AVERY-CLEVELANO INA NUTSHELL
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
1837
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By ELROY M. AVERY,
Marel. 7, 1893
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HISTORICAL
23 ucav,o9
TH
HE charter granted to the governor and company of
Connecticut by Charles II., king of England, in 1662,
conveyed a belt of land reaching from the Massachu-
setts line to Long Island Sound and extending westward
from Narragansett Bay to the South Sea on the west part
with the islands thereunto adjoining.” This charter consoli-
dated the Connecticut and New Haven plantations. jumped
half the claim of Rhode Island, and ignored the existence of
the Dutch in the valley of the Hudson River But it was
not in good form for kings in those days to be accurate in
the matter of the title deeds they gave. In fact, their dis-
regard of geography and equity was phenomenal; the most
imaginative man alive could not hound his estates in Spain
with greater disregard of Spanish geography and Spanish
law.
The grants overlapped alarmingly and bred conflicts
that gave no end of trouble to American colonists and of
exasperation to American historians. Subsequent grants
to the Duke of York and William Penn cut sorry gashies in
the Puritan domain. The northern boundary of Connecticut
is the parallel of 42° 2'; the western boundary happens to
fall at the seashore on the forty-first parallel of north latitude.
At the close of the war of independence, Connecticut still
upheld her claini to the western territory lying between the
parallels of 41° and of 42° 2' and extending froni Pennsyl-
vania to the Mississippi. When, a few years later, the claim-
ant states of the old confederation ceded their western lands
to the general government, Connecticut excluded from the
release the territory in the northeastern part of the Ohio of
to-day, bounded on the north by the international line, oni
the east by Pennsylvania, on the south by the forty-first
parallel and on the west by a line parallel to the western
boundary of Pennsylvania and a hundred and twenty miles
from it. Connecticut was said “to reserve” this territory,
and the popular expression, “The Connecticut Western Re-
serve,
soon worked its way into legal and historical docu-
ments.
The Connecticut cession was made in September, 1786
܀
183368
4.
CLEVELAND IV A NUTSHELL.
In May, 1792, the general assembly set apart five hundred
thousand acres lying across the western end of the Reserve
and bounded on the north by Lake Erie for the benefit of her
citizens who had suffered losses by British incursions in the
Revolution. In Conrecticut history, these lands are known
as “The Sufferer's Lands;" in Ohio history; as “The Fire
Lands.” In May, 1795, the general assembly offered for sale
the remaining part of its western lands and devoted the pro-
ceeds thereof, as a perpetual fund, the interest of which
should be appropriated for the support of schools: The Con-
necticut school fund, which now amounts to more than two
million dollars, consists wholly of proceeds of the sale of
these western lands and of the capitalized interest thereon
In the following September (1795), a legislative committee
sold these lands to the Connecticut Land To., which was
organized for the purpose of the purchase. This company
was not incorporated; it was simply a "syndicate” of land
speculators. The price agreed upon was $1,200,000; the sale
was made on credit, the purchasers giving their bonds with
personal security, and subsequently supplementing them by
mortgages on the lands. The Reserve was sold without sur-
vey or nieasurenient. The coniniittee made as many deeds
as there were purchasers and each deed granted all right,
title and interest, juridical and territorial, to as many twelve-
hundred-thousandths of the land as the number of dollars
that the purchaser had agreed to pay. Each purchaser was a
tenant in common of the whole territory. Such was the
largest sale of Ohio lands ever made. As a specula-
tion, the purchase proved unfortunate; the survey showed
that instead of buying four million acres as was supposed, the
shareholders had bought not more than three million; instead
of paying thirty cents per acre, they had paid more than
forty. The expenses of the survey were heavier than had
been anticipated and a jurisdictional question caused niuch
vexation and pecuniary loss. “For a state to alienate the
jurisdiction of half its territory to a company of land specu-
lators that never rose to the dignity of a body corporate and
politic was certainly a remarkable proceeding.'
