Cozad–Bates House, also known as the Cozad–Bates House Interpretive Center, is the oldest and only surviving pre-Civil War structure in

University Circle University Circle is a district in the neighborhood of University on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall (home to the Cleveland Orchestra), the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, located at the Mayfield Road and East 115th Street intersection. It is historically known for its involvement in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

Abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

Andrew Cozad built the house in 1853 for his son Justus L. Cozad, who in 1872 added an Italianate front to the structure. Architecturally, it is a rare surviving example of

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

-influenced residential architecture in America at that time, which includes a hipped roof, curved bay windows, paired eave brackets, and prominent belvedere. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974 and designated as a Cleveland Landmark in 2006.

Underground Railroad involvement

After the opening of 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, Ohio, Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio ...

in the 1830s,

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

became a destination for fugitive slaves and the bondsmen who tracked them. Before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, slaves moved through Ohio's

network that extended two hundred and fifty miles from Ripley to

. Known by the secret code name "Hope,"

became a destination for freedom seekers making their way north to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Persons seeking freedom were often aided by abolitionists in

, formerly a part of East Cleveland Township. The Cozad family owned a large portion of the land which is now occupied by

Restoration

The nonprofit "Restore Cleveland Hope" spearheaded efforts to restore the house. On April 7, 2006, University Hospitals donated the house to University Circle, Inc. In 2007 a historical marker was erected by University Circle, Inc. and the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

. The marker is located at 41° 30.512′ N, 81° 36.185′ W. The Cozad–Bates House's rehabilitation was performed as a multi-phased endeavor. The initial steps included the replacement of the slate roof, guttering systems and construction repairs to the belvedere and chimneys. These repairs also included foundation and front porch restoration, and interior improvements. It was a four-month-long process costing $200,000, (~$ in ) which was completed in August 2010. Funding was aided by state capital appropriation of $100,000 and donations by private donors. UCI and private donations helped cover the remaining funds needed to full renovate the structure, totaling $2 million. In 2021, portions of the house were fully restored and opened as the Cozad–Bates House Interpretive Center, to highlight this area's history as a center of anti-slavery activism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cozad-Bates House Houses completed in 1853 Houses in Cleveland Houses on the Underground Railroad Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Italianate architecture in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio University Circle Buildings and structures in Cleveland Underground Railroad in Ohio