<blockquote>After WWI, Joseph Laronge had a vision of five theaters on Euclid Ave. With the help of Marcus Loew and others, Loew's Ohio Theaters was formed and the planned district took shape between 1921 and 1922. In February 1921, the first two theaters that opened were the State and Ohio Theaters. The next month, the Hanna Theater opened in the annex of the Hanna Building. In April, the Allen theater opened in the Bulkley Building next door to the Ohio and State Theaters. It was originally dubbed "Playhouse Square", but the Euclid Square Association interfered and wanted to call it "Euclid Square". This was unsuccessful, and so it officially remained "Playhouse Square".&nbsp;The 8-story commercial and office building contained an innovative enclosed parking garage right behind the theater. Compared to other exotic movie palaces in the 1920s, the relatively early Playhouse Square theaters were in a restrained classic style, with the lavish use of marble, murals, expensive woods, tapestries, and plaster relief. </blockquote><blockquote>The Palace Theater was the final theater to be opened in November, 1922 and Playhouse Square was officially opened. After more than four successful decades of stage plays, motion pictures, Cinerama, and vaudeville, the Allen, Palace, Ohio, and State Theaters were all closed in 1969 due to the rising popularity of TV. In 1970, a nonprofit group, the Cleveland Playhouse Association, was formed along with the support from the Junior League of Cleveland, Inc. In 1973, the Cleveland Playhouse Association was created to carry out the operation, restoration, and management of the theaters. By 1991, the Palace, State, and Ohio Theaters were reopened. Three years later, the Allen Theater reopened as well. By 1999, the Hanna Building and Theater were reopened and Playhouse Square came back to life. In 2005, One Playhouse Square Building at 1375 Euclid Ave., was refurbished and reopened as the Idea Playhouse Square.</blockquote>

More Info

Website

Playhouse Square is a theater district consisting of five theaters at Euclid Ave and East 14th Street. It was opened in between February 1921 and November 1922. Joseph Laronge worked with business magnate Marcus Loew and others to found a partnership called Loew's Ohio Theaters to develop this theater district. Today, this great and luminous district is owned by a company called the Cleveland Playhouse and is open to all to see any live play, musical, or concert perform for a night of beauty and style and is the biggest theater district outside of New York City.

Playhouse Square

Instructor

Museums, mansions, and more. This rambling drive along Cleveland's Euclid Avenue includes stops at many of the city's leading landmarks starting in the heart of downtown and making its way to the Case Western campus where it concludes with two of the city's leading art museums. 

Brothers Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen proposed the construction of a centralized rail station in Cleveland’s Public Square. This was more ambitious than their original plan to build a small station in the nearby suburb of Shaker Heights. One thousand buildings were torn down to make room for the new complex. The Van Sweringens then changed the concept of the building from a modest 14-story office space to a 52-story tower. It took seven years and nearly ten million dollars to complete the project, which was overseen by the Chicago-based architecture firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. The shy Van Sweringen brothers chose not to attend the opening ceremonies of their legacy, the Terminal Tower, in 1930.

By the 1970s, the Terminal Tower and its surrounding complex sat empty, a symbol of the hard times that had hit Cleveland and other similar cities in the U.S. In 1986, a publicity attempt was held to earn a Guinness World Record by releasing almost 1.5 million balloons from the site. Havoc ensued after “Balloonfest” as winds and rain soon forced the balloons back down to earth, causing a 30-minute closure of Burke Lakefront Airport as well as a few car accidents.

The Terminal Tower is still in use as an office building today, though its observation deck was reopened to the public in April 2018.

The Terminal Tower was the second tallest building in North America from its completion in 1930 until the construction of the Prudential Center in Boston in 1964. The Cleveland landmark, also known as the Cleveland Union Terminal, stands 708 feet tall, 771 feet with its flagpole. The beaux-arts style building (with a steel structure and façade of granite and limestone) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Today, the Terminal Tower serves as commercial office space.

Terminal Tower

Construction on the monument, designed by architect Levi Scofield, began in 1891. Inside the monument are the names of more than 9,000 people who enlisted in the Union army from Cuyahoga County. There are sculptures and images of Union leaders as well as a number of relics. A 125-foot shaft rises above the monument’s roof with a fifteen-foot figure of Lady Liberty on the top.

Outside, the monument features four groups of bronze statues representing the Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry and the Navy, each depicted in battle. In the background are military and naval emblems.

Both Public Square and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument underwent major renovations that were completed in the summer of 2016.

At a meeting of Camp Barnett, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Society, in 1879, Comrade William J. Gleason suggested erecting a monument to commemorate Union soldiers and sailors of the Civil War Cuyahoga County. It was unanimously approved and opened on July 4, 1894. Today, it is open most days from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is a popular attraction in downtown Cleveland. Visitors can also participate in the occasional tunnel tour of the moment as well as enjoy the Victorian Christmas display each year. It is operated by the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument Commission. 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

The acclaimed Chicago-school architect Daniel Burnham designed the 800,000-square-foot May Company department store, which opened in 1915 as the country's third-largest store. The May Company opened its first store in Denver in 1888, and in Cleveland in 1899. After expanding throughout Northern Ohio, the store suffered a dramatic decline during the 1980s and '90s. The historic building is set to reopen as a large apartment complex and retail center sometime in 2020. The store resembles the architectural interpretations associated with the City Beautiful movement popularized by Burnham. The lauded architect technically launched the architectural trend when he served as the director of works of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The movement grew more popular when Burnham led a team in Chicago that developing the Plan of Chicago in 1909. The idea behind City Beautiful involved big plans, big projects, and eye-catching designs. The sizable May Building has a white terra cotta facade, clean lines, elegant, symmetrical detailing, and a few stereotypical Chicago-School features such as a durable steel and concrete frame that supported numerous windows. While the design is historically significant, the building gained fame for its occupant: the May Company. The first store opened in Denver in 1888, and then expanded to Cleveland in 1899. The May Company enjoyed almost immediate success during the first decade of the twentieth century, and even more so after getting listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1910. Store profits soared from a little more than $700,000 in 1906 to $1.2 million in 1910. May Company sales in 1912 topped at $14.8 million, with net profits exceeding $1.5 million. As a result, board members decided to construct the expansive retail store in 1915 that survives today. Roughly 2,500 employees worked at the grand retail center, which offered patrons luxury shopping areas where they could shop for clothing, housewares, and furniture. Guests could also enjoy amenities like the city's largest soda fountain, fashion shows, hair salons, and a children's playground. In 1931, The May Company was Ohio's largest department store and the company decided to renovate the downtown store and add two new floors despite the Great Depression. This expansion increased the sales area to more than one million square feet. By the 1950s, May Company followed the population movements away from the city by opening stores in the suburbs, with nine branches in operation by 1979. Still, retail trends and shifting populations led to the decline of the May Company and resultant store closures during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, the historic May Company downtown store closed while the remaining stores were re-branded as Kaufmann's, which existed as a May-owned department store rooted in Pittsburgh. In 2006, May Stores merged with Macy's. The bulk of the historic building remained vacant for several years after the store closed. A plan to convert it into a parking garage resulted in the gutting of its interior, although the garage plan never came to fruition; Cuyahoga Community College School of Hospitality Management and two restaurants occupied a portion of the building for a spell. In 2017, a plan emerged to convert the May Company building into an apartment complex, supporting 308 residential units, retail stores, and 600 parking spaces. The 2019-2020 COVID-19 global pandemic delayed the apartment complex's proposed opening in June 2020.

