Kingsbury Run is the name that refers to an area on the southeast side of

Cleveland, Ohio 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. ...

, located near the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cockta ...

. The area stretches westward through

Kinsman Road State Route 87 (SR 87) is an east–west highway in northeastern Ohio, a U.S. state. Its western terminus is at Public Square in downtown Cleveland. It is one of 9 other routes to enter downtown Cleveland at Public Square. 87 ends at an int ...

. It contained a natural watershed that ran through East 79th Street and carried storm waters into 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 ...

, draining them from the areas now known as Maple Heights and

Warrensville Heights Warrensville Heights is a city located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an East Side suburb of Cleveland. The population was 13,789 at the 2020 U.S. Census. Geography Warrensville Heights is located at (41.438653, -81.523262). Ac ...

. Kingsbury Run was named after James Kingsbury (1767–1847), one of the earliest settlers in the

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 o ...

, who became the first inhabitant of Newburgh in 1797. It is also the route through which the

RTA Rapid Transit RTA Rapid Transit (generally known as The Rapid) is a rapid transit, light rail, and bus rapid transit system. The system is owned and operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). The system serves Cleveland and surroun ...

travels on its way to Public Square in downtown Cleveland. Kingsbury Run became notorious in the mid-1930s when an unidentified

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, the

Cleveland Torso Murderer The Cleveland Torso Murderer, also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, was an unidentified serial killer who was active in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in the 1930s. The killings were characterized by the dismemberment of twelve known ...

, used the area as a dumping ground for the dismembered remains of some of their first victims. In 1938,

Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. H ...

directed police to raid the area. They evicted 300 individuals from the area and burned down approximately 100 shanty homes in a desperate attempt to find the killer.

Sidaway Bridge

Between Sidaway Avenue and East 65th Street the Kingsbury Run ravine is spanned by the

Sidaway Bridge Sidaway Bridge is a bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. It spans the Kingsbury Run ravine, between Sidaway Avenue and East 65th Street, and is Cleveland's only suspension bridge. The footbridge spans with steel towers tall. It connects the neighborhoo ...

, Cleveland's first and only suspension span, a footbridge which connects the Jackowo and Kinsman Road neighborhoods. Due to damage caused during the Hough riots, the bridge was closed in 1966 and remains inaccessible. Continued closure of the bridge influenced

Frank J. Battisti Frank Joseph Battisti (October 4, 1922 – October 19, 1994) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Battisti's career featured groundbreaking—and sometimes controversial—ruli ...

's ruling in the case '' Robert Anthony Reed III v. Rhodes'' regarding

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

in the Cleveland schools.

References

External links

Kingsbury Run Reserve
Geography of Cleveland Bodies of water of Ohio {{CuyahogaCountyOH-geo-stub

Sidaway Bridge

See also

References

External links