative judge of the Probate Court of Cuyahoga County. The district is financed by a tax levy on all real estate in the district and by miscellaneous receipts from district operations, such as golf-course greens fees. The district has acquired more than 18,500 acres of parkland since its inception. The policy of the Board of Park Commissioners has been to maintain the parklands in a natural state, limiting development to that consistent with conservation.

Clevelanders should be ever grateful to Mr. Stinchcomb, who seemed to have the vision to insure area residents would continue to enjoy some of the most beautiful green spaces in the state, if not in the region, for years to come.

Squire's Castle, North Chagrin Reservation

Currently, there are sixteen reservations in the Metroparks district (plus the Zoo), and they are as follows:

Bedford
Big Creek
Bradley Woods
Brecksville
Brookside
Euclid Creek
Garfield Park
Hinckley
Huntington
Mill Stream Run
North Chagrin
Ohio & Erie Canal
Rocky River
South Chagrin
Washington
West Creek

There are also seven golf courses:

Big Met Golf Course, Rocky River Reservation, in Fairview Park
Little Met Golf Course, Rocky River Reservation, in Cleveland
Manakiki Golf Course, North Chagrin Reservation, in Willoughby Hills (Lake County)
Mastick Woods Golf Course, Rocky River Reservation, in Cleveland
Shawnee Hills Golf Course, Bedford Reservation, in Bedford
Sleepy Hollow Golf Course, Brecksville Reservation, in Brecksville
Washington Golf Learning Center, Washington Reservation, in Newburgh Heights

While we tend to think of our green spaces as places to visit only when they are green, the parks are open year round and can provide some beautiful sights in the fall and even in the winter months. One of the most anticipated events that occurs every March 15 in the Hinckley Reservation is the annual return of the buzzards. This is when the turkey vultures - also known as buzzards – return to Hinckley on the same day each year. It’s a little like the return of the swallows of Capistrano, with much, much bigger birds. (And thankfully, less of them than the swallows.)

Of course, there is also the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which also can be visited year round. The Rain Forest is always toasty warm (and humid) . The last time I was there it took a week to de-frizz my hair.

The Cleveland Metroparks system is a natural wonder of the Cleveland area. If you live in the Cleveland area, make a point to visit them all. If you’re just coming for a visit to the area, try to stop by and see some of the sights or maybe just drive through. It may just bring you that moment of inner calm that you’re looking for.


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Greenberg Slams Cleveland in the Must Miss Book “Don’t Go There”

I chuckled when I first read the title of the Peter Greenberg book, “Don't Go There!: The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World.” I laughed because in the late 1950s, when I was very little and living on West 50th Street, my dad used to tell a story about something scary at the end of the street at West 50th and Denison, always ending the story with a spooky voice, saying, “ Donnnn’t…. Gooooo There!” It was his way of telling us not to wander off too far. It made me so scared that I don’t think I ever walked out of the yard without a parent with me. But he made his point, we never did wander away from the house.

So when I read the title of Greenberg’s book, I subconsciously heard my father and his dire warnings to stay away. It must mean something, I thought; maybe an inner voice telling me to avoid the book. Imagine my dismay when I heard that in his book, Greenberg put Cleveland on his hit list of cities to avoid.

Regular readers of my blog know how I feel about this city. There are many great things to be found here, great things to do here, and great ways to be entertained here. We know we aren’t perfect, and we know we’re not New York City. But plenty of visitors who come here every year for business or pleasure have plenty of nice things to say about the city and the area. Sure, some don’t have perfect experiences, but they also don’t have perfect experiences in New York City, either. I am sure that there are select areas of New York City that if you singled them out, you wouldn’t want to go there either. For example, in an article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer about the book, Greenberg said:

"I love Jacobs Field [now known as Progressive Field] and I've been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so many times. I'm just saying, guys, know what you're getting into before you go," said Greenberg, who names the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood from East 70th to East 123rd streets and Kinsman Road from East 55th to East 130th streets - hardly top tourist areas - as places to avoid.

It's a shame that people who don't live in the city or spend a lot of time here can get away with bashing the city and then make money off of it. Many use their own contrived criteria to justify their opinions, rarely (if ever) seeking advice or input from the people who actually live here or work in the area. I suppose that Peter Greenberg should have read my blog – which is free by the way - before he wrote his book. One thing is for sure, I won’t be buying his book. And neither should any self-respecting Clevelander. Why put money in his pocket when his commentary may take money out of the pockets of the city and its business owners by reduced tourism?

