The line for the first Shaker rail cars started in December 1913. It was started to bring the residents of Shaker Heights to downtown Cleveland. The first cars on the line were not so rapid at all. The trip took about forty-five minutes from the Moreland station to east 34th street. In 1920 the Van Sweringen Brothers bought the private rights to the railway system and expanded it to downtown Cleveland union terminal also known as the public square. They then extended the line from Morland and linnfield to Van Aken and Warensville center road. The railway also took a split at Shaker square and continued to Green road which are now known as the blue and green line trains. There were plans to extend the transit to Beachwood Ohio; however the plans never were completed. The Van Sweringen brothers also had an express line that brought the elite from downtown to Shaker square without stopping. The brothers invested a tremendous amount of money and man power on the bridges and tunnels to continue their vision of the efficient link between the suburbs and the inner city. In 1930 the depression brought an end to the Van Sweringen Empire the business was no longer a privatized system but now was owned by the banks. They authorized the sale of the system to the city of Cleveland which ended the private rail system and became a capitalized system. Through the sale the name was changed from Cleveland Inner Railway System to (SHRS) Shaker Heights Rapid System. The Beachwood extension was abandoned and the rapid system continued along the same original route that opened the suburbs to the terminal tower. Now through the innovations of the day it only takes approximately twenty minutes to complete the trip from terminal tower to shaker square. Although renovations and extensions were abandoned the idea of bringing the suburban shopper to the urban shops was completed.  The most important part of this transformation was the stops that were in between downtown Cleveland and Shaker Heights. One of the major stops were at East 116th street ,this stop was important because it had  St.luke’s Hospital ,affordable housing ,restaurants, repair shops a school ,a library, churches and satellite stores , such as woolworths and kreskies to provide services for the working class community. Through zoning and planning what was originally intended for one class extended to many communities.

Oris Paxton Van Sweringen on the left (24 April 1879–November 22, 1936) and Mantis James Van Sweringen on the right (July 8, 1881–December 12, 1935) The brothers put atremendous amount of work into bringing Shaker Heights to Down town cleveland and held a privatized railway from 1920 to 1937.

The Cleveland Railway System brought the urban area into a wealthy neighborhood. The system also brought satellite stores, Hospitals, and businesses to create a walking neighborhood for the working class.

The International Exhibition Center, I-X Center, was built in 1942 by the federal government.  It was one of many plants the government built to gear up manufacturing for the war effort.  General Motors’ Fisher division was awarded the contract to manufacture parts of the new B-29 long range bomber.  The plant manufactured wing assemblies and engine nacelles which were shipped to other plants for final assembly.  The plant also did development work on the X-P75 long range Fighter plane.  Work on the plane was suspended because of problems it had in flight tests.The plant employed about 15,000 workers at its peak.  Many of these workers lived in nearby Cleveland neighborhoods.  A significant number of the workers were women.  These women were recruited because there was a shortage of working age men who were drafted into the armed forces.  The plant production ran from late 1942 until the war ended in 1945 when it was closed. The government tried to get rid of the plant at the end of the war but had no takers. The plant remained closed until 1950.  It was empty for most of this period except for the times it was used as a storage facility.

In 1950, at the start of the Korea war, the the Defense Department awarded a contract to built the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank to the Cadillac division of General Motors.  Cadillac picked the former bomber plant as the production site.   The plant employed 6,000 people. The M41 was designed to replace the M24 Chaffee a WWll vintage light tank.  The Chaffee needed to be replaced because it was no match for the Soviet tanks being used by the North Koreans.  The M41 was equipped with a larger gun and an improved range finder.  The M41 was produced from 1951 until 1959.  It entered service in Korea in 1953.  A problem with the the original design of the gun and range finder was the reason it took so long before the tank entered active service.  General Motors’ engineers had to redesign the original gun and range finder.  The tank was named for General Walter Walker who was killed in a Jeep accident in Korea.  General Walker had served under George Patton in WWll and was nicknamed ” Patton’s Bulldog”.  The M41 was continually refine over the life of  its production.  The final versions of the M41 were used during the war in Vietnam.

The plant reopened in 1960 when the Defense Department awarded General Motors a contract to produce several models of Armored Personnel Carriers such as the T-114 pictured below.  The plant remained open until 1972.  The production switched between General Motors and Chrysler during the life of the contract.

The Defense Department decided to sell the plant after it closed in 1972.  General motors was offered the plant but they decided not to go forward with the purchase because they couldn’t agree to terms with the General Services Agency.  Brookpark and Cleveland both bid on the plant.  The plant was physically located in Brookpark.  Brookpark won the auction but was later unable to obtain the financing.  The city of Cleveland threatened to take the plant from Brookpark by eminent domain for future airport expansion if the purchase went forward.  Ironically, the city had been offered a lease on the plant when it closed in 1942 at $1/yr but turned it down.  Eventually the plant was sold to the Park Corporation in 1977.  The Park Corporation planned to operate the plant as an exhibition center.  The first major exhibitions at the I-X Center were in 1985.  The City of Cleveland eventually traded The NASA Research Center with the city of Brookpark for the I-X Center after lengthy bitter negotiations.  The city bought the I-X Center from the Park Corporation and leases it to them toda

Assembling a B-29 Stabilizer

Jig used by workers to assemble to stabilizer for a B-29 Bomber at what is now the I-X Center, taken 2/8/1945.

