These 8 Black And White Photographs From Cleveland's Past Will Enchant You
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Nikki Rhoades
Author
The history of Cleveland is an interesting topic. Some of the most remarkable and game-changing moments in history have happened here, and yet some of the most heartbreaking events have also had Cleveland as their backdrop. Either way, the city’s history is truly unique and the best way to analyze it is through the photos that have been left behind.
This photo was snapped sometime before the 1930s in a time when Euclid Beach Park was bustling with activity every summer. The park opened in 1895 and grew significantly throughout the first half of its life, expanding to encompass a family-friendly atmosphere overflowing with fair food and rides. However, the park would host many heartbreaking occurrences. From racially-fueled rioting in the 1940s to arson fires, the park eventually could not keep up with the financial burden of operations and closed its doors in 1969.
By the age of just seven, Elwyn was appearing on the radio. He would go on to become a famous concert violinist, often delighting his friends and neighbors with performances at Severance Hall. He would go on to tour the world, always accompanied by his prized violin, to delight international audiences with his talent. He would go on to serve as the concertmaster of the Symphony of Bordeaux in France, presumably with the continued support of his sister Armenta.
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Located at the corner of East 93rd and Euclid, the Cleveland Clinic had been a familiar sight in the community. It was founded in 1921, but one of its founders would not live to see it prosper past May 15, 1929. On that unfortunate day, the building was fated to fill with flammable gas caused by poor storage of x-ray films. You can find the full story here.
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This photo depicts members of an unidentified Hungarian military group somewhere between 1900 and 1929. They are believed to be immigrants that settled here in Cleveland, which was a very ethnic community at the time. Like Little Italy and AsiaTown today, Buckeye Road once hosted a community known as Little Hungary. The community hosted the largest Hungarian population outside of Budapest. To this day, the influence of Hungarian culture on Cleveland architecture and cuisine is still notable.
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It was June 28, 1924, when an incredibly strong F4 tornado rolled through Sandusky and Lorain. It was the deadliest tornado in Ohio history, leaving over 500 homes destroyed and nearly a thousand heavily damaged.
The river fire of 1969 may be famous for igniting a national movement (pun intended) to better our environment, but it was actually one of 13 in the history of Cleveland. The famous fire, of course, was not even the worst. In 1952, over a million dollars in damages were caused by the inferno. It was actually an image from the 1952 fire that graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1969, and that image helped spark incredible environmental changes throughout the nation.
This story begins at Cleveland Heights High School as a love story between Samuel Holmes "Sam" Sheppard and the lovely Marilyn Reese. Sheppard was an athlete and would go on to be a doctor, and he made Reese his wife. However, he would come to be blamed for her murder, You can find the full story on this little-known Cleveland tragedy here.
Danny Greene was a familiar name to many Clevelanders. The Irish American mobster was involved in a competition for control of the city, frequently facing off against the Italian-American Mafia. Despite his reputation, Greene was an animal lover and could frequently be found feeding the birds and squirrels in his yard. However, a series of bombings seemed to follow the man, and one eventually took his life in October of 1977. The damage, pictured here, was caused by a car parked next to Greene.
Cleveland, it seems, has many a story to tell. The stories captured in these images are haunting, but they truly do tell of a hidden portion of Cleveland’s past.
For more Cleveland history, check out these incredible local inventions.
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