In the spring of 1796, the directors of the company sent
out a surveying party (fifty persons, all told) under the coni-
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
5
mand of General Moses Cleaveland of Windham county, Con-
necticut. He whose name now our city bears was commissioned
to superintend “the agents and nien sent to survey and make
locations on said land, and to enter into friendly negotiations
with the natives who are on said land or contiguous thereto
and mav have any pretended claim to the same,
and was
fully authorized to act and transact the above business in as
full a manner as we ourselves could do."
At Buffalo, the superintendent bought the Indian claim to
the lands east of the Cuyahoga River for five hundred pounds
(New York currency in trade,) two beef cattle and a hurdred
gallons of whiskey. On the fourth of July, having deter-
mined the point where the dividiug line between Pennsylvania
and their “Reserve” struck Lake Erie, the party celebrated
the twentieth anniversary of American independence at the
niouth of Conueaut Creek. The place was christened the
Port of Independence. One of the toasts of the day, drunk
in “ several pails of grog," "May these sons and daughters
multiply in sixteen years sixteen times fifty," was more than
made good. Another toast, “The State of New Connecticut,"
hinted at a notion on the part of the proprietors that they
might organize a state as William Penn had done, and govern
it from Hartford as the Council of Plymouth had governed
New England from old England. If such notions actually
existed, the plans all went awry; "the United States objected
this up states."
")
On the twenty-second of July, 1796, General Cleaveland and
a few of his party arrived at the mouth of Cuyahoga River.
Since that day there have been white men on the site of the city
which, with a more compact orthography, bears the name of
the Puritan Moses who had the faith, the courage and the
wisdom to lead the first colony into the Western Reserve,
and there to build this mighty, ever-growing monument to
his memory.7 Arma viruinqué cano.
( The site of the city was chosen after due deliberation, and
a survey was then made of the plateau at the junction of the
river and the lake Streets were laid out through the forest,
a public square was set off, and 220 two-acre lots were marked
and numbered. Certain of these lots were reserved for public
use and the rest put up for sale at $50 each, with a condition
tq
.
6
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
of immediate seitlement. In December, the surveyors
returned to the East, leaving but three white persons in the
evibryo Cleveland, Mr. and Mrs. Stiles and the Edward Paine
who subsequently becanie the founder of Painesville, Ohio.
In the spring of 1797, other settlers canie and the surveyors
returned. By August, Central street (now Euclid avenue),
North street (now St. Clair street), and South street (now
Woodland avenue), were accurately determined. In 1798, the
malaria came with virulence and several families removed to
the more healthful ridge (Woodland Hilis) near Newburgh.
“Their renoval reduced the population of Cleveland to two
families, those of Carter and Spafford. The major and the
ex-surveyor kept tavern, dickered with the Indians and culti-
vated the soil of their city lots.” In 1799, a grist mill was
built at Newhurghi, the first on the Reserve, and the rivalry
between Newburgh and Cleveland was fairly begun.)
(By 1800, there were twenty or thir y settlements on the
Reserve with a total population of about 1,300. But there was
110 government; there were no laws or records; no magistrates
or police. The people were orderly and fully competent to
govern themselves; and yet, in those three or four years, the
need of civil institutions began to be severely felt.) In 1788,
General Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest
Territory, by proclamation, had established Washington
County, including all of the present state east of a meridian
line drawn from the mouth of the Cuyahoga to the Ohio
River. In 1796, he included the Reserve in Wayne County,
the seat of which was Detroit. In 1797, he included the
eastern part in Jefferson County. It is not certain whether
the relation of the Western Reserve to the Northwest Terri-
tory was considered at the time of enacting the immortal
ordinance of 1787, which made no distinction between ceded
and unceded lands, but St. Clair's attempt to exercise juris-
diction emphasized the doubt as to the sufficiency of the
original Connecticut claini, and, consequently, to the validity
of the title deeds to the soil itself. Tlie lands ceded and the
lands reserved by Connecticut had been claimed by New
York and Virginia, and the clouded title was understood at
the time of the purchase by the Connecticut Land Company.