By the way, I’ll be happy to take suggestions on where we think Greenberg should go.


Further Reading: Article, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Travel writer Peter Greenberg calls Cleveland a 'must-miss' destination


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The Geology of Cleveland

The earth underneath the Cleveland metropolitan area isn’t something that people think about very often, if at all. Of course, if you live in one of the areas surrounding the city that has been hit with mild tremors over the last few years, maybe it has crossed your mind once or twice.

I’ve always been interested in geology. Not seriously, though.  As a kid I liked to pick up all kinds of rocks, much to my mother’s dismay. When I was in my first few years at grade school in Brooklyn, Ohio, we lived right across from the steep cliffs of Big Creek. In fact, we used to play in the creek all the time and picked up quite a few small fossils in the shale there. Unfortunately for us,  in 1964 when the State of Ohio decided that they were going to put I-71 right through our living room, our family had to quickly relocate. But it seems that our misfortune meant a boon for paleontologists, who also found lots of fossils in the area as the area was reconstructed for the freeway. From I-71 near Ridge Road, one can still see the remainder of the street, and the shale filled cliff of the area where Big Creek travels.

When the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently did an article about paleontologists hunting for fossils again in the Cleveland area by Big Creek, it made me want to “dig” a little more into the overall geology of the area.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History has a very comprehensive summary of what lies underneath the Cleveland area. An excerpt:

The major event shaping the modern local drainage systems began when ice melted northward from the Akron region, leaving a boundary ridge of drift called the Wabash End Moraine ca. 16,000 years ago, which stood for 10,000 years as a drainage divide between the southward-flowing upper Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. An ancient Lake Cuyahoga was ponded between the Wabash Moraine and retreating Hiram-age ice. During a subsequent readvance of the Hiram ice ca. 14,800 years ago, the Defiance Moraine was deposited just north of Peninsula. When this ice began retreating ca. 14,300 years ago, short-lived Lake Independence was formed. The major fill of the Cuyahoga Valley between Cleveland and Akron consists of deposits from these two lakes. Even after the northward retreat of the ice, minor climatic fluctuations resulted in changing water levels of the Great Lakes, resulting alternately in erosion or deposition in the river valleys.

From ca. 14,000-12,500 years ago, the Lake Erie basin was occupied by a gradually falling series of large lakes, all higher than modern Lake Erie. Erosion and deposition along their southern shores formed wave-cut terraces and beach ridges which generally parallel the modern lakeshore. Lakes Maumee I-III (14,500-14,100 years ago), were from 780' to 764' above sea level; Lakes Whittlesey I and II (ca. 13,800), between 740' and 730' above sea level; Lakes Arkona I-III (13,600-13,300 years ago), 711' to 690' above sea level; and Lakes Warren I-III (13,000-12,900 years ago), 686' to 670' above sea level. Between 12,900-12,600 years ago, the opening of the Niagara Falls outlet resulted in a rapidly lowering series of lakes (Wayne, Grasmere, and Lundy). By 12,200 years ago, the inflow of water from the upper Great Lakes had been diverted northeast, and the level of early Lake Erie fell 40 meters below its modern level of 571' above sea level. There was a slow rise to 565' between ca. 4,500-2,500 B.C., when erosion to the lowered lake levels downcut the old southern divide, enabling the upper Cuyahoga to join the flow northward into Lake Erie, the last major geological event to affect this area. Beyond shaping the topography, these geological events were responsible for the materials of economic significance to Cleveland's future development.

(The entire article is quite lengthy and detailed; it can be found here if you wish to read it in its entirety.)

The video below from the Cleveland Plain Dealer speaks to how the geology of the area has made it ideal for the formation of fossils. The article that accompanied the video, which speaks a bit of the geology in the area is also interesting; it can be found here.

Some other web sites that my be of interest:

The Natural History Museum Cleveland Geological Society

Friends of Big Creek

The Ohio Geological Survey GeoFacts

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological Survey

Ohio Seismic Network


Plain Dealer Video Hunt for Cleveland Area Fossils

Fossil hunt

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Cleveland’s Favorite “Haunts”

Franklin Castle

With Halloween coming up, it makes me think of all the places in Cleveland that are reported to be haunted.