At this location in 1915, the May Company opened the third-largest department store in the United States. David May, the founder of May Department Stores, had previously acquired E. R. Hull & Dutton Co. of Cleveland on Ontario Street in 1899 and subsequently renamed the store as part of the May Company. Rapid success led May's company to go public and its stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange by 1910. Construction of grand downtown retail buildings followed, including the opening of this newly-constructed building in 1915. Designed by famed Chicago-School architect (and creator of the City Beautiful trend) Daniel Burnham, the high-rise building allowed for 800,000-square-feet of shopping space. A renovation and two-floor addition in 1931 pushed the building to 149 feet (eight stories) and $1 million square feet of shopping space. The store closed in 1993 and plans are in place to convert the building to condominiums. 

May Company Ohio (1915-1993)

The Arcade was financed by a group of wealthy Cleveland businessmen and cost
$875,000 to build. Because the design was so complicated, regular contractors
could not handle the job; instead, the Detroit Bridge Company began construction
began in 1888. The Arcade was built in the Romanesque style with rusticated
sandstone and brick. It stands five stories tall and features iron balconies
and an actual glass ceiling supported by steel trusses. The 300-feet long
building also connects two streets, Superior and Euclid. Since they are at
different levels, the building has ground-level entrances at two different
heights.

The Arcade was the first building in Cleveland to be put on the National
Register of Historic Places. It later underwent an expensive renovation, ending
in 2001. Today, the Hyatt occupies the top three floors and two towers of the structure
while the bottom two floors feature retail and dining. The Arcade is also the
site of special events throughout the year.

The Cleveland Arcade opened in 1890, becoming the first indoor shopping mall in the country. Within walking distance of most Cleveland attractions, it now features a variety of shopping and dining options and houses the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Arcade was designed by John Eisenmann and George Smith, who modeled it after a similar facility in Milan, Italy. 

Cleveland Arcade

The fifteen-floor New England Building represents a late nineteenth-century urban trend of skyscraper construction, both in Cleveland and throughout the nation. The New England Building arrived during a time when Cleveland enjoyed a business and building boom. When it opened in 1896, it stood as Cleveland's tallest building and one of the highest in the country. The New England name came from its builders, and that name stuck until 1915 when it became the Guardian Building and then later the National City Bank Building. The building's modern design, along with its status as the city's tallest skyscraper -- a title it held until 1905, inspired several businesses to move their offices to the New England Building. The abundance of companies and active downtown skyscraper construction speaks to Cleveland's economic and building boom. John D. Rockefeller based his prolific Standard Oil Corporation in Cleveland in 1870, helping kick-start the growth. The steel industry also flourished during the 1870s and 1880s as well as numerous companies tied to the automobile industry. The Guardian Savings and Trust Company purchased the building in 1915 and subsequently hired a firm to add an addition to the building that allowed for bank facilities and an additional 250 rooms. The adjacent, shorter Garfield Building, is built on top of that addition. The firm also erected the imposing columns at the building's entrance. The Guardian Savings and Trust Company held ownership of the building for nearly thirty years. Still, the Great Depression took a toll on the bank, and the company was proven to have mismanaged its customers' money by giving insider loans to members of the company. After Guardian vacated the building, the National City Bank moved in and then purchased the building outright in 1944. Five years later, in 1949, the building officially became the National City Bank Building. The historic building's overall occupancy declined substantially during the late twentieth century as far more modern skyscrapers became available to businesses. During the late 1990s, the New England Building transitioned into a hotel, serving the Holiday Inn Express.

The New England Building opened in 1896 as Cleveland's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1905. The building opened after the city enjoyed decades of economic growth. The building largely catered to banks, notably the Guardian Bank and National City. The Guardian Bank moved in and built an addition that now exists under the adjacent Garfield Building, as well as the distinctive Corinthian columns. Similar to older skyscrapers found in large cities, occupancy declined throughout the twentieth century. But, the Holiday Inn Express moved in during the 1990s, helping to revive the historic buildings viability as the city simultaneously enjoyed a civic rebirth after times of decline during 1970s and '80s.  

New England Building (a.k.a. Guardian Bank Building & National City Bank Building)

Although many of the buildings that originally housed
Ursuline College no longer stand, following the journey of Cleveland’s Ursuline
sisters’ educational endeavors from one campus to another tells a tale of
Cleveland’s city growth, population movement, the changing needs of women’s
education, and the Ursuline sister’s commitment to serving their community. The
legacy of the Ursuline sisters educational endeavors lives on at the current
campus of Ursuline College at 2550 Lander Road, Pepper Pike, Ohio.

