West Park, Cleveland
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West Park is a historical 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 ...
. Once an independent municipality, it was
annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
by Cleveland after a referendum in 1923. The area covers 12.5 square miles and is bounded by West 117th Street to the east, the Rocky River Valley to the west, Brookpark Road to the South, and the
streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...
of Lakewood to the north. The Cleveland City Planning Commission traditionally divides West Park into four
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:
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,
Kamm's Corners Kamm's Corners is a neighborhood on the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is bounded by the streetcar suburb of Lakewood to the north, the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks and the suburbs of Rocky River and Fairview Park to ...
, Bellaire–Puritas, and
Hopkins Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...
.Until 2014, Bellaire–Puritas and Hopkins were known as Puritas–Longmead and Riverside respectively.


History

Up until the 1600s, the area of West Park had no name. West Park was part of the vast, forest-covered wilderness that once blanketed most of the eastern half of the present United States and it followed the pattern of settlement from Native American civilizations to migration from eastern colonists. In 1796, the
Connecticut Land Company The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company (e.-1795) was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western Re ...
sent an expedition, led by General
Moses Cleaveland Moses Cleaveland (January 29, 1754 – November 16, 1806) was an American lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1796. During the Ame ...
, to explore and survey their new holdings in 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 ...
. Cleaveland landed at the mouth of 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 ...
in July and founded Cleveland, Ohio.


Rockport Township

In 1810
Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...
was formally organized with Cleveland as the county seat. At this time the site of future West Park, seven miles west of Cleveland, was in a region officially known only as Township 7, Range 14 of the Western Reserve. In 1812, Nathan Alger, with his wife and sons, Henry, Herman, Nathan Jr., and Thaddeus P., and his son-in-law, John Kidney, all from
Litchfield County, Connecticut Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...
, settled upon sections twelve and thirteen in the township and founded Alger settlement. Two days later, Benjamin Robinson, afterward son-in-law of Nathan Alger, came from
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and also settled in that area. Nathan Alger Sr. died January 21, 1813, the first white person who died in the township. In 1819, the eighteen families living in the area decided to adopt a more proper name than just being referred to as Township 7, Range 14. They chose "Rockport Township," inspired by the high rocky embankments along the lake and both sides of Rocky River. Using present-day landmarks, it was bounded by
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
on the north, West 117th on the east, Brookpark Road on the south and West 230th, in the present City of Fairview Park on the west. As the population of the 15,207-acre township grew, hamlets and villages were formed, eventually leading to the establishment of surrounding Lakewood, Rocky River and Fairview Village (Fairview Park). In 1892, Rockport Hamlet (future West Park) was formed within Rockport Township, bounded by the Rocky River on the west, West 117th street on the east and Brookpark Road on the south. On January 31, 1900, Rockport Hamlet petitioned the county to form its own co-existent township with Rockport Township. On March 7, 1900, the request was granted and a new Township of West Park was created. In 1902 the Rockport Hamlet was incorporated as Rockport Village within West Park Township. Finally, on February 1, 1913, Rockport Village changed its name and became the Village of West Park. In February 1921 it officially became West Park City with a population of 5,000 residents.''Howdy, Miss West Park!" Says Uncle Mose. Cleveland Welcomes Healthy Baby Into Family.' Cleveland Press November 11, 1922. The dates for these events will sometimes differ among various authors or sources, depending on whether the date elected is for the original citizen petition, or the official approval and designation by the County Commissioners, or the first formal meeting of their Council.


Naming of West Park

The name West Park was named after one of its early settlers, John M. West. West was born in 1811 in
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,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. He immigrated to America with his parents in 1826. In the 1840s he married Frances O'Brien who was born in
County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. In about 1842, John West bought a 600-acre farm in Rockport Township, situated along the south side of Lorain Avenue and extending roughly from present West 137th to West 143rd Streets. As of 2014, the red brick home he built still stands at 3684 West 138th Street. John and Frances West had a family of eight children in the house, raising six of them to adulthood. The West Farm included a 25-acre "front yard" and an artificial lake complete with rowboats. This park-like wooded preserve, located at present West 138th Street and Lorain Avenue, came to be called "West Park." Thus, John M. West is not the founder of West Park nor its first settler, but he did create the estate from which the city of West Park took its name.