Courtesy of Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State University.

Assembling B-29 Wing Flaps

Women workers assembling wing flaps for B-29 Bomber.  Picture illustrates the effect the war had on the workforce, taken 7/21/1944.

Courtesy of the Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State Library

M-41 Walker Bulldog Tank

M-41 Walker Bulldog Tank coming off the assemble line.  The M-41 was put into production in 1950 and entered service in the Korean War in 1953.  The first two years of production at the plant was rejected because of problems with the gun mechanism,  taken 6/8/1960

Courtesy of the Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State Library

T-114 Armored  Personnel Carrier

T-114 Armored Personnel Carrier in the background on the Tank Plant test track.  The T-114 was one of a number of  Armored Personnel Carriers produced at this plant in the 60′s and 70′s, taken 11/15/1961

Courtesy of the Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State Library

Cadillac Tank Plant

Exterior view of the Cadillac Tank Plant after being repainted.  The exterior view of the I-X Center today. taken 12/16/ 1977

Courtesy of  the Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State Library

The hospital system did not begin as an institution dedicated to the general public health. Hospitals were established to provide care for the sick and disabled seamen. They were located in port cities such as Cleveland.  However, by 1850 the hospital system was more than for the care of soldiers and seamen. During this time there was a significant amount of epidemics that were a danger to the general public. The facilities became resources for quarantine and heath care with emphasis on hygiene and sanitation.  Cleveland General Hospital started on January 30, 1894 and cared for patients in a predominately German and indigent neighborhood. From no pay patients to part pay patients. The charity work needed for this area, led to the efforts of the first graduates of the nursing school starting a visiting nursing system which extended care to the neighborhood. Moreover, along with the effort of the doctors who wrote milk prescription for the infants. The hospital even had a clothing room that provided warm clothing and food. All of the charity work put the hospital in jeopardy which led to a yearly deficit that caused the hospital to go into bankruptcy. The facility was saved by donations and gifts that were significant enough to extend and expand, so therefore the administration decided to embark upon a move to a larger facility located on 9606 Carnegie in 1908 serving the Jewish neighborhood. The move improved the care of the patients with a maternity and infant care floor it also had larger and more innovative operating rooms. The charity work continued and became a burden on the hospital funds, but by 1927 the Hospital secured 16 1/2 acre site at East 116 street and Shaker Boulevard which served a Hungarian neighborhood. This move was made possible by the donations and gifts by a major contributor Elizabeth Prentiss. During the depression the hospital was in financially in trouble again. The government past a welfare act that paid 4.50 a day for indigent patients and the hospital continued up until the recession of 1970’s. By then the hospital and neighborhood had become 90% black with a small minority of Hungarian people. The hospital survived until the1990’s; when the new freeway system failed to complete a merge with Metro Health Medical System there for in 1999 the hospital closed its doors.

Founder Gustav Weber

Cleveland General Hospital was founded on January , 30th, 1894 as a college building and Hospital association. The original Hospital was located on Woodland and East 20th street. This area was a German walking neighborhood. The Hospital was mainly a charitable organization serving people of the neighborhood. Cleveland General Hospital was part of Wooster medical college.This is where medical students and nursing students could teach and learn; It was also segregated, and did not allow others such as Jewish or black medical students to  attend. It was founded by a German born surgeon Dr. Gustav Weber and the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Larger facility

In 1908 St. Luke’s moved to another location. It was a larger facility which increased the staff of doctors and nurses to provide a larger array of services for the community. The move to 9606 Carnegie Avenue  was partly made possible by the rail car system on Euclid and Quincy Avenue. The community was no longer a walking neighborhood but it continued to be a charitable hospital which served a 40% Jewish community, about 50% German, and others in the area.

The Move to 116th street and Shaker Boulevard

In 1927 St.Luke’s Moved to its new facility at east 116th street and Shaker Boulevard. It was largely Financed  by Frances Fleury Prentiss and his wife Elizabeth Severance Allen. The new Hospital had 40 doctors on its medical staff, twelve on the hospital staff and approximately 125 nurses. The Hospital continued its charity work on a larger scale, serving an Italian and Hungarian Neighborhood. The Van Sweringens brothers electric railway system brought down town cleveland into the new suburb Shaker Heights, and St. luke’s Hospital was one of the major stops.