1850 From
across an ocean“As a young priest in France, Father
[Amadeus] Rappe had been the chaplain at the Ursuline Academy in
Boulogne-sur-Mer…. He knew well the educational work of the Ursulines…. Bishop
Rappe turned to his friends in France and begged them to open a school in
Cleveland,” recorded Sister Anna Margaret Gilbride.1

Five Ursuline sisters answered the Bishop’s call to come
to Cleveland, a burgeoning metropolis on the banks of Lake Erie.&nbsp;They were:&nbsp;Mary Beaumont, known as Mother Mary of the Annunciation; Sister Theresa Young des Seraphine; Sister Victoire Boudalier des St. Charles; Sister Sylia Picquet des St. Benoit; and&nbsp;Arabella Seymour, who became Sister Mary St. Austin.2

Settling
into Cleveland

In preparation for welcoming the Ursuline sisters and
their mission, Bishop Rappe purchased a high-style two-story brick house once
owned by Judge Samuel Cowles and constructed by revered master builder Jonathan
Goldsmith near the downtown on Euclid Avenue (then still a dirt road!).3

&nbsp;The Ursuline sisters arrived on August 8, 1850, and immediately
set to work adapting the mansion to the needs of a convent and school. Full of
energy and conviction, they advertised their opening of a school for girls on
September 6, less than a month away. According to Dr. Patrick Riley, 300 girls arrived
on the steps of the school that first day, convincing the community of resounding&nbsp;success.4

To ensure that the government would not be able to confiscate
church property, as had frequently occurred in Europe, Mother Mary incorporated
the Ursuline Academy of Cleveland in 1854, later including Ursuline College as
one of the Academy’s division.5

&nbsp;17
November 1871, A bold request granted

As Dr. Patrick Riley later related, “Recognizing the need
for higher education for Catholic women, Mother [Mary Beaumont] made a rather
bold request of the State of Ohio and sought a charter to open a women’s
college in Cleveland…. [On] November 17, 1871, Ursuline College became the
first college for women in Ohio and among the very first Catholic colleges for
women in the United States.” The college featured a liberal arts curriculum with
classes housed in same building as the Academy.6

&nbsp;1871
First Campus, Ursuline College

The college’s popularity and success required expansion
of the original two-story mansion to include a third story plus two long,
curved, flanking wings. The building retained much of its Federal and Greek
Revival style architectural elements. Both Federal style (popular ca.
1780-1840) and Greek Revival style (popular ca. 1830-1850) included very formal
space with rooms for specialized purposes. The exteriors were known for their
use of balance, symmetry, and restraint to emphasis civic virtues such as
order, logic, and balance. Leaders of the young United States of America looked
to the great Roman Republic for models of self-government and political systems.
They also identified with the classical Greek ideals of democracy and
individual civic responsibility, so looked to the most prominent of Greek
buildings, the Parthenon, for inspiration.
These were intentionally reflected in the architecture chosen for major
governmental buildings in Washington, D.C., and became popular for residential
architecture as well.

Cleveland
success story

The popularity and necessity of women’s education increased dramatically&nbsp;in the late 19th century. “By the 1880s twice as many women [as men]
were graduating from Cleveland high schools…. While men often left home to
attend college, women tended to remain close. Increasingly women sought higher
education, challenging old institutional models, but they still had few options
in college education,” as noted by Ursuline
College in Educational and Architectural Perspective.7

Looking
eastward

As the city center became increasingly crowded&nbsp;and&nbsp;their student body grew, the Ursuline sisters turned
their attention to the growing population in the eastern sections of Cleveland
and planned for a larger facility to house Ursuline College, Academy and the
Motherhouse. Their attention was captured by property available at the
intersection of Scovill Avenue and Wilson Street (now East 55th).

On November 18, 1871, Ursuline College became the first college for women in Ohio and one of the first Catholic colleges for women in the United States.  The first campus was located near Cleveland's public square and teeming downtown commercial center.  The building, a high-style late Federal/early Greek Revival mansion built in 1833 for Judge Samuel Cowles, was purchased specifically to provide a residence and a school from which the Ursuline sisters could pursue their educational mission.  Within two decades, they had outgrown the building and the property, so the Ursuline sisters moved east to more spacious grounds.

Ursuline College 1871 First Campus

Renowned architect George B. Post, who also designed the New York Stock Exchange, won a contest for the opportunity to create the building. It was built in Beaux-Arts style with three stories of white granite facing. The building’s rotunda is the dominant feature with an eighty-five-foot dome ceiling. There are Tiffany-style glass panels and fluted columns as well as marble floors and walls. Artist Francis David Millett completed the thirteen murals that adorn the walls just below the dome.

Years later, the bank hired architect Marcel Breuer to add two towers framing the rotunda; only one was built. The collapse of the real estate market in the 1980s substantially hurt the bank, then known as AmeriTrust and one of the biggest institutions in the country. Society Corporation bought out AmeriTrust in 1991 and the building later closed in 1996. It was empty for nearly twenty years.

In 2013, the building and adjacent tower were converted to a hotel and apartments. A Cleveland grocery-store chain turned the rotunda and an adjacent building into a 27,000-square-foot supermarket, which was completed and opened in 2015.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Cleveland Trust Company began in 1894 with $500,000 capital and John G.W. Cowles as president. In 1903, it merged with Western Reserve Trust Co. and outgrew its rented office space. The bank built a new headquarters at the corner of E. 9th and Euclid that opened in 1908. The bank eventually closed, but the building remains. After years spent unoccupied, the building now houses a supermarket, hotel, and apartments on the upper floors. 

Cleveland Trust Company Building

The Statler Office Tower operated first as an exceptionally high-end Cleveland hotel for several decades until a lack of occupancy led to its conversion into an office building in the 1970s. The luxurious, 700-room Hotel Statler opened in October of 1912 as an impressive addition to the Hotel Statler chain consisting of hotels in such cities as Washington, D.C., Detroit, St. Louis, New York City, and Los Angeles. Dignitaries and celebrities regularly frequented the Statler Hotel (George Burns and Gracie Allen spent their honeymoon there), and it also held the distinction as a known mob hangout. The hotel opened during a time when stores and arcades drew multitudes of residents to Euclid Avenue, and it later (during the 1920s) benefited from the construction of several theatres.The fourteen-floor, 192-feet tall, 700-room hotel offered guests a wealth of amenities. Guests of the hotel enjoyed luxurious dining, lounges, a lavish ballroom, big bang music and dancing, and rooms that appealed to the wealthy, but remained relatively affordable. Despite the Great Depression, the hotel expanded and modernized during the 1930s resulting in the addition of 300 rooms, new dining areas, a gentleman's club, and a library. The hotel opened amidst a boomtime for Cleveland's downtown region, with plenty of shopping and entertainment businesses in operation. The hotel also got a boost from its location near the city's theatre district, known as Playhouse Square, where investors planned and constructed five theaters between 1920 and 1922.The Hilton Hotel chain purchased the chain of Statler hotels in 1954. Still, the Cleveland property, despite a reputation as the chain's finest hotel, suffered from aging and competition that resulted in declining occupancy. During the 1950s and 1960s, the theater district also declined in popularity as many middle-class and wealthy fled to the suburbs. Thus, four of the five theaters closed down by 1969. The Hyatt had planned to renovate the hotel but instead sold it to investors who converted several floors into office spaces in 1971. By 1980, yet another ownership group completed the building's transformation by turning the entire building into an office building. The once-grand hotel again enjoyed a metamorphosis in 2001 (with an update and modernization in 2019) when it was converted into an apartment complex that coincided with the early stages of downtown Cleveland's residential and service-industry resurgence.