City of West Park

West Park existed as a separate municipality for approximately nine years and eight months but during that brief period it was a fully functioning city. It had a two-story brick city hall on Lorain Avenue near West 157th Street which housed the mayor's office, all city departments, and police headquarters. The West Park police department consisted of a chief, two sergeants and 12 officers. The fire department boasted two fire stations, a chief, a captain, three lieutenants, 20 men, and a motorized fire engine. West Park also claimed a well-developed public school system with nine schools, one of them a high school with 300 students (the old John Marshall High School at the corner of W. 152nd and Lorain Avenue) and 2650 pupils and 94 teachers overall. The city's total property evaluation in 1922 was $27,000,000.


Annexation to Cleveland

In the early 1920s, a campaign began to annex West Park to the city of Cleveland, its immediate neighbor to the east. Miss Carrie Norton, stated, "Annexation is inevitable, and the logical moment has arrived." Cleveland was then the fifth largest city in the country, having annexed many of the smaller communities around it. Over the years, the citizens of Newburgh,
South Brooklyn South Brooklyn is a historic term for a section of the former City of Brooklyn – now the New York City borough of Brooklyn – encompassing what are now the Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Ter ...
and
Collinwood Collinwood is a historical area in the northeast part of Cleveland, Ohio. Originally a village in Euclid Township, it was annexed by the city in 1910. Collinwood grew around the rail yards of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (now C ...
, among others, voted to merge with the City of Cleveland. By 1922, Cleveland wanted to add West Park to the list. The majority of people in West Park liked the idea. Mayor George C. Reitz stated he'd no longer be mayor of West Park, but "I'm going to be a resident of Cleveland." Some of the issues that persuaded West Parkers to want to become a part of the city of Cleveland was Cleveland's promise to lower taxes and public transportation fares, update utilities and infrastructure, as well as offer a better safety force and lower-cost schools. The tax rate in West Park was $2.78 while Cleveland's rate was $2.49. Cleveland pledged to provide West Park with street car service for a $.05 compared to the current fare of $.07 ½ and cut water bills in half. Cleveland also claimed to provide a superior school system for a lower cost per pupil. They also promised better police protection, more paved streets, better lighting, and increased public service. In spite of all the claims, street car service was the main issue in the annexation battle. The matter came to a vote on November 7, 1922. Annexation won by a vote of 2,011 to 1,077. West Park became Cleveland's new ward 33. The public property and services were taken over by Cleveland, and West Park became a part of Cleveland on January 1, 1923. West Park was the last independent city to be annexed by Cleveland.


West Park in the 21st Century

West Park in the 21st century is more defined as west of W. 130th Street to the Metroparks and the Rocky River Valley. It seems more suburban than urban, with trim brick bungalows and Tudors, and thriving retail areas. There is a collection of mostly Irish-oriented bars and restaurants near Kamm's Corners. In 2019, the
Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the ...
appointed an architectural team to renovate and build an addition on the system’s West Park Branch Library, as part of a 10-year, $100 million plan to update 27 branches throughout the city. The project, funded by a tax increase in 2017, which won by a near 70% margin, should be completed by 2029 when the system will invest an additional $65 million into renovations of the Main Library in downtown Cleveland. The neighborhood has been the site for the “Hooley,” an outdoor, family-oriented party that features Irish dance, music, food and drink. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2019, the Hooley (Irish for a “lively gathering”) is traditionally opened either by the Cleveland Police Pipe and Drums or the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipe and Drums. Local politicians, jazz and rock bands, and children's programs complete the day. West Park also celebrates the annual Greek Festival, a three-day event with live Greek music, dancing and Greek food, served in tents set up in the neighborhood. Sponsored by the George Varouh Cretan Club of Cleveland, the clubhouse is also available to event-goers.


References


External links

* {{Cleveland Cleveland 1923 establishments in Ohio