The expantion

The expantion of St. Luke’s continued after the depression with new buildings. In 1942 a central service wing and in 1948 a new nursing hospital was added. The neighborhood was still predominately hungarian and the Italians were migrating to little Italy and the East  side of Collinwood. The Hospital still continued to serve the less fortunate, especially after the new welfare program was enacted in 1933 which paid 4.50 a day for the sick and poor.

The Black Community 

St. Luke’s continued to expand up until 1975. The Hospital continued to serve in its charitable capacity but, by this time the neighborhood that it served was predominantly black with just a small amount of the Hungarian community left.

St. Luke’s and Metro Health

St. Luke’s and Metro HealthIn 1992 St. Luke’s merged with Metro Health Medical System located on the near west side of Cleveland. There were plans in motion to combine the two Hospitals with a new freeway system. The freeway system never was completed which led to the closing of St. Luke’s Hospital in 1999.

Touted by Cleveland News with the headline, “Greatest Bus Terminal in World to Open in City Tomorrow”, the Greyhound Bus Terminal opened its doors for customers in the spring of 1948 on Chester Avenue in Cleveland amidst sizeable fanfare and press. Among the guests in attendance for the grand opening which also included the unveiling of the new Highway Traveler model of Greyhound Bus were the then Governor Thomas Herbert and Cleveland Mayor Thomas Burke. Constructed in the Streamline Moderne Style of Art Deco design at a cost of $1,250,000, the Greyhound Terminal continues to service three million passengers a year to the lower forty-eight states with the ability to accommodate up to 300 passengers at one time.

The Cleveland bus terminal was designed and constructed by architect W.S. Arrasmith, who prior to the Cleveland project, had designed numerous Greyhound stations for cities all across the eastern and midwestern portions of the United States beginning in 1936. Arrasmith was an active member of the Army Reserve and commanding officer for the unit in which he served in with his military involvement stretching back to his college years when he was enrolled in the R.O.T.C program. When fighting broke out during World War II, Arrasmith commanded forces in Europe and served as an area engineer for the Army Corp of Engineers. After the fighting ceased, Greyhound executives petitioned the government for Arrasmith’s discharge so he could continue work on designing bus terminals, citing the company’s contributions during the war effort in moving troops across the country as reasoning. After an agreement was made where Arrasmith agreed to remain in the Army Reserves, Arrasmith and his family moved to Cleveland where he began preliminary work on the “Greatest Bus Terminal in the World.”

In designing the Cleveland bus terminal, Arrasmith decided to utilize the Streamline Moderne style that had characterized all of the stations that he had overseen construction on while working for the Greyhound Company prior to his service in the war. The Streamline style is a logical choice for Arrasmith to apply to his bus stations designs since one of the things that Streamline Moderne attempts to accomplish is a feeling of speed and aerodynamics, both positive qualities for a bus company to possess. The prominent horizontal lines created by the rows of windows and edges of the roofs along with the curved exterior walls at either end of the building help create this aerodynamic look and feeling of speed that the Streamline style seeks to express. Functionality of the materials and structure are also key components of the Streamline style and the extra wide bus lanes at either end of the station allow for the potential use of more of the lot that the station sits on and at the same time isolating the structure from neighboring buildings. Also adding to the functionality of the structure is the flat roofs which allow for added storeys to the building if necessary, an element that the executives at Greyhound desired.

Today the Greyhound Terminal continues to operate out of the original building located on Chester Avenue between East 17^th and 13^th streets in Cleveland and along with the U.S Coast Guard Station survives as one of the few remaining examples of the Streamline Style in the city. Added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1999, the Greyhound Bus Terminal stands as one of the finest examples of Art Deco Streamline Style in still in existence today and as author Frank Wrenick exclaims in regards to the station, “No other building expresses the essence of the Streamline Moderne style with comparable symmetry and grace.”

Photograph Courtesy of Cleveland Memory

The Greyhound Terminal in Cleveland is one of the busiest in the country, having serviced continuously since it opened in 1948 three million travelers annually. This postcard depiction of the station demonstrates the bustle of the station with the taxi cabs and other cars parked out front waiting to pick up or drop off travelers to and from the station.

Photograph Courtesy of Cleveland Memory

The horizontal lines created by the rownd Memorys of windows and edges of the roofs as well as the curved walls at the end of the first and third levels of the structure add to the aerodynamic look and feeling of speed that is characteristic of the Streamline Moderne style. This historical photograph also depicts the high volume of traffic the station receives with the cars parked out front dropping off or picking up travelers.

Photograph Courtesy of Cleveland Memory

The flat roofs of the Greyhound Station which can be seen in this postcard depiction of the station are a characteristic of the Streamline Style which allows for additional storeys to be added if desired, adding an element of functionality to the structure. Also adding functionality but not featured in the postcard are the wide bus lanes at either end of the station which also isolates the structure from neighboring buildings.

Photograph Courtesy of Cleveland Memory

This photograph of the lobby of the Greyhound Terminal demonstrates well the size of the station itself. Built as the largest bus station in the United States, the lobby of the station has the ability to accommodate 300 travelers at one time.