Built in 1912 as Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland developed into a shopping and entertainment hub, the 700-room Hotel Statler served as Cleveland's most magnificent hotel until the middle twentieth century. Celebrities and dignitaries routinely stayed there, but so did the mob. Amenities included lounges, gentlemen's clubs,  lavish dining halls, grand ballrooms, and big band halls. By the 1970s, the hotel began its transformation into an commercial office building. And then in 2001, new owners converted the tower into an apartment complex (updated and renovated again in 2019). 

Hotel Statler (Statler Office Tower)

The Halle Brothers Co. (1891–1982) was considered the leading department store company in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded on 7 February 1891 by brothers Samuel Horatio Halle and Salmon Portland Chase Halle, the very first store was located at 221 Superior Avenue near the city's&nbsp;Public Square&nbsp;where the brothers had bought out a hat and furrier shop owned by T.S. Paddock. Two years later, they moved to&nbsp;Euclid Avenue and East 4th Street and added ready-to-wear clothing to the merchandise mix. The firm was officially incorporated in 1902 as the Halle Bros. Co. After growing and moving several times, the company eventually built its main store at 1228 Euclid Avenue by 1910. By 1927, their new $5 million Huron-Prospect Building was opened, creating an emporium in what is now known as the city's Theater District.Halle's was well regarded as a high-end department store, receiving praise for opening stores beyond the usual shopping district of&nbsp;Public Square&nbsp;in downtown Cleveland. When the flagship store expanded in 1927,&nbsp;Time Magazine extolled the business for helping to turn the city of Cleveland into a more metropolitan city and compared Halle's to&nbsp;Lord &amp; Taylor,&nbsp;B. Altman and Co., R.H. Stearns, Marshall Field's,&nbsp;Bullock's, and&nbsp;Maison Blanche.As of 1927, Halle's selling region included western&nbsp;New York, Pennsylvania,&nbsp;Northeast Ohio, and&nbsp;Indiana.On the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Halle Bros. Co., the employees presented to Mr. Samuel H. Halle several volumes holding pages, one from each employee. In the upper corner was a record of the name, department, and years of employment. The rest of the page was a letter to Mr. Halle.Although the company sustained losses during the&nbsp;Great Depression, business grew again after&nbsp;World War II&nbsp;as Halle's began developing suburban branches starting in 1948 under the leadership of Walter Murphy Halle, while completing a $10 million modernization at Playhouse Square that included a new service building on Prospect Avenue and the West Wing addition to its original building in 1949. Over time, the store came to be enjoyed by the city's carriage trade society, especially during the Christmas season when the flagship store had its very own popular version of&nbsp;Santa Claus, a man named Mr. Jingleing, who could be found, as a TV and radio&nbsp;jingle&nbsp;reminded kids, "on Halle's seventh floor" serving as Santa's "Keeper Of The Keys."While the company outlasted many other department and specialty stores in Cleveland, the 1960s brought hard times to the family business. With the closing of Sterling-Linder Co.&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bonwit Teller, both located across from the main Halle's store in downtown, and the decline of Cleveland's Playhouse Square theaters, downtown shopping shifted to Cleveland's Public Square where rivals&nbsp;Higbee's&nbsp;and The&nbsp;May Company&nbsp;operated stores with easy access to Cleveland's&nbsp;Rapid Transit&nbsp;system. In 1956, the company attempted to counter this competitive disadvantage by leasing a number of buses from the&nbsp;Cleveland Transit System&nbsp;for the purpose of providing a free shuttle service from Public Square to Playhouse Square, a move initially seen as an interim measure pending completion of a proposed subway line under Euclid Avenue (a project for which voters had approved public financing in 1953). When the planned subway failed to materialize (then-County Engineer&nbsp;Albert S. Porter&nbsp;refused to go forward with the project believing that the future of local transportation was linked to the freeway), Halle's was forced to continue the shuttle service.&nbsp;Without the draw of other stores, and rising crime on Cleveland's near east side, it became more difficult for suburban shoppers to justify a trip to the flagship Halle's store.Suffering from an overbuilt flagship, the abandonment of&nbsp;the downtown area, and overexpansion into outlying areas, the company was sold to&nbsp;Marshall Field's&nbsp;in 1970, under which it deteriorated, falling behind local rivals&nbsp;Higbee's&nbsp;and&nbsp;May Company. Attempts to lure less upscale patrons with mid-priced goods failed, forcing the 1974 resignation of then-president/CEO Chisholm Halle—Walter's son and the grandson of Samuel H. Halle, who had died in 1954. Field's did attempt to modernize Halle's look, investing in a brand make-over campaign in the 1970s, including retiring Halle's traditional Old English Script logo to a new logo that matched Marshall Field's logo, however, store sales continued to slide.In November 1981, Field's sold Halle's (now numbering fifteen stores in&nbsp;Ohio&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pennsylvania) to Associated Investors Corporation, led by&nbsp;Columbus, Ohio&nbsp;businessman&nbsp;Jerome Schottenstein, whose primary holdings included the&nbsp;Value City&nbsp;discount store chain. At first, the sale seemed to hold promise for Halle's. Schottenstein attempted to allay community fears by placing full-page newspaper ads in which he promised to see to the continuation of the chain's traditions.However, Associated Investors subsequently liquidated the company in 1982 with all the stores either sold or closed despite attempts to operate them as a smaller suburban six-unit operation.&nbsp;A location at&nbsp;Randall Park Mall&nbsp;in&nbsp;North Randall, Ohio&nbsp;was planned for the 1970s but was canceled. That space sat empty until a multiscreen&nbsp;cineplex&nbsp;was built there in the late 1990s.Its former flagship store at&nbsp;Playhouse Square Center&nbsp;was redeveloped as offices by&nbsp;Forest City Enterprises&nbsp;with space for retail shops on the main floor and a food court in the former Downstairs Store.&nbsp;During the late 1990s, the building was also used as the main location of the fictional Winfred-Louder store in "The Drew Carey Show" on ABC.Actress&nbsp;Halle Berry, who was born in Cleveland, was named for the famed department store.

