Institution

Euclid Avenue is one of the major roads that runs through Cleveland, Ohio. It is part of U.S. Route 20 and 6 and runs from Public Square through East Cleveland, Euclid, Wickliffe, and Willoughby. Many Cleveland landmarks are also located along this road, including Playhouse Square, University Circle, the Cleveland Clinic, Severance Hall, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, and Malts Performing Arts Center.Today, Euclid Avenue consists of a mix of businesses and housing within the city center. In the 1860s, it was still a part of the city center, but appeared quite different. During this time, the street and the city were less densely populated and was beginning to grow due to local industrial and business growth. In this era, Euclid Avenue earned the nickname Millionaire’s Row. The growth of the city attracted big investors including politicians and railroad, steel, iron, automobile, and business tycoons. These powerful and influential individuals built mansions and stately houses along Euclid Avenue, and the area became well known for being beautiful and picturesque.Some made their homes on Euclid Avenue because it was considered an up-and-coming, desirable place to be. One of the most recognizable individuals to build a home on Cleveland’s Millionaire’s Row was John D. Rockefeller, businessman and founder of Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller bought his mansion in 1868. Jeptha Wade, founder of Western Union Telegraph, was responsible for the creation of Wade Park, a recreational area that also included the precursor to the current-day Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Wade Park still exists today and is now part of University Circle. Today, University Circle is home to the Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Cleveland Museum of Art among other recreational and educational institutions. The mansions of Millionaire’s Row were built in a variety of styles. Charles F. Schwinfurth was a prominent architect in Cleveland at the time, and he designed at least fifteen of the mansions, including that of iron magnate Samuel Mather. The building still stands today, along with other examples of Schwinfurth’s work such as the bridges at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at University Circle and Trinity Cathedral on Euclid Avenue. The Mather Mansion was built in 1910 and is said to have been one of the last great houses built on Millionaire’s Row.In the 1890s, parts of Euclid Avenue began a rapid transition into a more densely populated downtown city. Department stores and other types of retail were being built, and by the 1920s the theaters that make up current-day Playhouse Square were built. At the same time as this rapid development, many of the Millionaire’s Row families shifted away from Euclid Avenue, moving to suburbs that are known today as Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights. By the 1930s, many of the Millionaire’s Row mansions were either torn down or converted into dorms or apartments. Around the same time, middle class African American Clevelanders began to move to and shop in the renovated Euclid Avenue area. They faced racial discrimination and exclusion in the form of groups like the Wade Park Committee that tried to bar nonwhite people from living in the neighborhood. Their protests were often violent and several African American owned homes were bombed.In more recent years, Euclid Avenue and Cleveland in general have undergone some revitalization programs. Groups like Cleveland Tomorrow and the Greater Cleveland Roundtable were organizations founded with the purpose of putting money and resources into the community. Economic development, neighborhood development, housing, and public education are general points of focus for these groups. The Euclid Avenue Corridor Plan is a specific initiative aimed at revitalization along Euclid Avenue. Local stakeholders such as Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals contributed to specific projects such as improving public transit. Cleveland State University has invested in their own projects to develop their campus.Only four of the original Millionaire’s Row houses remain today. They include the Mather Mansion created by Schwinfurth, The Drury, which was built around the same time as Mather Mansion, H.W. White Mansion, and the Stager Beckwith Mansion. Built in the 1860s, the Stager Beckwith Mansion was probably one of the earliest mansions built on Euclid Avenue. Today, the building has been repurposed in the Cleveland Children’s Museum.

Millionaire’s Row was the nickname given to Euclid Avenue during the Gilded Age of Cleveland which spanned the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. During this time, Cleveland was a rapidly developing city with growing industrial and economical centers. Euclid Avenue became the home of the wealthy entrepreneurs cashing in on the growing industrialization throughout the United States. For a time, the street was lined with opulent mansions and estates. The current landscape of Euclid Avenue is quite different now, and all but four of Millionaire’s Row’s original mansions have long since been torn down. However, Euclid Avenue it is still the center of Cleveland, Ohio, and now serves as a major area of entertainment, education, and history for the community.

Construction of the White Mansion began in 1898 and was completed in 1901. The estate was built in the Victorian Gothic style and designed by architect Frank B. Meade. The house was one of the later ones built on 'Millionaire's Row', a range of houses that ran down Euclid Street in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Henry Windsor White, the home's original owner, and was the treasurer of the White Sewing Machine Company, a company that was later known as the White Manufacturing Company. Henry Windsor White was one of many members of the White family, one of the city's most influential with business ventures ranged from sewing machines to automobiles. The mansion one of only four extant structures left standing from the days of Millionaire's Row, and its history is perhaps less well-documented than is that of the other three. While most sources seem to agree about the aforementioned information, there are several that differ. In addition, one local rumor speculates that the coach house of the mansion was used as a workplace for researchers who helped to develope the atomic bomb. Today, the White Mansion, along with the nearby Drury House, is owned and used by Cleveland Clinic. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now owned by the Cleveland Clinic, this building was constructed between 1898 and 1901. Today it is one of the four remaining mansions of Cleveland's "Millionaire's Row," the fashionable and exclusive Gilded Era neighborhood of the city's wealthiest families. The mansion was built for the family of Henry Windsor White. Of the remaining mansions, its history is perhaps the least well-documented, leaving aspects of its past shrouded in mystery. 

