The History of the Veterans Memorial Bridge
Just to detail how big of a history geek I am – a few weeks past I was hanging out at the Cleveland Press Special Collection (the “Special Collection”) at Cleveland State University (“CSU”). I just get a thrill looking at photographs of the “Fifth City” – good, old Cleveland, Ohio. If you have never been to the special collection you are missing out. It is an amazing collection of photos and is the basis for most of my blog postings as I use the archives and its web presence – the Cleveland Memory Project (www.clevelandmemory.org) for most of the cool photographs you get to see on my posts. The librarian of the special collection – Bill Barrow – is a great man and is keenly interested in all things Cleveland. He also has a cool blog on Cleveland History – check it out at (http://clevhist.blogspot.com).
Anyway, as I was chilling and reviewing some outstanding photos on the Great Lakes Exposition – Bill literally threw a massive tome at me. After shaking off the ungodly noise of large book hitting wood table in extremely quiet library archives – I got to reading The History of Veterans Memorial Bridge (90th Anniversary Edition) by William E. Beyer. To suggest that it is a massive tome is an understatement as the book is over 600 pages long! On one bridge!?! I mean it is a gorgeous bridge…
Photo Courtesy of the Cleveland Memory Project.
The Veterans Memorial Bridge, or the Detroit-Superior Bridge, opened for traffic on Thanksgiving Day in 1917. It was the City’s first “high-level bridge” over the Cuyahoga River. It was designed and built to relieve the significant traffic congestion on the Superior Viaduct. The bridge, in fact, carries two decks. The top deck for car traffic and the bottom deck was built for streetcar traffic. Unfortunately, the second deck has been closed. But at one time it carried some really stunning streetcars underground – only to “pop” back-up on Superior Avenue or Detroit Avenue. The photograph below shows a streetcar heading west on Superior Avenue heading over the Cuyahoga River to Ohio City. Sweet.
Photograph Courtesy of Cleveland Memory Project.
The History of the Veterans Memorial Bridge documents the history of the original construction of the bridge and its two major rehabilitations – the first completed in 1969 and the second which was finished in 1997. The major emphasis of the book is the incredible documentation of the history of the bridge and surrounding community with photographs. This is a detailed find! The photographs are stunning and tell an insightful tale of Cleveland’s rapid growth and slow decline. For the Cleveland history buff this is really a must have book.
Photograph Courtesy of the Cleveland Memory Project.
And for a grand total of $30 this is an inexpensive way to acquire a thoroughly researched subject with amazing photographs and document detail. Kudos to William E. Beyer for injecting his great capacity for detail into the book. This book will amaze you. Copies of The History of the Veterans Memorial Bridge can be purchased at the Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library. Or just contact my man – Bill Barrow at 216.687.6998 or at w.barrow@csuohio.edu.
It is amazing the information you can find in historical libraries.
What a fun way to spend the day. Ok, I’m pretty geeky too. I thought
I heard there is a library somehow connected to the Western Reserve
Historical Society, but have never been able to 1.) figure out
exactly where it is. 2.) Get there when it is open.
I especially love reading about the history of University Circle.
I LOVE ROCKEFELLER PARK and think it would be cool to live in an
apartment overlooking it.
This is one of the coolest blogs I have ever come across. I grew up in Mentor in the 80s, but was fortunate enough to have parents who always made an effort to take me downtown to explore the hidden treasures Cleveland had. As I grew up and learned more about the history of the city, I started to feel like I missed out on something amazing. If only I had been born several decades earlier when the city was truly booming. Thanks for posting all of these pictures and tidbits of information. We should never forget what this great city once was and what it could be. It is the past that teaches us about the present and how to build our future. Although I’ve moved hundreds of miles away, I still return to visit and hope that the leadership of this city never forgets the mistakes they made from the past. May they continue to work towards building a progressive proud city, like Cleveland once was.
Thanks for all you do.