Halle Brothers Co., commonly referred to as Halle's, is a defunct department store chain. During most of its ninety-one-year history, Halle's focused on higher-end merchandise, which it combined with personal service. The company was the first major department store in Cleveland to open a suburban branch store. The store was used as the location of the fictional department store, Winfred-Louder, in the television series, "The Drew Carey Show". Actress Halle Berry, a native of Cleveland, was named after the store.

Halle Brothers Company

The Lindner Building is one of the remaining works of progressive architect Robert Kohn and serves as a reminder of an era when Cleveland's upper Euclid Avenue was home to one of the country's largest concentrations of clothing retailers. The Lindner Company served as the building's first tenant, having opened in 1915. After merging with other retailers, the store became known as Sterling-Lindner-Davis and moved down the street to a new location. Max J. Lindner came to Cleveland in 1907, and one year later, in 1908, he opened a women's apparel shop along with two other well-known retailers, Max Hellman and Morris A. Black. The store enjoyed immediate success, earning a reputation as a store offering top-quality products imported from Paris. Additionally, the group routinely held charity events that proved popular within the community. They also hosted promotional events, including its annual "Celebrate Style Week," which drew thousands of people to downtown Cleveland. Increasing sales convinced officials, in 1915, to vacate their first, small East 9th Street store for a new, far more spacious quarters at 1331 Euclid Avenue. The building design was conducted by Robert D. Kohn, a New York City architect who gained fame for his design of the New York Evening Post Building (1906). He maintained a dedication to the Art Nouveau style long after the type fell out of favor in Europe. He was also active in the Progressive Reform movements, summoning architects to design healthier working environments and public housing. Kohn's numerous articles note his conviction for social improvement through mindful architecture, which resulted in functional and efficient designs with innovative aesthetics. However, around the time the Lindner store moved into the new building, the store's namesake, Max Lindner, left to manage a men's clothing firm. Consequently, Max Hellman, the company's secretary, took over as president of the Lindner store. He oversaw the store's growth after World War I, including adding a fashion-setting millinery shop and a popular tea room where guests could order high-end but affordable lunches. He remained the store's president until he died in 1923 at the young age of 47. After Hellman passed away, the final of the three partners, Morris A. Black, became president. Black, a Harvard graduate, ran the company for thirteen years. Black convinced the board to open branches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York by the late 1920s. When the Great Depression arrived in 1930, the store introduced an installment buying option -- sans interest -- to customers possessing healthy credit, an exceptionally successful strategy. Under Black's direction, the store also survived the Great Depression by continuing to host promotional events, hiring "special shoppers" who helped men shop for women, adding services such as a reasonably-priced French restaurant and beauty salon, and selling a few men's items. Black, the last of the store's founders, left the company shortly before his death in 1938. The 1940s served as a more difficult decade for Lindner. Though the company profited during the war and, in turn, contributed to the war effort, the post-war era quickly ushered in a quick decline for Lindner. By 1947, the board voted to sell the company to the national Allied Stores chain. Allied administered a series of mergers that ultimately resulted in the formation of the Sterling-Lindner-Davis department store. The newly merged operation moved down the street, ending the store's history at its 1915 location. New York's Bonwit Teller Company purchased the Lindner Building in the early 1950s. After they departed during the early 1970s, the discount store, Gen Mart, moved into the vacated space for a few years. It mostly remained abandoned until United Way Services moved into the building in 1995. As of 2020, amid the global COVID19 pandemic, the United Way remains in the building but announced changes to its operations.

This iconic Cleveland building was completed in 1915 and was originally home to the Lindner Company, a women's clothing and specialty shop that was established by three Cleveland entrepreneurs that later became part of Cleveland's Sterling-Lindner Company. The department store enjoyed a connection to France, offering clothes imported from Paris and eventually opening a French restaurant in its store during the Great Depression. The company also hosted events that drew thousands to downtown Cleveland. The popular store expanded its services and opened other locations throughout the "Roaring '20s."  Lindner survived the Great Depression by offering payment plans and a variety of services. However, the post-war years of the 1940s saw suburban sprawl which brought an almost immediate decline in sales for the store and the company's board sold this building in 1947. The store eventually merged with several other stores to become Sterling-Lindner-Davis department store, located a few doors down from this location. As of 2020, the United Way occupies the Lindner Building.  

Lindner Building

During Cleveland's auto-industry boom of the early twentieth century, Frank E. Stuyvesant established the Stuyvesant Motor Company. Later, he became the principal Cleveland merchant for the consolidated Hudson-Stuyvesant Motor Car Company. The Stuyvesant Motor Company embodies the pivot away from small, local automotive manufacturers to more comprehensive, assembly-line based corporations, which eventually led to numerous mergers and the consequent establishment of massive auto corporations such as Ford and General Motors. Thus, the Stuyvesant Motor Company building (1917) survives today as a reminder of Stuyvesant's company and the city's prolific auto industry during the early twentieth century when the industry shifted away from small, local enterprises.During the early twentieth century, seven major car manufacturers called Cleveland home, making it one of the world's most prolific automobile manufacturing centers. Cleveland industries gained fame for such innovative creations as the spark ignition, flexible steering column, and various engine types. During this automobile-heydey for Cleveland, Frank E. Stuyvesant first established the Stuyvesant Motor Company in 1909. One year later, the company absorbed the Gaeth Motor Car Company. Still, by 1911 the growing company already experienced significant financial trouble and subsequently sold all its assets to what became the Grant-Lees Machine Company. Stuyvesant did not let the first company's failure deter him from attempting to succeed in the automobile game. In 1914, he formed the Hudson-Stuyvesant Company. Three years later, in 1917, he built the now-historic building, which functioned as a sales showroom, service center, garage, and storage facility for its cars. By 1919, the company expanded the building from its original four stories to five, a sign of its success.After the Great Depression, the Stuyvesant Motor Company Building became home to various other businesses associated with the automobile industry and service functions until the late 1930s. The building was then occupied by the Coast Guard, the U.S. Government, and a print shop until it lay vacant for decades. The dilapidated property seemed destined for demolishment before a group purchased the building with the intention to convert it into a residential building. Today, the historic property is undergoing substantial rehabilitation to begin its new life as Prospect Yard, scheduled to be completed early this summer. The adaptive reuse project intended to provide "market rate" housing to the community, but plans shifted to an "income eligible" type of housing that offers affordable options to service industry professionals deemed essential to Cleveland's retail, hospitality, and health care industries.

