Cuyahoga County OHGenWeb

Lake Erie, Cuyahoga River Harbor, and Industry

Lake Erie, the Ohio & Erie Canal, and the Cuyahoga River were instrumental in making Cleveland the industrial powerhouse that it was back in the day. Industry sprang up on these waterways and continued later along the many railroads in Cleveland. These industries created and drew the entrepreneurs who grew their businesses in Cleveland, Ohio, and who in turn built their mansions along Millionaire's Row on Euclid Avenue. Though Cleveland might not be the industrial powerhouse that it once was, it's important to know that our waterways made Cleveland what it was and provided important jobs to the many immigrants that came to Cleveland.

Photos by Laura Hine, Left, St. Marys Challenger Ship. Right, View from Sokolowskis on University Street.

CLEVELAND/CUYAHOGA PORT AUTHORITY

• Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (off-site)

  CUYAHOGA RIVER

• Cuyahoga River Fire from Ohio History Central (off-site)
• History of the Cuyahoga River from the Crooked River Project (off-site)
• Cuyahoga River (off-site) from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
• Whiskey Island (off-site) from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
• Cuyahoga River Online Exhibition from CSU Special Collections (off-site)
• The Cuyahoga a book by William Donohue Ellis at CSU site (off-site)
• Kingsbury Run from Cleveland Historical (off-site)
• Irishtown Bend from Cleveland Historical (off-site)
• "Many Lives Lost in the River" from Plain Dealer 17 July 1896. Boat accident claims lives of August Kasten, William Sanders, Mike Lynch, Fritz Bartels, Christ Gehren, Charles Kraus, ___ Prokup, Carl Bohrmeister, Julius Erike, Christ Gerlak, Edward Ryan, Charles Spoerke, Charles MuQuen, William Buelow, and others.
• Laura Hine and Richelle Emery's website shows the history of the first settlers along Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River, how and why the river was re-routed, information about the various "neighborhoods" along the Cuyahoga River, namely the flats, Whiskey Island, Irishtown Bend, The Angle, Brooklyn Township, The Haymarket District, and finally what is Tremont today. There are pictures galore of the various industries that sprung up along this route, bridges, roads, and other points of interest.
  • Part 1 (off-site)
  • Part 2 (off-site)
  • Part 3 (off-site)

  INDUSTRY

• The Hulett Automatic Ore Unloaders in Cleveland from Cleveland Memory Project (off-site)
• Hulett Ore Unloaders from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (off-site)
• Industry from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History - everything you ever wanted to know about Industry along the lake and river. (off-site)
• History of the Iron Ore Trade (off-site)
• Great Lakes Industrial History Center from Cleveland Memory Project (off-site)
• Iron and Steel Industry in Cleveland from Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (off-site)

  LAKE ERIE

• Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail (off-site)
• Great Lakes Historical Society in Vermilion/Toledo, Ohio (off-site) (Museum in Vermilion closed and moving in 2014 to Toledo.)
• The Battle of Lake Erie from History.com (off-site)
• The Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial (off-site)
• Fairport Harbor Marine Museum and Lighthouse (off-site)

  OHIO AND ERIE CANAL

• Cleveland's First Infrastructure: The Ohio & Erie Canal from "Cleveland Memory (off-site)
• Ohio & Erie Canalway (off-site)
• Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition (off-site)
• Ohio Canal Corridor -- from the Canal Society of Ohio -- great pictures! (off-site)
• Ohio and Erie Canal from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History(off-site)
• Ohio and Erie Canal in Cleveland from CSU Special Collections (off-site)
• The Ohio and Erie Canal (off-site)

  VESSELS

• The Steamship William G. Mather (off-site)
• The USS Cod (off-site)