I’ve already written here before about what is probably Cleveland’s most famous haunted house, Franklin Castle, located on Franklin Boulevard at the intersection of West 44th Street. The Gothic-style house was built in 1865 for grocer and banking executive, Hannes Tiedemann and his wife Luise.

But, there are plenty of other places in Cleveland where “ghosts” supposedly reside, such as the Steamship William G. Mather, the USS COD, Grays Armory, Playhouse Square, Whiskey Island, Cleveland Police Museum, Lakeview Cemetery, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The Mather
Lakeview Cemetery seems like an obvious place for haunting, since it is, after all, a cemetery. At Grays Armory, there are reports of hearing footsteps when no one else was present, and seeing Civil War era apparitions. Franklin Castle has a history of mysterious deaths, reported murders, and strange noises and happenings. On Whiskey Island, there are reports of some ghosts at the Sunset Grille.

For me, since I live in a 1950’s home outside of Cleveland (in Lake County) where we’ve had quite a few unexplained happenings over the years (some rather scary to say the least), I have no desire to walk into any other haunted places. I may write out the story of my own home on one of my other blogs one of these days, but sometimes it rattles me just thinking about it. Thankfully, our house has been quiet and apparition free for several years…and I want to keep it that way!

If you are interested in seeing some of these places and hearing the full story behind the hauntings, a company called Haunted Cleveland provides tours, some private, for some of these locations.


Here’s a link to a short video from WKYC Channel 3 about “Haunted Cleveland”:
Haunted Cleveland

Whiskey Island Clip & Haunted Cleveland (Link), also from WKYC:
Whiskey Island Hauntings




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The Cleveland Browns

Cleveland’s NFL football team, The Cleveland Browns , incites all kinds of passion in people, some of it the good kind, some of it bad. Long time Clevelanders have a love-hate relationship with the team. It comes from many years of having fans’ hopes raised when teams reached the playoffs, only to have fans’ hopes dashed when the team just can’t quite reach the top rung. Of course, just this past Monday (October 13), the team temporarily redeemed itself with a 35-14 crushing of Superbowl champions New York Giants, handing them their first loss of the season.

The team and fans have garnered some interesting nicknames over the years. For example, they called the 1980 team the “Kardiac Kids” because of many heart-stopping games that were won or lost in the last few minutes or seconds of the game. The area near the goal line near the bleacher section is now called the “Dawg Pound” because of the dog costumes and dog paraphernalia the fans bring to the game. The moniker was reportedly first conceived by Hanford Dixon (cornerback) who initially gave his defensive teammates the name "Dawgs" to inspire them before the 1985 season. The defense would bark upon certain successful plays, behavior that was soon parroted by the fans. (Thankfully, they didn’t call them the Parrot Pound.)

Despite fans having to endure some crushing defeats – like the one at the hands of the infamous “Red Right 88” play – they still remain loyal to the team. However, an almost fatal blow to the team came when Art Modell announced in late 1995 that he would be moving the team to Baltimore. Fans were outraged, and it clearly had an effect on the team, who finished that season 5-11. Luckily, a legal settlement allowed the Browns name to stay with the city. With a new stadium completed, the Browns had a new team for Cleveland in 1999.

Rather than recap the extensive history of the team here, there are already many places where a complete history of the team can be found. Details going as far back as the team’s founding in 1946 can be found on Wikipedia. There is also current and historical information on the team’s official web site, clevelandbrowns.com , which also includes a great multimedia section . If you’d like a quick video history of the Browns in pictures, take a look at the video below.


Cleveland Browns History


Of course, let’s not forget the old 1950’s-60’s Cleveland Brown’s Fight Song .






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A Tour of Cleveland in Vintage Postcards

Here is a short video tour of the city of Cleveland, using vintage postcards from the 1930s-1950s. There are quite a few places of interest represented: the Terminal Tower, Public Square, Euclid Avenue, University Circle, some beautiful public parks, and a few of the city’s most notable bridges, monuments, and structures such as Public Auditorium and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. It’s easy to see why the city attracted so many people to come live and work here.

A Tour of Cleveland in Vintage Postcards


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Cleveland’s Innerbelt Bridge: In Trouble?