The Stuyvesant Motor Company Building opened in 1917 as a sales showroom, service center, garage, and storage facility for the Stuyvesant Motor Company. The operation served as a precursor to the eventual shift away from local car manufacturing enterprises to much larger, assembly-line based operations. As well, the building survives today as a reminder of Cleveland's once flourishing auto industry during the early twentieth century; the city supported seven significant car manufacturers who contributed heavily to the evolution of the automobile and auto manufacturing. 

Stuyvesant Motor Company Building

Few buildings speak to the dichotomy of the 1920s versus the 1930s than Fenn Tower, originally known as the National Town and Country Club. Construction started in 1929, a mere couple of weeks before the infamous stock market crash, on what would become Cleveland's third tallest building at the time, and its purpose was nothing more than to house a businessmen's club. However, by the time it opened in 1930, the Great Depression was underway. The members met for a Christmas lunch in the building, but they never used it again. In 1937, Fenn College purchased the 22-story skyscraper and renamed it Fenn Tower in 1939. Fenn, a private college and predecessor of Cleveland State University. The college used it for its offices, additional classrooms, a library, gym, pool, students and faculty lounges, and numerous other amenities, eventually gaining the nickname "the campus in the clouds." Nonetheless, the building's existence exists because of the optimism and wealth accrued by entrepreneurs during the 1920s, while its history as a building that functioned as everything but a business club demonstrates the misguided nature of their expectations. The National Town and Country Club hired New York architects George Post &amp; Sons to build its enormous club. Private clubs for business people grew wildly popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (and it made it possible to enjoy drinks during Prohibition). The club's board sent a letter to its 1,400 members before the project began proclaiming that the time was ripe for creating such a luxurious club. When finished, the skyscraper stood 22 stories high -- the city's third tallest building at the time -- and featured a gym, pool, dining room, and 120 bedrooms used by the club's members. It was a celebration of financial success and opulence in planning, but by the time it opened, the Great Depression had set-in, and a new reality emerged. For seven years after that one-and-only event, the building remained vacant. With Cleveland's 30% unemployment rate, one can only imagine how people viewed the building during the 1930s, whether they had enjoyed riches during the 1920s or not; a towering reminder of an economy gone awry. Still, the building's history did not stop with the Great Depression. Fenn College (the predecessor to Cleveland State) purchased the building in 1937. The college converted the men's dining room into a wood-lined library, turned the billiard room into a student lounge, and used the swimming pool for its athletic competitions. Moreover, besides enjoying a tremendous size, each dorm room included a private bathroom (an unimaginable luxury even by today's standards). The college's history also enjoys roots back to the beginnings of the Gilded Age, but the narrative differs from the story attached to the businessmen who built the skyscraper. Fenn College arose out of the YMCA's educational program that began during the 1880s. The organization first started with an evening school intended to aid workers and immigrants seeking to better their prospects. By 1906, the group added a day school to its evening programs. In 1921, the YMCA's educational arm transitioned into the Cleveland School of Technology, offering college courses in engineering and business by 1923 and conferred its first degrees in 1927. Three years later, the program again changed names, becoming Fenn College -- a name that would stick for decades. Fenn served as Ohio's second college to adopt a cooperative education program that allowed students to alternate classroom work with employment; they financed their education while obtaining practical work experience.The Fenn College program proved successful; the college never operated at a deficit. However, by 1963 financial constraints pushed the college to pitch a formal plan to the state to develop a state university in Cleveland, utilizing Fenn College as its core. On December 18, 1964, Governor Rhodes signed legislation creating Cleveland State University. The skyscraper mainly evolved the residential section of what became a multi-campus university. Its location on the famed Euclid Ave is near the former site of two of Millionaire's Row mansions: Rufus K. Winslow, a Great Lakes shipping magnate, and G.E. Herrick, a businessman and largest stockholder of the Cleveland Railway Company, a stark reminder that the skyscraper arose initially to serve wealthy entrepreneurs looking to bask in the glory of their wealth, but the Great Depression altered the building's function into one that mainly tied to academics and educating those who primarily worked as employees, not employers. Yet, the tower's intention to serve as a lap of luxury remains a big part of its story. Indeed, even Cleveland State's description of Fenn Tower speaks to its draw as a posh residence: "Fenn Tower provides the privacy and lifestyle you deserve...only at Fenn Tower will you find the privacy, freedom and academic environment you are seeking, coupled with the lifestyle of a luxurious student community."

Planing for this Art Deco building began in 1929, with the goal of the structure to serve as both an office building with rental income and an opulent private business club serving 1,400 members of the National Town and Country Club. The building opened in 1930, less than ideal timing as the city and nation suffered the consequences of the economic catastrophe that ushered in the Great Depression. After one formal lunch event, the building sat vacant for seven years. As a result, the imposing structure served as a reminder of the profound economic changes that had occurred from the  Roaring 1920s to 1930s. Fenn College, an educational institution that began in the 1880s as the educational branch of the YMCA, purchased the building in 1937. The building served Fenn College until the 1960s when it became part of Cleveland State. The building now serves as a student-residential skyscraper for Cleveland State. 

Fenn Tower (National Town and Country Club)

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. 

Mather Mansion 

The First United Methodist Church of Cleveland was established in the mid-nineteenth century and moved into this historic church edifice in 1905. The church building served the congregation for 105 years. In 2010, the church merged with a smaller, nearby church, leaving this building vacant. A restaurant magnate purchased the building at an auction in 2018 and received government aid and tax benefits to preserve the structure, although interior work will result in its transformation from a church into a space suitable for weddings, banquets, and other large events. Before Cleveland grew into the county seat, the population increased in Newburgh (to the south of present-day Cleveland) because of its high-ground location away from Lake Erie. The area away from the lake made mosquitoes and malaria less problematic. Engineering made it possible for the city to grow towards Lake Erie. Methodist preachers arrived in Newburgh in 1818 and with new converts and migration to the city, the congregation grew slowly at first and Cleveland's First Methodist congregation was officially established in 1827. Officially known as the First Methodist Episcopal Society, the church met in rented rooms and homes until 1841. In that year, the Methodist society formally established the First Methodist Church of Cleveland, the first official Methodist church within Cleveland's original boundaries. The congregation built a permanent church in 1869, and then a much more refined structure in 1874, located on the outskirts of Cleveland. The church remained on the city's fringes until it moved to its historic location in 1904. In addition to its significance to the Methodist religion, the structure has served as a recognizable city landmark. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, the Beaux Arts Architectural Style dominated America and Europe designs, only dying off when the Great Depression arose. While Beaux Arts served as the foundation of many plans, American architects routinely borrowed and mixed several styles from various classic European and American Colonial forms, demonstrated by First Methodist Church's Latin-cross floor plan large Gothic tower. The church functioned as a cornerstone of the city's Methodist faith for nearly a century by establishing missions and seeding other Methodist churches. Though the church has now moved to a new location, the latest renovation plans include leaving the exterior designs intact and much of the interior, thus preserving its architecture and appearance.

