The Cool History of Cleveland

I was walking down Euclid Avenue a few days past when I was struck by a few thoughts…the first being, it really does not feel like Christmas or the Holiday Season downtown this year. I don’t believe I am the only one who feels this way. Despite the beautiful decorations in Playhouse Square and the annual Festival of Lights at Public Square - the rest of Euclid Avenue just doesn’t seem to have the spirit of years past. Which got me to thinking - what was the Christmas Season like in years past in Cleveland? I found some very spirited photos showing what Christmas used to be like in Cleveland and they are marvelous. And next year I promise to do some more research on Christmas on Euclid Avenue - because I have a sneeky suspicion that are some great photos I did not get to uncover year.

Hey - are you ready for a Christmas Parade?

Where did all these people come from? This photo was taken in 1955 moments before Cleveland’s annual Christmas Parade along Euclid Avenue. This particular shot was at the Cole Shoe Store on the south side of Euclid between East Fourth and Euclid pointing towards Public Square. Very near where House of Blues would be today. The crowd is crazy large.

This photo was snapped very close to where the above photo was taken - East Fourth and Euclid albeit from a different vantage point and different year - 1966. But what a gorgeous street scape. Look at all those signs and Christmas decorations!

The next shot is one of my favorite photos in the bunch - it was taken in 1967 under the canopy of the Sterling Linder Store (which would be on the corner of E. 13th and Euclid again looking west toward Public Square).

Look at all these shoppers! Crazy. Look how bright Euclid Avenue looks with the Halle Building across the street. Very exciting.

Speaking of Sterling Linder - it was a Cleveland tradition to take the family to visit this gorgeous department store to view the large Christmas tree that was set up in the lobby.

What a magnificent lobby! With the tiered floors looking down on the large Christmas tree. It is a shame that half of this store was torn down to make a surface parking lot. Just doesn’t seem fair to destroy this beautiful building for a few cars, does it? In my next column I will be reviewing some old photos offering a wonderful view of Christmas displays in some of Cleveland’s finest Department Stores.

As many of you know, I had the privilege of working at Cleveland’s City Hall for the past two Mayors of this grand city. City Hall is a gorgeous building.  Of course, the Mayor’s Office and Council Chambers are stunning as well. But to work in this facility, well, was an honor for such a history buff like myself. In these chambers some of Cleveland’s great Mayors worked diligently on behalf of the citizens of this cool city. Men like William Hopkins (actually a City Manager during a short period when Cleveland changed its government structure), Thomas Burke, Anthony J. Celebrezze, Carl B. Stokes, George Voinovich and Michael White. Cleveland’s City Hall was developed as part of the 1903 Group Plan of governmental buildings built along the various Malls tucked in between East Sixth and Ontario Avenue. City Hall was placed in perfect symmetry with the county courthouse at the north end of the Mall. Designed by J. Milton Dyer, the city hall has an arcaded ground story, a 2-story Tuscan colonnade, and a central entrance bay characteristic of the Beaux-Arts style.

The Great Hall gave that imposing entrance to a public building that is so lacking anymore. (But certainly gave me a great thrill to walk through every morning.)

What I find amazing is that the “progressive mayors” of Cleveland and perhaps one of the most famous Mayor’s in the U.S. - Tom Johnson never worked in the current City Hall. Prior to the this facility, the City of Cleveland in 1875 started leasing the Case Block Building, then located on the north corner of East Third and Superior until the new City Hall was dedicated on July 4th, 1916. However, the Case Block was an impressive building in its own right.

But the most amazing City Hall was the one never built. In 1895 the voters of Cleveland approved a Beaux Arts designed building to be built on the northern quadrants of Public Square. The most eloquent component of its design was the enormous arch spanning over Ontario Avenue for street cars to pass through safely. It was a most amazing and jaw-dropping design.

Unfortunately, after one week of the official ground-breaking the protests from numerous Clevelanders (after voting approval on the project), it was decided not to continue and Cleveland had to wait another twenty years before it received a new City Hall.

During my Thanksgiving Day break, if you remember, I posted a piece on the West Side Market - a Cleveland institution. It is not surprising, however, to find that the West Side Market was the only major market place to survive in Cleveland. There were, in fact, many other markets including the East Side Market, the Franklin Circle Market, the Newburgh or Broadway Market; there was even a market place in the old Gordon Square Building (home of the Capital Theater) on Detroit Avenue. But perhaps the most stately of all these markets was the Sheriff Street Market (also known as the New Market).

Sheriff Street is what we now call East Fourth, but then it was a major avenue that connected all the way from Euclid Avenue to Prospect Avenue to Huron Avenue to Bolivar Avenue. If you walked that path today you would see Quicken Loans Arena on this spot. The historical record suggests the market opened up on Christmas Eve in 1891 (although the photo above suggests 1871). The market was privately owned by the Sheriff Street Market & Storage Company. The building itself was located on the east side of Sheriff Street from Huron Avenue to Bolivar.

It is difficult to imagine these days but when the market opened there was no refrigeration so meats and vegetables had to be purchased daily. And the crowds were massive at the Sheriff Street Market. In 1929, a significant part of the market was remodeled as a bus depot. Unfortunately, most of the market was lost in a fire in 1930. The only standing part of the building was the southern most part of the building (in the foreground of the picture above and below).

That part of the Sheriff Street Market was then used for storage until 1950 when it reopened as the Central Market. The Market was a magnificent, and massive, structure especially the middle rotunda area. There are no signs today giving some rememberance to this special market which is unfortunate, but it certainly reinforces my belief of how special Cleveland is.

Now that the refreshing (though most of my friends would say harsh) Cleveland winter has taken root, I wanted to see if there was any cool winter activity this grand old City used to enjoy. Before, I start “waxing poetic” on this post’s topic (and I will) - I would like to say that every time I write a story on the Cool History of Cleveland blog, I keep suggesting that I can never trump the previous story only to find the next coolest thing about Cleveland. This City was very, very cool! (Still is in my mind…)

Which brings us to the Elysium! Just try to drink this in Cleveland.

This beautifully curved building was located in the “arts mecca” of Cleveland - University Circle. The Elysium was situated on E. 107th and Euclid Avenue. Can you imagine this facility on Euclid today? I can.

And by the way, the Elysium just happened to be the largest ice skating rink in the world. Imagine that.

The building was contructed in 1907 for $150,000 by Dudley Humphrey of Euclid Beach Park fame. During that October to May down-time period for Euclid Beach Park, Dudley made sure that he had an additional attraction opened. The ice skating rink offered classes in ice skating and offered ice shows and music bands while everyone made their way around the rink. It was a stunning building.

In the photo above I cannot get over the “Elysium” sign on the top right corner of the building. I try to imagine me walking up to that lit sign during a crisp walk in Cleveland’s winter solstice. Truly majestic.
 
It should be noted that the Elysium was also home to a couple of professional ice hockey teams - first the Cleveland Falcons and then their more famous cousins the Cleveland Barons. The rink was officially closed during World War II and later reopened as a used car showroom. While the Case Institute originally owned the land on which the Elysium was built the school gave the building and the land over to the City of Cleveland. The City, of course, razed the Elysium to widen Chester Avenue. The pictures used in this post really do not show the true scale of this facility as its front was on Euclid Avenue and it extended then to a much smaller Chester Avenue. But what a stunning building. One that should still be alive on Euclid today.