Beachwood is a city in eastern
Cuyahoga County,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, United States, and a suburb of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. As of the
2020 census the city's population was 14,040.
History
![Community Drive house in Beachwood](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Community_Drive_house_in_Beachwood.jpg)
The land that eventually became Beachwood was originally part of the
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms of ...
. Before becoming an independent municipality, Beachwood was part of Warrensville Township.
In 1915, it seceded from Warrensville after the Township voted to close a nearby area school. A petition was organized, and on June 26, 1915, Beachwood was incorporated into an independent
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
. In 1960, Beachwood had reached the number of residents to attain city status under the
Ohio Revised Code
The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the G ...
.
Beachwood was named for the numerous
Beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
trees that grew throughout the village.
The origin of the spelling of the city is disputed. Upon incorporation, the city's name was originally spelled, "Beechwood". One popular theory is that an early village hall clerk misspelled the name on some official documents, giving rise to the current spelling.
In 1948, a village wide debate was sparked after the proposal of the construction of the
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple is a Reform Jewish temple in Beachwood, Ohio, the oldest existing Jewish congregation in the Cleveland area. The name Anshe Chesed is Hebrew for "People of Loving Kindness".
The congregation's membership exceeded 2 ...
following the purchase of 32 acres of land on which the temple currently stands.
The debate started due to the growing trend of families moving to the suburbs due to the booming post WWII economy. Considering that Beachwood at the time was a small community with few Jews, the sudden proposal of the large synagogue of 1,800 families sparked
anti-Semitic worries among the village's community due to the imminent demographics change that the establishment of a large synagogue would bring.
The village council, no member of which was Jewish, cited in 1952 that the establishment of Anshe Chesed "would be detrimental to the public safety, welfare, and convenience of the village".
One morning in May 1952, following Anshe Chesed's threat to sue the village of Beachwood, residents opened their mailboxes and found a
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
newspaper called ''
The Plain Truth
''The Plain Truth'' was a free-of-charge monthly magazine, first published in 1934 by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of The Radio Church of God, which he later named The Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The magazine, subtitled as ''The Plain Truth: ...
,'' with the message:
Zoning arguments between the village and the congregation regarding the temple's construction led to the Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that the synagogue must be allowed to be built, as well as issuing state building permits to the congregation. The temple's construction was finished in 1957.
Since the late 1950s, multiple other synagogues relocated to Beachwood, establishing the Jewish influence on the growth of the community.
Geography
Beachwood is located at (41.482226, −81.504001).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Demographics
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 12,186 people, 5,074 households, and 3,181 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 2,307.5 people per square mile (891.1/km
2). There were 5,447 housing units at an average density of 1,031.4 per square mile (398.8/km
2). The racial makeup of the city is 86.50%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 9.08%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.08%
Native American, 3.21%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.02%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.15% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.97% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.78% of the population.
There were 5,074 households, out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 56.0% were
married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.3% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out, with 19.7% under the age of 18, 3.0% from 18 to 24, 17.2% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 35.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $65,406, and the median income for a family was $86,632. Males had a median income of $71,829 versus $35,375 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the village was $40,509. About 2.5% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 4.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.0% of those 65 and older.
Of the city's population over the age of 25, 57.3% held a bachelor's degree or higher. Cleveland Jewish News claimed that 89.5 percent of Beachwood's population is Jewish.
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 11,953 people, 5,064 households, and 3,005 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 5,483 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 77.3%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 13.7%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 7.4%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.4% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 1.9% of the population.
There were 5,064 households, of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were
married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.7% were non-families. 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.88.
The median age in the city was 52.5 years. 19.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 17.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64; and 32.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 44.3% male and 55.7% female.
Jewish community
Since its development in the 1950s, Beachwood has been a destination for the Jewish community in the
Greater Cleveland
The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...
area. Following
WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Jewish families from inner city neighborhoods such as
Glenville began relocating to established communities in the city's eastern suburbs. Today, with approximately 90% of the Beachwood's population identifying as Jewish, the city has the
fourth largest per capita Jewish population of any municipality outside of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Beachwood's Jewish establishment is rooted in decades of development of various Jewish institutions, such as
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s,
Jewish schools, The
Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is a private non-profit museum in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood that celebrates the history of the Jewish community of Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, as well as the diversity of the human experience ...
, Menorah Park Center for Assisted Living, the Mandel
Jewish Community Center
A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social clubs, social, and Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish ...
, the
Jewish Federation
The Jewish Federation (JFED), is generally a secular Jewish non-profit organization, found within many metropolitan areas across the United States with a significant Jewish community. They provide supportive and human services, philanthropy, fi ...
of Cleveland, and many Jewish owned restaurants, stores and other businesses. Beachwood's rapid growth from village to city status is attributed to the influx of Jewish families seeking suburban homes, naturally forming an ethnic enclave. Most of the homes built in Beachwood between the 1940s and the 1990s were developed by Jewish owned companies, down to the lumber used to build the structures themselves. Beachwood's Jewish community is also reflected in the city's public schools, with
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
being offered as a
foreign language
A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...
at the local Middle and High School, making Beachwood one of the only
public schools in the United States to do so.
Economy
Beachwood is home to
University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, and several offices affiliated with the
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...
including the Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center.