The origins of Cleveland's First Methodist date back to the 1820s and the congregation was formally established in 1841. After moving a few times, the congregation established its home in this 1905-constructed church on Euclid Ave. The church served as the home for the city's congregation but out-migration from the center of the city led to the decision to move out of this building in 2010 when First Methodist merged with another congregation. A restaurant entrepreneur purchased the vacant building at an auction in 2018 with plans to renovate it slightly to accommodate large events such as weddings and banquets. 

First Methodist Church

Situated just outside the entrance to the WEWS TV news station is this historical marker describing the life and legacy of Dorothy Fuldheim (1893-1989), the country's first female TV news anchor. Fuldheim grew up in Milwaukee where she first worked as a school teacher before moving to Cleveland in the 1920s. Here, she began her broadcast career on radio, where she hosted a biography series on WTAM and later the ABC Radio network. She was eventually offered a journalism job with The Cleveland Press (which is no longer published) and was sent abroad to conduct interviews. Her interviewees included Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Albert Einstein, and the Duke of Windsor. In 1947, she was given the job of anchor for WEWS and eventually had her own interview show. In all, she conducted 15,000 interviews during her career. She retired in 1984 at 91 years old after suffering a stroke. 

Journalist Dorothy Fuldheim Historical Marker

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. 

Children's Museum of Cleveland; Stager-Beckwith Mansion

The parish was founded in 1846. Its first church, a wood-framed structure, burned down not long after it was built. The second was constructed&nbsp;in 1851 and eventually sold around the completion of the present church in 1876. At that time, the neighborhood was known as "Millionaires Row," and the church became an immediate landmark.&nbsp;&nbsp;

St. Paul's Shrine, formerly St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is one of Cleveland's most striking architectural landmarks. Built in 1876, it was designed by Gordon Lloyd in the Gothic Revival style and was home to the Episcopal parish until 1928 when the congregation built a new church. By that time, most of the congregants had moved eastward, so the parish decided to move that way as well. A few years later, the parish sold the building to Catholic diocese in Cleveland, which wanted to establish a place for perpetual Eucharistic adoration. This is how the church remains today. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its most unique feature is the tower, which has four narrow columns attached to the inner part of the structure.

St. Paul Shrine (St. Paul's Episcopal Church)

Colonel Charles Young is recognized as a successful and dedicated soldier and statesman. Young reached the rank of Colonel on June 22, 1917 and was the first African American to do so. Young was also a “Buffalo Soldier." Buffalo Soldiers were part of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. It was formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Young commanded the 2nd squadron 10th Calvary regiment in the Punitive Expedition at Fort Huachuca against Pancho Villa in Mexico. Colonel Charles Young also served in the Spanish-American War and helped with the Philippine Insurrection.<div>Young overcame many obstacles, such as racism, to climb the military ranks and become one of the most well-respected leaders of his time. Colonel Charles Young was recognized for his devotion to duty and led by example for many generation of new leaders. Sadly, while Young was serving in World War I, he died and was buried in Lagos, Nigeria in 1922. Within a year, his remains were returned to the United States, and he was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Many Americans said a farewell to a devoted and distinguished soldier on June 1, 1923.</div>

As soon as the school year was over, I rode on horseback from Wilberforce to Washington, walking on foot fifteen minutes in each hour, the distance of 497 miles to show, if possible, my physical fitness for command of my troops. I there offered my services gladly at the risk of life, which has no value to me if I cannot give it for the greater ends for which the United States is striving. – Colonel Charles Young

Charles Young was a graduate of the United States Military Academy. In the class of 1889, he was only the third African-American graduate. Colonel Charles Young had a military career as a lieutenant and a squadron and regimental commander. He was also a superintendent of a national park, military attaché to Haiti and Liberia, a Wilberforce University professor, and a military advisor to Liberian President Daniel Edward Howard. 




Colonel Charles Young Marker

If you lived in mid-19th century Cleveland, you might have stopped by the Dunham Tavern at night to discuss politics in a crowded room, the smell of cigar smoke wafting through the air, or simply to enjoy others' company over drinks. During the day, you might have attended one of the turkey shoots hosted on the sprawling property. If you were a stagecoach driver traveling through the area, you might have spent the night there, grateful for a place to sleep outside of your stagecoach, and perhaps for some coffee or sizzling hot bacon in the morning.  Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham, originally from Massachusetts, came to the area in 1819. They lived in a small log structure until the tavern was completed, several years later, and it began to serve as a stop for stagecoaches passing by. The family were farmers as well as tavern keepers, and they owned over 13 acres of land, but the building's function as a tavern would make it something of a social and political hub, until it was eventually sold in 1857. The tavern changed hands many times over the coming decades, until it was purchased in the 1930s by Donald Gray, who was passionate about restoring the building - which had been modified heavily - to much of its original state. Gray also allowed artists and printmakers who were working through the Works Progress Administration (a New Deal Initiative to stimulate economic growth during the Depression) to use the tavern as a studio. The tavern finally became a museum in 1941, with tours available for schoolchildren and individuals. It also serves as a community hub, similarly to the way in which it did in the mid-19th century. The tavern continues to host weddings, concerts, nonprofit meetings, and educational initiatives, among other events.

Arguably the oldest building in Cleveland, the Dunham Tavern has a rich history of use. Throughout the years, it has been a silent witness to the various turkey shoots, political discussions, artistic strivings, and domestic struggles of its numerous inhabitants. Today, it is open to public tours, and its surrounding land also serves to further community gatherings; perhaps its communal spirit is not so different than it was so many years ago. 