Connecticut had held the soil by the same title that she had
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL
7
held jurisdiction, and both had been quit-claimed by the state
to the syndicate. If the jurisdiction was in the United
States, the ownership of the soil was there too. St. Clair's
claim to jurisdiction was a menace to the title by which the
settlers held their lands. Therefore, they, with great una-
nimity, denied the territorial jurisdiction and simply laughed
when the Jefferson county authorities sent an agent to inquire
into the matter of taxation. The agent "returned to Steu-
benville, no richer and no wiser than he came.
Naturally enough, men desiring western lands hesitated
about buying in a district where there was no government
and where the titles to the lands were clouded, and the men
who owned the lands hesitated to sell when payments could
not be enforced. Connecticut was in different to the contro-
versy and even refused to assert her jurisdiction when the
land company importuned her to do so. The settlers and the
shareholders called for help both from the state assembly
and from congress. In February, 1800, the national house of
representatives appointed a committee, with John Marshall
as chairman, to take into consideration the acceptance of
jurisdiction. The report of the committee stated the dilemma
of the conipany in a single sentence: "As the purchasers of
the land commonly called the Connecticut Reserve hold their
title under the state of Connecticut, they cannot submit to the
government established by the United States in the North-
west Territory without endangering their titles. and the ju-
risdiction of Connecticut could not be extended over then
without much inconvenience" The report was accompanied
by a bill for the purpose of vesting jurisdiction in the United
States and establishing the validity of the Connecticut title
to the soil. This hill passed both houses of congress and, on
April 28. 18oo, President Adams gave it his approval. The
Connecticut general assembly proniptly complied with the
provisions of the quieting act. In July of the same year,
Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation constituting Trum-
bull County, which was to include the Western Reserve. At
that time, the governor of Connecticut was Jonathan Trum-
bull, a son of the original “Brother Jonathan.” The first
court sat at Warren, on the last Monday of August, (1800.) at
which tinie the county was organized On the second Tues-
8
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
day of October, the forty-two electors chose a representative
in the territorial legislature. Civil government was estab-
lished on the Western Reserve.
In this year, Daniel and Gilman Bryant began to operate a
still at the foot of Superior street and did much to facilitate
trade with the red skins. This was Cleveland's second manu-
facturing enterprise, a brick-yard constituting the first. In 1802
(April 5), the inhabitantsof Cleveland Township organized their
government by choosing Rudolphus Edwards as chairman; Na-
thaniel Doan as clerk; and Amos Spafford, Timothy Doan and
William W. Williams as trustees. The township jurisdiction
then extended over a large territory, much of which was subse-
quently cut off for the organization of new townships.) In the
same year, congress passed an enabling act for the formation of
a state constitution and the admission of Ohio into the Union.2
In 1804, Trumbull county was niade a militia district and the
Cleveland contingent became the fourth company, Lorenzo
Carter, captain. În 1805, treaties were signed at Cleveland by
which the Indian tribes gave up their claims to the lands of
the Reserve west of the Cuyahoga River; Cleveland becanie
a port of entry and a postoffice was established. On the last
day of the year, the legislature divided Trumbull and provid-
ed for the future organization of Cuyahoga county. In 1809,
Cleveland was chosen as the county seat in preference to
Newburgh, a rival of no mean pretensions. In fact, the
geography of those days described Cleveland as “a thriving
village on the shore of Lake Erie, six miles from Newburgh,
a description which was sneeringly perpetuated for many
years by rival cities on the lake shore. To-day, Newburgh is
the famous “ Iron Ward” (27th) of the city of Cleveland. In
1810, came the first practicing lawyer, Alfred Kelley, Esq. In
1812, the dull routine of pioneer life was broken by the war
and Hull's surrender at Detroit. There were alarms, terror
and confusion. In their dread of the British and their savage
allies, many families abandoned their homes and returned to
the older states, more remote from the international line.