Last December, I wrote here about Cleveland’s many bridges (“Cleveland:City of Bridges”). One of the bridges mentioned was the I-90 Innerbelt Bridge, and at the time, there was much concern over the deterioration of the span.

Months later, things haven’t improved. The West 14th Street ramp in Tremont was closed several months ago due to concerns about the bridge structure in that area. This week, commuters were surprised with multiple lane closures and more ramp closures on the I-90 Innerbelt Bridge as the bridge is undergoing extensive inspections. You can read about the current state of the bridge in the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s article, “How serious are the Inner Belt Bridge's problems? Span's future in question”.

While the traffic problems that the inspection is causing is an aggravation, the inspection is a necessity to make sure the bridge is safe - or to determine that it's not. As this bridge is a main artery for those coming into, and passing through the city of Cleveland, it will create major problems if the safety of the bridge forces its closure.

Here’s a short video of the Innerbelt Bridge, taken from the Tremont area of Cleveland, in June of 2007, which gives a good idea of the size, and length of the span.




Also, if you’d rather see the bridge from bridge level, check out this video that shows the drive through the Innerbelt and over the bridge, but the video is sped up so the drive lasts less than a minute. Maybe that’s the best way to go over it right now… very fast!




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Cleveland’s Bygone Millionaire’s Row

There is a stretch of Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue (US Route 20) that was once known as the most beautiful street in America. It was also known as “Millionaire’s Row”, because in the late 1800s to the early 1900s the street contained the homes of some of the richest and influential people in the city and the county. Some of the names of the families who lived on "Millionaire's Row" included those of industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller; banker and industrial distributor George Worthington; arc light inventor Charles F. Brush; mining magnate Samuel Mather; industrialist and politician Marcus Hanna; John Hay, personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State under William McKinley; and Jeptha Wade, founder of Western Union Telegraph.

Samuel Andrews Mansion

The homes were representative of the then booming Cleveland economy and its growth and prominence in industry. Sadly, only a small number of these houses remain today, the others being overtaken by either the industrialization that brought the money here, to neglect, disrepair, and a growing urbanization of the area. Both Charles F. Brush and John D. Rockefeller had ordered their houses be razed after their deaths, as it was reported they preferred the destruction of their homes to inevitable deterioration.

A list of the locations of the homes that remain, either all or in part, is below, from the Ohio Traveler web site. (The list, however, is undated.)

Luther Allen House (7609 Euclid Avenue)
Morris Bradley Carriage House (7217 Euclid Avenue)
John Henry Devereaux (3226 Euclid Avenue)
Francis Drury House (8625 Euclid Avenue)
Hall-Sullivan House (7218 Euclid Avenue)
Howe Residence (2248 Euclid Avenue)
Samuel Mather Residence (2605 Euclid Avenue)
Stager-Beckwith House (3813 Euclid Avenue)
Lyman Treadway House (8917 Euclid Avenue)
H.W. White Residence (8937 Euclid Avenue)

Stager-Beckwith
Some of these homes are viewable by car, but for those that don't want to drive through the area, some can be best viewed using Google Maps Street View. Or, if you’d like to take a tour of the bygone era from your chair, here are links to some pictures of some of the homes (many no longer standing) in their golden years:

Samuel Mather mansion

Mather home sunken gardens

Charles Brush mansion

Francis Drury mansion, rumored to be haunted.

Sylvester Everett mansion

Tom L. Johnson mansion

Stager-Beckwith mansion, restored

Samuel Andrews mansion

View of the Bingham, Devereaux, Mather, and Hanna mansions

Daniel P. Eels mansion


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The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Integrity and Security

Money and the economy are on everyone’s mind lately. So, I thought this would be a good time to cover the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Cleveland serves as headquarters for the Fourth Federal Reserve District, an area which comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. It is located on East 6th Street and Superior Avenue, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Established in 1914, it is one of twelve regional reserve banks that comprise the Federal Reserve System. As we are all painfully aware of right now, the task of The Federal Reserve as a whole is to ensure the stability of the American financial system by the regulation and oversight of the country’s banking institutions.