Dunham Tavern Museum

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

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

Severance Hall was built and opened on February 5th, 1931, in spite of economic difficulties the Great Depression. John L Severance gave this hall as a memorial to his wife, Elizabeth DeWitt Severance, who passed away briefly&nbsp;after she and her husband vowed the original $1 million to the cause. It was then agreed that the hall's exterior should resemble the Cleveland Art Museum, but built with a unique interior. Once it was complete, the outlook was a Georgian/Neo-Classical style building made of Ohio sandstone and Indiana limestone, in complimentary white and off-white shades. The interior of the hall&nbsp;is an eclectic combination of Victorian, Egyptian, classical, and ornamental types and styles, and there is a pattern of lotus blossoms on the floor and ceiling of the hall's foyer that represented Elizabeth Severance's love for lotus flowers and the lotus flower pattern on her wedding dress when she married John. From the grand auditorium's ornate silver flowering and blue jewel tones, to the atrium's gold and bronze leaf design, nature is very much at home in this "musical wonder of wood and steel". The burden of planning and building the Hall was given to architectural firm Walker and Weeks. Independently, building this Hall costed $2.6 million dollars, and it costed $7 million dollars for furnishing, acoustic technology, decoration, and the endowment fund to completely make the hall state of the art and beautiful. The building included a concert hall that approximately seated 2,000 people, a chamber music hall that seated 400, a pipe organ elevator as well as the 6,025-pipe Ernest Skinner organ, a recording studio, a grand foyer, and intriguingly an internal driveway leading to the parking lot. The recording studio was equipped with capabilities of radio broadcasting, which helped the Cleveland Orchestra become known across the USA. In 1997, the Hall was renovated again after the decision that the reputation of the orchestra did not meet up to the expectations of the patrons and musicians.

Named in honor of John L and Elizabeth S Allen Severance, this historic concert hall has been the home of the Cleveland Orchestra since it opened on February 5th, 1931. The hall has hosted famous guests such as composer and conductor John Williams, who made the scores for Jaws, the Star Wars films, the Indiana Jones films, Home Alone 2, and the first three Harry Potter movies. This building was given by John L Severance as a memorial to his wife and it has been recognized by local and national preservation societies, including the Cleveland Landmarks Commission and the National Register of Historic Places. Today, this place is open to all visitors to witness the Cleveland Orchestra perform soothing and classic music for anyone who is looking to fully experience the fine culture and the artistic design of the hall.

Severance Hall

Adelbert Hall was the first WRU building in University Circle. It housed a wide range of departments and occupants before eventually becoming the administration building. The building has had a number of renovations and modifications through the years. Abram Garfield served as architect for the additions in 1922.&nbsp;

Built in 1881, Adelbert Hall is the administration building at Case Western Reserve University. It was named after Adelbert Stone (1844-1865), the son of industrialist and railroad magnate Amasa Stone (1816-1883), who donated funds to relocate the university from Hudson, Ohio to Cleveland. The building was designed by architect Joseph Ireland, who combined Italianate, Stick/Eastlake, and Romanesque styles to give it its unique appearance. The building is four stories tall and made of buff sandstone. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. 

Adelbert Hall

The Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art, originally called “The Gallery,” was founded by a small group of women 1960s, including Agnes Gund, Marjorie Talalay, and Nina Castelli Sundell. Talalay had previously run an art gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, and Sundell’s father and his ex-wife were both influential art dealers. The contemporary art gallery, which featured prints by Andy Warhol and props from the performances of Robert Rauschenberg, was unlike the more traditional art museums of Cleveland. Because of this, Talalay and Sundell had trouble selling the art at first.

After Sundell’s departure in 1973, Talalay transformed the Gallery into the nonprofit Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art. In 1987, it moved from its original location in a former frat house in University Circle to leased space in the Galleria downtown. It remained there until 1990 when it moved to the second floor of the Cleveland Play House complex. The 1990s saw a steep decline in attendance and the retirement of Marjorie Talalay in 1993. She was replaced temporarily by Australian art historian Gary Sansgter.

In 1996, Jill Snyder took over the museum and renamed it the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. Her leadership in choosing new exhibitions and programs helped attendance rise to about 20,000 visitors per year. In 2012, Snyder became successful in her goal to move the museum back to University Circle. The new 34,000-square-foot building was designed by architect Farshid Moussavi and completed at a cost of $27.2 million. It was Moussavi’s first museum as well as her first project in the United States.MOCA’s critically acclaimed exhibitions have included&nbsp;The Teacher and the Student: Charles Rosenthal and Ilya Kabakov&nbsp;(2004),&nbsp;Yoshitomo Nara&nbsp;(2004),&nbsp;All Digital&nbsp;(2006),&nbsp;Diana Cooper&nbsp;(2008),&nbsp;Sam Taylor-Wood (2008),&nbsp;Hugging and Wrestling: Contemporary Israeli Photography and Video&nbsp;(2009), and&nbsp;Marilyn Minter: Orange Crush&nbsp;(2010).&nbsp;

Founded in 1968, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland is a leading force in the cultural life of Northeast Ohio, recognized nationally and internationally for its vital and creative exhibitions and public programs. These strive to challenge, inspire, and teach a wide range of audiences. Through approximately eight exhibitions a year, all accompanied by public and education programs, and many also by scholarly catalogs, MOCA brings the work and ideas of diverse national and international artists to its audiences. 

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

The history of the Cleveland Institute of Art begins in 1882 when Sarah Kimball opened the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. Kimball began by offering classes in her home. By the 1890s, Kimball renamed the school the&nbsp;Cleveland School of Art and offered classes for both men and women at Cleveland's City Hall. In 1948, the school changed its name&nbsp;to the Cleveland Institute of Art.&nbsp;

The school has grown from a single instructor to offering fifteen majors from painting and drawing to recent programs such as game design. Students and faculty created art projects that were part of President Roosevelt’s WPA art program during the Great Depression. Federal support of the arts proved crucial during these years,&nbsp;and in World War II, the talents of the school's students supported the war effort through courses on mapmaking and medical drawing. The school later diversified its roster of classes after the war to include a variety of collegiate courses.&nbsp;

The institution supports a variety of rotating exhibitions of work by students, faculty, and area artists in the Reinberger Gallery. The Annual Student Exhibition allows students to take the lead in creating exhibits and interpreting their work and the work of others. During many of the institution's exhibitions, some of the works on display are available for purchase.&nbsp;

Cleveland Institute of Art dates back to 1882 with the establishment of a women’s college in the home of Sarah Kimball. Starting with just one student and one teacher, that school grew into a Cleveland institution of learning that now enrolls over 600 students and offers courses and galleries in the recently-constructed George Gund Building. Courses include traditional art mediums such as drawing and painting to photography and graphic design. The school also offers rotating exhibits in its galleries that are open to the public.

Cleveland's Historic Euclid Avenue Tour

Playhouse Square

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information