They who remained became accustomed to the din of war-like
preparation. Stockades were erected, the militia was re-
organized and companies formed for the general defence. In
1813, the first court house was built and Perry won his
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
9
splendiii victory on Lake Erie. On December 23, 1814, the
general assembly passed “ An act to incorporate the village of
Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga.” The act was to take
effect on the first Monday of the following June. On that day,
the twelve electors of the village met and unanimously
elected Alfred Kelley president, and chose a recorder, treas-
urer, marshal, two assessors and three trustees. In October,
the council laid out and established Bank, Seneca and Wood
streets from Superior to the lake, and extended St. Clair
street to the river.
When peace returned, immigration began anew. At this
tinie, the business and residence parts of the village were
confined to Water street, and Superior street between the
river and the public square; the total population did not much
exceed a hundred persons. In 1816, twenty-five citizens sub-
scribed a total of $198 for the building of a school-house and,
in January, 1817, the village trustees enacted that they be
reimbursed with orders on the treasurer payable in three
years, and that the corporation should be its sole proprietor.
The house was built that year where the Kennard House now
stands. Whenever the services of a minister could be ob-
tained, it served as church and, in 1820, an Ashtabula county
minister was engaged to preach regularly every other Sunday.
In 1817, the first permanent settlement was made at Brooklyn,
afterwards known as Ohio City, and now as the "West Side."
On the last day of July, 1818, “The Cleveland Gazette and
Commercial Register,” made its first appearance.
The
“Herald” was begun in October, 1819, and still survives as a
somewhat shadowy part of the "Leader" At this time, the,
population of the village was less than four hundred.)
The success of the Erie Canal had stimulated the people
of Ohio to emulation and, in 1825 (February 24), the legisla-
ture passed an act for the building of a canal from Lake
Erie to tlie Ohio River. Chiefly through the efforts of Alfred
Kelley, the canal commissioners chose the route that led
through the Cuyahoga valley to Cleveland. The father of the
Erie Canal, New York's great governor, DeWitt Clinton.
broke the ground and, on July 4, 1827, the canal was opened
from Cleveland to Akron with a grand and enthusiastic cele-
bration; five years later, it was completed to the Ohio River.
$
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CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL
A heavy bar at the mouth of the river impeded navigation.
An act of congress (March 3, 1825) appropriated $5,000. The
entire amount was spent in the building of a pier into the
lake from the east shore of the river. The channel still re-
mained precarious or impassable. Then congress was induced
to make a larger appropriation and the government sent a
member of the United States engineer corps, under whose
direction a second pier was built, parallel to the first and
still further east. Then the channel was changed and the
river made to flow between the parallel piers. The work
proved successful and resulted in giving Cleveland, at last, a
good harbor. In 1828, there were at least ten feet of water
in the channel The canal and the harbor improvements
gave the village a new impetus and, from that time, there
was a marked growth. In 1825, the population was about
500; by 1835, it had increased ten-fold.
The first fire engine was bought in 1829 and the first light-
house built in 1830. The United States census of this year
showed a population of 1,075.
The seitlenients on both sides of the river shared in the
general prosperity, and there was much discussion of a plan
to unite them under a single city charter. But the bitter
rivalry between them prevented this and, in March, 1036,
each obtained its charter, the Village of Cleveland becoming
the City of Cleveland, and the Village of Brooklyn becoming
Ohio City. The former had a population of about 6,000 and
the latter about a third as many. The population of the
county outside of the city was about 15,000, The first elec-
tion under the charter was held April 15, 1836, John W.
Willey being chosen mayor. A1-alderman and two council-
men were chosen from each of the three wards. Log houses
still lingered, frame structures were common and brick
buildings began to break the wooden monotony. Euclid
street had begun its career of splendor and had one of these
brick dwellings, near the site now occupied by the Union Club.
But the magnificent succession of lawn and niansion on “the
was still a dream; in the prosaic waking moments
of even the most enthusiastic, it was still unbroken forest in
which deer and bear were caught, as they are unto this day.
