Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Cleveland (Ohio)

CLEVELAND, city, county-seat and port of entry of Cuyahoga co., O.; the first city in population and importance in Ohio. It is built on both sides of the Cuyahoga river at its mouth, on the S. shore of Lake Erie. The city has a harbor at the mouth of the river, giving safe anchorage for a large number of ships, secured by artificial breakwaters; for the coast, which here runs about N. E., is naturally an open one. Great breakwaters run out on each side of the river at its mouth, forming commodious E. and W. harbors. Pop. (1890) 261,353; (1900) 381,768; (1910) 560,663; (1920) 796,841.

The greater part of the city is on a plain elevated about 100 feet above the lake, and is laid out with much taste, especially the public squares and streets. The latter are wide and well paved, and an abundance of elms and other shade trees has given the city the name of “The Forest City.” The two portions of the city are united by a stone viaduct, spanning the river and valley, completed in 1878, and having a length of 3,211 feet. Three more viaducts connect various parts of the city and form a belt elevated roadway.

The area of the city is 56.65 miles There are 946 miles of streets and 834.3 miles of sewers. The Street Railway Company operates 412.71 miles of track. The city is served by seven railroad lines. There is a municipal electric lighting plant and 985 miles of water mains.

There is an excellent police force of 807 men, and the fire department has 604 employees.

There are several public parks, among them Gordon, of about 120 acres, on the lake shore; Wade, of 83 acres, on which $500,000 has been expended, making it one of the finest parks in the W. The total park and boulevard acreage exceeds 2,400 acres. The United States Building, including the Custom House, PostofRce and Federal Courts, occupy one building. The Federal Building is to be erected within a few years. The two County Court Houses, the City Hall, and Case Library Building, containing the Case Library, are notable structures. Other important buildings are those of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Western Reserve University, Case School of Applied Science, and the Chamber of Commerce, and the Hickox, Garfield, New England, Rose, and Williamson office buildings.

The city has an extensive commerce and excellent harbor facilities. There are 14.2 miles of lake frontage protected by a breakwater over five miles long which has been constructed at an expenditure of $7,000,000. It is the natural seaport of the Lake Superior iron district and the Middle States coal region. The total movement of freight in 1920 was 29,038,554 net tons. The imports for 1920 were valued at $10,812,369 and the exports at $6,859,935. Bank clearings for 1919 were $6,877,387,037.

The Federal census of 1914 placed the total value of goods manufactured in Cleveland at $342,418,052. The capital invested in 1920 was $352,531,109. The number of industrial establishments was 2,346, and the salaries and wages paid amounted to $92,909,888. The principal products are steel, iron, foundry and machine-shop products, meat packing, clothing, paint and varnish, stoves and furnaces, printing and publishing, electrical machinery, tobacco manufactures, cutlery and tools, furniture and refrigerators, bread and patent medicines. Cleveland ranks as one of the most important lake ports. In the fiscal year 1920 the imports of merchandise aggregated in value $18,628,926, and the exports $27,993,181.

Finances.—In 1919 the net funded debt of the city was $55,068,850. The total realty assessed valuation in 1920 was $1,073,842,860. The total personally assessed valuation for 1920 was $679,403,330. The tax rate was .70. The budget for the year was $6,347,200.

On Oct. 6, 1900, there were 16 National banks in operation. The exchanges

at the United States Clearing-house in the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, aggregated $5,104,301,000.

Education.—Marked attention is given to public instruction. There are 127 public elementary schools, with 3,665 teachers and 95,582 pupils, fourteen public high schools, nine junior high schools, and ten parochial high schools. For higher education there are the Western Reserve University, the Case School of Applied Science, Saint Ignatius College, Cleveland College of Law, and numerous art, music, and commercial schools. Cleveland was the first city west of the Allegheny Mountains to establish a free high school, on July 13, 1846. The library contains over 600,000 volumes, and has numerous branches.

Churches.—The city contains 425 churches, many of them housed in im- posing and beautiful structures. These include: Roman Catholic, 70; Baptist, 32; Congregational, 31; Episcopal, 25; Methodist-Episcopal, 53; Presbyterian, 27; Disciple, 11; the rest pertaining to other denominations.

History.—Cleveland was settled in 1796, under the direction of General Moses Cleveland, agent of the Connecticut Land Company. It was situated in the “Western Reserve” of the State of Connecticut, and its early settlers were mostly from that State. It became a port of entry in 1805, though it had then a very small population. In 1811 the first library, and in 1816 the first bank, were started. The first steam vessel was built in 1824. In 1827 the Ohio canal was opened to Akron, in 1832 to the Ohio river. The city then began to grow rapidly; but its era of great prosperity did not begin to be attained until after about 1860, when the coal and iron industry began to be developed. The river and the commodious harbor, together with the central situation of the city, respecting coal, iron, and petroleum, give it commanding position with respect to trade.