Old Brooklyn is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

on the West Side 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. ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located approximately five miles south of

downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out b ...

. It extends east-to-west from the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

to the

city of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

and north-to-south from the Brookside Park Valley to the city of Parma.

History

The first instance of European habitation in the Old Brooklyn vicinity occurred in 1790, when

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

Joseph Du Shattar established a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River, across from the area that became Newburgh. Originally a portion of Brooklyn Township, the area was settled permanently in 1814 as the hamlet of Brighton, centered at the present-day intersection of Pearl and Broadview Roads. The Brighton area was incorporated as South Brooklyn Village in 1889 and then annexed with other surrounding villages by the City of Cleveland during the years of 1905–1927. During the late 1880s, farmers in Old Brooklyn's Schaaf Road area (also known as South Hills) and the neighboring Village of

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

were among the first in the Midwest to use

greenhouses A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These s ...

to cultivate

vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

. By the 1920s the neighborhood was one of the nation's leading producers of greenhouse vegetables, with more than under glass. Most of the greenhouses were displaced, beginning about 1960, by new housing and the construction of Ohio Rt. 176 (

Jennings Freeway Ohio State Route 176 (SR 176) is a route linking Interstate 71 (I-71) in Cleveland to I-77 near Richfield. The freeway portion is known as the Jennings Freeway, while the at-grade portion is mostly Broadview Road. Route description From its ...

). Commercial development in Old Brooklyn reached its apex during the period of 1920–1960. Shopping districts spread along Pearl, Broadview, and State Roads and were followed, after

World War II 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 ...

, by the development of shopping plazas at the intersections of Memphis-Fulton, Broadview-Brookpark, and Pearl-Brookpark. The original Honey Hut ice cream shop, a favorite of many West-siders, can be found on State Road near the south end of the community. The most ambitious period of residential construction extended from the early 20th century to the 1950s. During the 1980s and 1990s, residential development experienced a resurgence, particularly in the South Hills and Jennings Road areas. Housing values in Old Brooklyn, today, are among the highest within Cleveland proper.

Landmarks

Old Brooklyn's most notable landmark, the

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo aka Cleveland Zoological Park is a zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The Zoo is divided into several areas: Australian Adventure; African Savanna; Northern Wilderness Trek, The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, Waterfowl Lake ...

, was created in 1907 when Cleveland's Park Board relocated the Zoo from

University Circle University Circle is a district in the neighborhood of University on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. One of America's densest concentrations of cultural attractions and performing arts venues, it includes such world-class institutions as the Cl ...

on Cleveland's east side to Brookside Park. The 145-acre park lies entirely within Old Brooklyn and is one of the 16 nature preserve reservations of the

Cleveland Metroparks Cleveland Metroparks is an extensive system of nature preserves in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Eighteen reservations, which largely encircle the city of Cleveland, follow along the shore of Lake Erie and the rivers and creeks that flow through the ...

system. Brookside Park also has a place in sporting lore, having hosted the reputedly largest

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

crowd in Cleveland's history, when the White Autos of Cleveland met Omaha in the World Amateur Baseball Championship. On October 10, 1915, a reported crowd of 115,000 sprawled along and below the park's northern bluff, directly west of today's Fulton Road Bridge, and cheered as the home team seized the day. The Jeremiah Gates Home, built in 1820 and located at 3506 Memphis Avenue, is believed to be the oldest residence in Old Brooklyn. Other notable landmarks include the Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge, the Estabrook Recreation Center, and the Italian Gothic-style Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (now called Mary Queen of Peace) atop Pearl Road Hill. New Fulton Bridge 19

Natives of Old Brooklyn

The neighborhood's secondary students generally attend James Ford Rhodes High School, whose graduates include 1944

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner

Les Horvath Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an American football quarterback and halfback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Ohio State University in 1944. Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, an ...

, anti-establishment poet d.a. levy, and television star

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, ''The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

. ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized ...

s "Warsaw Tavern" was patterned after a bar near the Memphis-Fulton intersection, which hosts one of the highest concentrations of bars and restaurants in Greater Cleveland. Another Old Brooklyn native, the late Mary Strassmeyer, was a gossip columnist for the ''

Cleveland News The ''Cleveland News'' was a daily and Sunday American newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. It was published from 1905 until 1960 when it was absorbed by the rival paper ''The Cleveland Press''. History The ''Cleveland News'' traces its antecedents to 1 ...

'' and ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''.

Demographics

Old Brooklyn encompasses all of Cleveland's Ward 13, and the southwestern portion of Ward 12. Its population, according to the 2010 census, was 32,009.

Recent and Future Developments

The Treadway Creek Greenway Restoration project, completed in 2008, restored and preserved of riparian corridor and open space along Treadway Creek. The project included the construction of a multi-purpose trail connecting Harmody Park to the

Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also ...

National Heritage Corridor's Towpath Trail. Other plans include a connector linking the Towpath Trail with the

, as well as transit service and streetscape improvements. In 2020, the

approved development of a 26-acre park space named Brighton Park, with a connection to the trails from the Towpath to the Zoo, atop the former Henninger Landfill site.

Boundaries

Old Brooklyn is bounded on the north by Interstate 71 and by Denison Ave. The western boundary is Ridge Road, the southern is Brookpark Road, and the eastern is the Cuyahoga River and State Route 176 (the Jennings Freeway). Most of Old Brooklyn's northern and eastern borders are with other neighborhoods of the city of Cleveland, while some of its western boundary is with the city of Brooklyn. Its southern boundary is largely with the city of Parma, though it also shares a short border with Brooklyn Heights.

References

External links

City Planning Commission (of Cleveland)Cleveland State University's "Neighborhood Link"Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage CorridorOld Brooklyn Community Development CorporationOld Brooklyn BlogsThe Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
{{Coord, 41.431559, N, 81.702332, W, display=title Neighborhoods in Cleveland Slovene-American culture in Cleveland Former municipalities in Ohio