In 1836, Messrs. John W. Willey and James S. Clark bought
avenue
3
1
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
II
wlat we call the flats, offered town lots at immoderately high
prices and built a bridge across the river from the foot of
Columbus street. At this time, Cleveland handled nearly a
quarter of the products of the state and every one was san-
guine of unbounded prosperity for the city and of individual
opulence.
The "Cleveland and Newburgh railroad” had been pro-
jected, and a tramway of hewed timbers built from the quar-
ries east of the city to the city terminus near the site of the
Forest City House. George Stevenson's little locomotive,
thie“ Rocket,” had made a successful trial trip from Manches-
ter to Liverpool in 1829, and, in 1830, the United States had a
railway mileage of 23 miles. Six years later, when the wildest
speculation was rife and the sparsely settled southern shore
of Lake Erie was platted into city lots at every indentation
of the coast, and one speculator, just a little wilder than the
others, predicted a continuous city from the Niagara to the
Cuyahoga, came an uvique enterprise, a railway structure to
be built ou stilts, the famous Ohio railroad of unpropitious
nieniory: The company proposed to build a railway on a
double line of piles or posts, with ties and stringers and a
light strap-iron rail, a flimsy wooden structure estimated to
cust $16,000 per mile. The liberal charter gave the company
banking privileges which were used with enterprising free-
dom. The three or four hundred thousand dollars of currency
issued could never truthfullv say or sing, “I know that niy
redeemer lives." In spite of the aid rendered by the Ohio
Plunder Law of 1937, the road was never built. A financial
panic canie in 1837, and the “Plunder Law” was repealed
1840; the collapse of the Ohio railroad was quick and
complete.
In 1836, charters were also granted to the Cleveland, Co-
lunibus and Cincinnati and to the Cleveland, Warren and
Pittsburg railroads, but the panic laid them on the shelf until
the niore prosperous years of the next decade. In 1845, the
Ohio legislature renewed the charter of the Cleveland,
Columbus and Cincinnati road and, early in 1851, a train
gaily decked with flags and streamers bore the legislative and
executive officials of the Buckeye State froni Columbus to
Cleveland
111
I 2
CLEVELAND IN NUTSHELL.
“And the people did laughi to see
Their rulers riding on a rail."
In 1845, the charter of the Cleveland, Warren and Pitts-
burg road was revived and, before the end of the year, seven-
ty-five miles of it had been built. In the following year. a
charter was issued for the Junction railroad and another for
the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland. These conipanies were
consolidated in 1853 as the Cleveland and Toledo.
The
Cleveland and Erie was opened late in 1852; the Cleveland and
Mahoning was chartered in 1851 and built as far as
Youngstown by 1857. Thus was made possible a rapidity of
development that otherwise could not have been attained.
Since the time when railway traffic was added to that of the
lake, the growth of Cleveland has been a phenomenon in the
economic bistory of the country.
The bridge which had been built at Columbus street had
the effect of diverting traffic fron the west side settlement
to Cleveland and, in 1837, the marshal of Ohio City was
directed to abate it as a nuisance, But the Clevelanders
were determined that it should remain, and hence arose the
famous Battle of the Bridge, with ail its oft-sung mock
heroics, Iu this year (1837), the first school board was
appointed with supervisory functions, and the old Academy
building on St. Clair street rented for a public school.
Other houses were built and, in 1840, there were 900 pupils
and 16 instructors. On July 13, the first free high school
in Ohio was begun in the basement of the old Prospect
church. It was a high school for boys," with the still sur-
viving Andrew Freese as principal. The Young Men's Liter-
ary Association was organized in 1845 and incorporated under
the name of the Cleveland Library Association in 1848. From
this organization has been evolved the Case Library of today.
In 1845, three Cleveland banks were incorporated, the
Conimercial ( with a capital stock of $ 150,000 ); the
“Merchants” ($100,000); and the “City Bank of Cleve-
land” ($150.000. ) In the summer of 1847, the Lake Erie
Telegraph Company was authorized to extend its line
through the city and the first telegram was received.