According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:


In 1914, a well-organized campaign by a group of Cleveland businessmen, financiers, and politicians was instrumental in the decision to locate the Fourth District headquarters in Cleveland. The bank, headed by Elvadore R. Fancher, opened on November 16, 1914 in the Williamson Building with twenty-three employees…. in August 1923, the bank's Cleveland headquarters moved into the $8 million Federal Reserve Bank Building, designed by the architectural firm of Walker and Weeks, at the corner of Superior Avenue and East 6th Street.

The 12-story building was constructed in the Italian Renaissance style, the design said to convey the bank’s strength and its power. It was part of the City Beautiful movement and the Group Plan of 1903; the purpose being to form a harmonized group of structures with similar design features (such as masonry, scale, architectural style), and eliminate unstructured, unplanned industrial growth.

There is an excellent article by Builders Exchange Magazine published in 2003 that covers just about everything there is to know about The Cleveland Federal Reserve, and you can find it here. This is just an excerpt, about the bank vault:

“The most important feature of any bank is its vault-and the two-story, 12,000-ton, 3,560-sf Cleveland Fed main vault is second to none in the world. The door alone weighs 300 tons. The 100-ton swinging section is precision balanced to allow a single person to close it. When closed, the door is held by 16 steel bolts, each 6 inches in diameter and weighing 246 lbs. The 47-ton hinge casting is almost 19 feet long and reported to be the largest hinge ever manufactured. The vault actually occupies a "building within a building" constructed before, and separately from, the remainder of the facility. The concrete walls of the vault "building" are 6.5 feet thick and reinforced with interlaced fabricated steel. It would take an ambitious safecracker indeed to take on this formidable opponent.”

Energy in Repose
(Now, don’t get any ideas, you won’t be able to break in, despite the fact that movies and TV shows make breaking into bank vaults look so easy.)

The sculptures, titled ”Integrity” and”Security” at the 1455 East 6th St entrance are by sculptor Henry Hering. Hering also did the sculpture “Energy in Repose” on the Superior Avenue side of the building.

There are tours available to the public;information is available on the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s web site.


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Severance Hall, Home of the Cleveland Orchestra

Photos from clevelandorch.com

Severance Hall, in the University Circle area, is the beautiful home of the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra was formed in 1918, and it was decided in 1928 that a permanent home for them was in order. Severance Hall construction took place from December 1929 through early 1931. It was a gift from John L. Severance, in memory of his wife, Elizabeth DeWitt Severance. Her father had been treasurer of Rockefeller's Standard Oil and he was also the current president of the Orchestra's board of trustees

Severance Hall was designed by the firm Walker and Weeks , who also designed several other notable Cleveland structures such as the Public Auditorium, the Cleveland Public Library, and the original Cleveland Stadium.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History says that when first constructed, the hall

“contained a concert hall seating 1,844, a chamber-music hall on the ground floor seating 400, and a radio-broadcasting studio. On either side of the auditorium were triangular wings that contained circulation areas, a green room, a lounge, offices, and a library. Onstage were an elevator for the orchestra, a cyclorama, and a skydome for operatic productions, as well as a large E. M. Skinner pipe organ. The hall had a unique system of colored spotlights operated by a clavilux or "color organ" for constantly changing lighting effects. In 1958, the stage was completely rebuilt, with a new acoustical shell to improve the projection of the orchestra's sound.

The architecture of Severance Hall was transitional between the Georgian/Neo-Classical style represented by the Cleveland Museum of Art across the Wade Park Lagoon and the Art Deco or Art Moderne style that had developed in the late 1920s. The main entrance is a Renaissance portico. The interior, however, is an eclectic mix of styles. The elliptical 2-story grand foyer is transitional in function with a Neo-Egyptian design, while the auditorium is both modern and traditional in its stylized ornament and color, featuring classical and Art Deco touches. The Reinberger Chamber is 18th century in design. An unusual feature of the building was an internal automobile driveway, beneath the entrance, which was closed in 1970 and converted into a restaurant in 1971.


A major renovation project, designed by David M. Schwarz Architectural Services of Washington D.C, took place between 1998-2000 (reopening in January of 2000). It restored the hall to its original grandeur, upgraded its acoustics, and also expanded and improved on the services and amenities. The changes also included restoring and relocating the E.M. Skinner pipe organ. Overall, the renovation provided The Cleveland Orchestra with the best home possible, worthy of its global status.

A very detailed history of Severance Hall can be found on the web site for the Cleveland Orchestra (here), along with a fantastic group of photographs.



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