Corporate headquarters located in Beachwood include:
*
Eaton Corporation
*
SITE Centers
SITE Centers Corp. (formerly DDR Corp. and Developers Diversified Realty, Inc.) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. Founded in 1965 by Bert Wolstein, the company is headquartered in Beachwood, Ohi ...
*
OMNOVA Solutions
OMNOVA Solutions Inc., is a global manufacturer of emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and functional and decorative surfaces. OMNOVA was founded in 1999 when GenCorp spun off its Decorative & Building Products and Performance Chemicals bus ...
*
TOA Technologies
TOA Technologies is an American software company that provides software as a service-based field service management software and customer appointment scheduling solutions and services to enterprises worldwide. Headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, th ...
.
*''
Cleveland Jewish News
The ''Cleveland Jewish News'' (the CJN) is a weekly Jewish newspaper headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The newspaper contains local, national, and international news of Jewish interest.
History
It was formed in 1964. It ...
''
Retail attractions in Beachwood include
Beachwood Place and the adjacent LaPlace Center, an upscale shopping center. The city is also home to
Canterbury Golf Club
Canterbury Golf Club is a private golf and country club located in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Ohio, US. The club was formerly the home of the DAP Championship, part of the Web.com Tour Finals.
A member club of the USGA, Canterbury has ...
, a
USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...
member course which has hosted
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
events and has been ranked among top 100 courses in the United States by ''
Golf Digest'' magazine.
Recreation and museums
![David Berger National Memorial, NPS (47349852492)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/David_Berger_National_Memorial%2C_NPS_%2847349852492%29.jpg)
Beachwood is home to Preston's H.O.P.E. - the largest fully accessible playground in Northeast Ohio.
The
Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is a private non-profit museum in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood that celebrates the history of the Jewish community of Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, as well as the diversity of the human experience ...
is located in Beachwood and is dedicated to furthering an understanding of Jewish immigrant history and culture in the U.S.
The David Berger National Memorial is the country's smallest
National Memorial, honoring the legacy of Jewish-Clevelander Olympian
David Mark Berger
David Mark Berger (May 24, 1944 – September 6, 1972) was an American and Israeli Olympic weightlifter, and one of the 11 Israeli Olympians taken hostage and killed by the Palestinian group Black September during the Munich massacre at the ...
.
Education
The
Beachwood City Schools consists of:
*Fairmount Early Childhood Center: Pre-kindergarten.
*Bryden Elementary School: K through 2nd grade.
*Hilltop Elementary School: 3rd through 5th grade .
*
Beachwood Middle School: 6th through 8th grade.
*
Beachwood High School
Beachwood High School is a four-year college preparatory public high school located in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. It is part of the Beachwood City School District.
Recognition
Beachwood has earned three U.S. Department of Education B ...
: 9th through 12th grade.
There are three
parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to:
* Parishes, in religion
** Parish churches, also called parochial churches
* Parochial schools, primary or secondary schools affiliated to a religious organisation
* Parochialism
Parochialism is the ...
Jewish schools located in Beachwood:
*
Fuchs Mizrachi School
Fuchs Mizrachi School is a Jewish, Modern Orthodox private school in Beachwood, Ohio, founded in 1983. The school has over 400 students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. In 1993, students and faculty protested in front of the home of ...
, an Orthodox Jewish school; Pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
*Beatrice J. Stone Yavne High School: All girls, Orthodox Jewish school; 7th through 12th grade.
*Mandel Jewish Day School (Previously known as Agnon Day School):
Jewish day school; Pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.
Notable people
*
Armond Budish
Armond D. Budish ( ; b. Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 1953) is an American politician currently serving in his second term as Cuyahoga County Executive. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a four-term Ohio State Representative (8th dis ...
– former Speaker of the House of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, current
Cuyahoga County Executive.
*
Mike Chernoff – baseball general manager of the
Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
*
Marc Cohn
Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song " Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album, which was a Top 40 ...
– Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter known for his 1991 hit '
Walking in Memphis
"Walking in Memphis" is a song composed and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, for whom it remains his signature song. It received a Song of the Year nomination at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992, the same year that the ...
'
*
Samuel Glazer – co-founder of
Mr. Coffee
Mr. Coffee is a registered trademark of Newell Brands. The Mr. Coffee brand manufactures automatic-drip kitchen coffee machines, as well as other products. The brand was founded in the early 1970s. Mr. Coffee has often been referenced in popula ...
*
Brad Goldberg
Bradley Andrew Goldberg (born February 21, 1990) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox.
In high school, Goldberg was a 2008 preseason '' Baseball America'' All-Am ...
– major league baseball pitcher.
*
Josh Mandel
Joshua Aaron Mandel (born September 27, 1977) is an American far-right politician who served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Ohio State Representative for the 17th dist ...
– former
Ohio State Treasurer
The treasurer of the U.S. state of Ohio is responsible for collecting and safeguarding taxes and fees, as well as managing state investments. The Treasury was located in the Ohio Statehouse from 1861 to 1974, when it was moved to the Rhodes Stat ...
.
*
Alex Wyse – Broadway performer.
Surrounding communities
References
External links
*
City of Beachwood (official site)
{{authority control
Cities in Ohio
Cities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Jewish communities in the United States
Jews and Judaism in Ohio
Russian-American culture in Ohio
Russian-Jewish culture in the United States
Cleveland metropolitan area
1915 establishments in Ohio