The Cleveland Gas Light and Coke Company was char-
tered in 1846 and supplied gas for street illumination three
1
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
13
رز
:
years later.
In 1849, a committee was appointed by the
city council to investigate the project for water works, and
their report, recommending an outlay of $400,000 for that
purpose, was subniitted in 1853. The people endorsed the prop-
osition at the spring election by a vote of niore than two to one.
At a large meeting of merchants, held at the Weddell House,
July 7, 1848, the Board of Trade was organized.
In 1850,
Cleveland had a population of 17,034, and Ohio City, one
of 3,950. In April, 1853. the voters of the two cities spoke,
with large majorities, in favor of the union of the two
municipal corporations and, in consequence thereof, Ohio
City became the “West Side" of Cleveland. In accordance
with the marriage contract, bridges were soon built at Main,
Centre and Seneca streets. At that time, Superior street was
paved from the river to Water street, whence 'a slushing,
twisted and rotten plank road” extended to the public square.
Every other street in the city was a niud road of depth un-
fathoniable in the rainy season.
In October, 1854. there were two disastrous conflagrations,
involving an estimated loss of $215,000, and soon after came
the failure of the Canal Bank and the first financial mob.
The door of the bank was broken in “and crowbars were
about to be useil upon the door of the vault when some com-
promise was effected.” In 1856 (Dec. 7), commissioners
reported in favor of the junction of Pittsburg (now Broad-
way) aud Bolivar streets as the site for a market, and there
the Central Market was begun in the following spring. The
number of vessels owned in Cleveland in 1830 was 15: in
1840, it was 65. In 1855. the completion of the Sault Ste.
Marie canal opened up the waters of Lake Superior for a
thousand miles to the north-west and gave a new impetus to
Cleveland ship-building. Bituminous coal was first brought
to Cleveland and hawked about the streets in 1828, but the
housewives objected to it on account of its blackness, pre-
ferring wood." In 1853, the first iron ore landed at Cleveland
was shipped in half a dozen barrels.
"Great oaks from little acoruis grow.''
In 1856, the city expended $185, 744, and had a funded debt
of $636, Soo. The population was estimated a! 60,000. The
+
14
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
financial panic of 1857 cast every branch of business into
stagnation. The Perry monunient was unveiled, with im-
posing cerenionies, on September 10, 1860, the first of monu-
mental art undertaken by the citizens of Cleveland. The
statue then stood at the centre of the public square; it was
removed to the south-east section of the square in the spring
of 1879 and taken down in December, 1892, to make room for
the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' Monument. The East Cleve-
land Street Railroad Company was organized October 6, 1860.
a novelty that was looked upon as a harniless experimient,
and the first of its kind in Ohio.
Then came war's wild alarm, the firing on Sumter, Lin-
coln's call for men and the departure of the “ Grays” (April
18, 1861.) In 1862, the Cleveland sinking fund was estab-
lished and commissioners thereof appointed by the legis-
lature. In twenty years, the fund was increased from
$361,377 to $2,700,000, at an expense of $600, an unsurpassed
record of financial ability and fidelity. In the same year
(1862), the old volunteer fire department gave way for a
paid department and, in 1864, the fire telegraph systemi
was established. In this period of fraternal strife were
developed those great industries which transfornied Cleve-
land from a commercial to a nianufacturing city. The
extraordinary demands of the government showered pros-
perity upon those who brought coal, iron, lumber and petro-
leumi within the city's limits, there to shape them for the
market, and gave a new direction to the activities of her e11-
ergetic citizens. In this period, the population increased
50 per cent., the lake traffic niore than doubled, and the city
began to take on a metropolitan air.
In 1867, parts of Newburgh and Brooklyn townships were
annexed to the city, the People's Gas Light Company was in
corporated and the blockade of Superior and Ontario streets,
made by the fencing in of the public square in 1857. was
broken by the courts. In 1868, a through line from
Cleveland to Indianapolis was secured by railu ay con-
solidation, the first iron steaner was launched, and the Cleve-
land Rolling Mill Company began the production of Ressemer
steel. In 1869. the free public library was opened in
the third story of the building at the corner of, Superior
S.