White Mansion; Cleveland Clinic

Francis Drury's wealth stems from his success leading the first company to mass produce kerosene stoves. Drury built this house later in life as a home for himself, his wife, and his children. The house was part of 'Millionaire's Row', a neighborhood of mansions that wound down Euclid Avenue and was the premiere destination of Cleveland's social scene in the second half of the 19th and first part of the 20th centuries. In addition to his wealth, Drury was known during his life for being an extremely generous person; from allowing an experimental theater group to practice on his property, to hosting a wedding for his servants. He also donated much of his wealth to support education and funded many colleges. This mixture of luxury and philanthropy continued to be associated with the house even after Francis Drury no longer owned it. After a period of vacancy, it was purchased in 1939 by the Drury Club, a selective social organization that used it as a meeting place. Following this, it became the Florence Crittenton Home, a place for unwed mothers to seek shelter during their pregnancy and in the period shortly after giving birth. By the 1970s, the house was owned by a Community Reintegration Center, a sort of halfway house that focused on rehabilitating former prisoners. Today, the Drury House is owned by the Cleveland Clinic. Sources vary greatly as to the size of the Drury Mansion. Some say that is contains 34 rooms, while others state that it has well over 50! This confusion may be in part due to the fact that there are actually two mansions built in the area by Francis Drury; while this one is in Cleveland proper, the other is a little away from the center of the city, in Gates Mills, Ohio. The Drury family moved here after over a decade at their initial mansion, and it is reportedly bigger than the first home.

Built for kerosene stove manufacturer Francis Drury in 1910, this mansion was one of the last to be constructed on Euclid Avenue's famed "Millionaire's Row." The Drury House later became the Florence Crittenton Home, a place that provided care for unwed mothers and later served as a halfway house for former prisoners. Given the building's history of being used for charitable purposes, it is perhaps fitting that it is now home to Cleveland Clinic's Foundation. 

The Drury House

Since 2017 at the Children's Museum of Cleveland, play and learning have combined in the form of a multi-story building dedicated to educating young people. With brightly - colored interactive exhibits that range from a doll house section to an art room, it might seem an odd contrast at first to think that this building has been around since 1866, and that it was built for a man who aided communications in the Union army during the Civil War. Anson Stager was the general superintendent of the West Union Telegraph Company when the Civil War broke out, and he was asked by General George B. McClellan to create a cipher that the Confederacy wouldn't break during the war. He was very successful, and his code is remembered as the "most effective" used during the war. It was a closely-guarded secret to the extent that at one point, an operator refused to give up the code even when necessary, and at the request of Ulysses S. Grant himself. This, unsurprisingly, caused some irritation on the part of the Union's Commanding General. The Stager-Beckwith is one of four houses still remaining of 'Millionaire's Row', which used to be a section of about 250 mansions extending down Euclid Avenue. Though he was the one to have it constructed, Anson Stager himself only lived there for two years. After this time, it was bought by a Thomas Beckwith, then Charles Bush. In 1913, the mansion was converted into the University Club, an invite-only elite social club that provided networking and leisure for its upper-class male members. The University Club made many additions to the mansion, which included adding a grand ballroom and squash courts.

This historic mansion was completed in 1866 and was one of the most iconic residents along Cleveland's Millionaire's Row. The home of a wealthy telegraph company superintendent, the Stager Beckwith Mansion suffered the fate of many other homes on Euclid Avenue and was in disrepair. Following a $10 million renovation project, the mansion is now home to the Children's Museum of Cleveland. So many adults have wanted to see this 19th-century mansion that the museum allows adults to visit for special history-themed tours on Thursdays. 

The mansion is a children's museum in the present day!

Children's Museum of Cleveland; Stager-Beckwith Mansion

Mather Mansion was the largest house of the original 'Millionaire's Row': a set of mansions that sprawled down Euclid avenue from the mid to late 19th century until they began to be torn down in the early to mid-20th century. It was built in 1910 and would have rivaled even the other wealthy homes that showed off Cleveland's wealth: In addition to being the largest, it was also the most expensive home in the city during the time that it was built. The mansion was built for Samuel Mather, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who owned Pickands, Mather and Company, a transporter of iron ore. Mather's financial contributions to Cleveland were numerous, including the creation and funding of the city's community chest which aided a variety of humanitarian organizations and public services for the city. Today, the community chest has transformed into United Way Services of Cleveland. One source states that even Mather Mansion itself was part of a plan for Cleveland, an initiative by Mather to start a return of the city's wealthy to Millionaire's Row when many were leaving the city core and some of the larger homes were being repurposed. Mather Mansion features the Tudor Revival Gothic style of architecture and has three stories and 43 rooms. From an enormous fountain in the dining room, to a ballroom with a 16-foot ceiling that can hold over 300 people, it was the height of luxury at its time and was meant to be impressive and comfortable, down to the smallest details. Even the steps on the staircase are spaced closer together than is normal, so that women with enormous flowing gowns would not find it too difficult to ascend them. Today, the mansion is currently used to hold several offices for Cleveland State University, but it is also used for college and community meetings, with meeting rooms that can be rented out. Its third floor - which contains the impressive ballroom - is not open to the public and is still under the process of being renovated.

Built around 1910 for the family of businessman Samuel Mather, this building on the Cleveland State campus is one of the last remaining mansions from the city's historic Millionaire's Row. At its peak in the Gilded Age, the wealthiest families of Cleveland were concentrated in this neighborhood which was home to nearly 250 mansions that were centered around Euclid Avenue. While many other properties came close to the opulence of Mather Mansion, this was the most expensive home in the city of Cleveland during the time at which it was constructed. Mather constructed the mansion while many other wealthy families were leaving the city center. He also used his considerable wealth to fund the creation of the city's community chest. 

A painting of Mather Mansion in its younger years

Mather Mansion 

John D. Rockefeller's Mansion on Euclid Avenue and E. 40th Street

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Euclid Avenue: Cleveland's Millionaire's Row

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