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
15
and Seneca streets (over Hower & Higbee's store,) the
Kirtland Society of Natural Science was (rganized, the
Law Library and the Lake View Cemetery associations were
incorporated, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad
Company was formed by consolidation of existing lines,
and work was begun on the lake tunnel to secure a better wa-
ter supply.
On January 1, 1871, the city workhouse was divorced from
the infirmary and established at its present location on Wood-
land avenue. In August, a board of park conimissioners was
created The public square was improved in 1872, the first
tax levy for park purposes was made in 1873, and Lake View
Park begun in 1874. In 1882, J. H. Wade gave Wade Park to
the city, and, on the death of W. J. Gordon in 1892, the mag-
nificient grounds that bear his name became, by his will, the
property of the people. In the spring of 1872, the village of
East Cleveland was annexed, and the city's eastern boundary
pushed from Wilson avenue more than two miles toward Buf-
falo. In 1873, Cleveland's early rival, Newburgh, was absorbed.
The historical and disastrous panic of this year seriously eni-
barassed every business house in Cleveland, forced many to the
wall and teniporarily checked the tendency toward building
elegant residences and adding in many ways to the magnifi-
cence of the city. In 1875, the lately finished Case Building
on Superior street, was leased for 25 years for a city hall.
The annual rental is $36,000. The Euclid Avenue Opera
House (which was burned in 1892) was opened to the pub'ic
in September of this year. In the fall, work was begun on
the breakwater for the harbor of refuge.
In the centennial year, the steel fag staff in the public
square was delivered to the city (July 4), and Dr. Charles F..
Brush invented the dynanio electric machine which niade him
rich and famious, and gave rise to the Brush Electric Co. On
December 27, 1878, Clevelanders celebrated the completion of
the great stone viaduct or high level bridge across the Cuya-
hoga river. The Valley railway was opened to traffic as far as
Canton, February 1, 1880. The New York, Chicago and St.
Louis (the “Nickel Plate") and the Connotton Valley (now
the Cleveland, Canton and Southern) railroads were opened to
traffic in 1882.
:
16
CLEVELAND IN A NUTSHELL.
For the last decade, important events have crowded thick
and fast, but fortunately they are so recent as not to need
rehearsing here. But we may not omit to mention the change
of municipal organization wrought by the adoption of the
so-called 'Federal Plan." At the beginning of the present
decade, Cleveland's government was somewhat closely analo-
gous to an old house; built originally for a small family, and
with wings, L's, and lean-to's added as wealth and children
increased, the whole exhibited a motley style of architecture
not pleasing to the eve, convenient for daily use, or economi-
cal to maintain. Such was our patched and repatched charter
for a town made to do duty for a great and growing city.
After much local agitation, the state legislature was induced
to enact a bill giving the city a new charter, which went into
effect straightway after the election of April 6, 1891. It
makes a clear cut distinction between executive and legisla-
tive functions. An elective mayor is the central figure ol the
executive branch. Appointed by him and confirmed by the
municipal legislature, are the six members of his cabinet,
each of whom is a director in charming a departmentthus:
law, public works, accounts, pole
wand
correction. Each director makes appointments in his de-
partment absolutely “without the advice and course of the
council," but firemen and policemerrider the shelter of
civil service reform. The mayor and the directors constitute
the Board of Control,” one of the most important agents of
the city. The municipal legislature consists of twenty
councilmen, two for each of the ten districts into which
the forty wards are divided Other than the selection of its
own clerk, sergeant-at-arms and page, “the council shall exer-
cise no power of election or appointment to any office.” The
city treasurer, the police judge, the prosecuting attorney,
and the clerk of the police court are elected by the people.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 01031 1747
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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GRADUATE LIBRARY
DATE DUE
TAR
APR 9 1970
FEB 19 1906
DEC 3011999
var 17 2060