A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1262

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I > Part 16

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

120

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

The great bulk, 54.6 per cent, of our native population was born in Ohio. The interstate immigration has relatively greatly decreased in the last decade.

The foreign population came from the following countries : Africa, 18; Asia, 88; Australasia, 37; Austria, 4,630; Belgium, 26; Bohemia, 13,599; Canada, English, 7,839; Canada, French, 772; Central America, 4; China, 94; Cuba, 17; Denmark, 373; England, 10,621; Finland, 79; France, 485; Germany, 40,648; Greece, 42; Holland, 804; Hungary, 9,558; India, 10; Poland Russia, 4,119; Poland, unknown, 144; Portugal, 8; Roumania, 39; Russia, 3,607; Scotland, 2,179; South America, 30; Spain, 9; Sweden, 1,000; Switzerland, 1,288; Turkey, 41 ; Wales, 1,490; West Indies, 42.

These combine into the larger ethnic group as follows: North and South 'America, 8,683; Great Britain and Ireland, 27,410; Germanic, 47,401; Scandi- navian, 1,701 ; Slav, 35,395; Latin, 3,609; Asiatic, 200; African, 18.

The following represents the lineage of our population: Total population, 381,768. Native born-total, 257,137: Ohio, 209,206; other states, 47,931. For- eign born-total, 124,634: Great Britain and Ireland, 27,410; North and South America, 8,683; Germanic, 47,401; Scandinavian, 1,701; Slav, 35,395; Latin, 3,609; African, 18; Asiatic, 200; Indian, 2.

Of the foreign born population 36,883 were naturalized, 10,414 were aliens, 7,417 unclassified. Of the foreign born 57,144 were males over twenty-one years of age, of whom 9,530 or 16.7 per cent could not speak English, while of the naturalized group 2,921 or 7.9 per cent could not speak English, and of the alien group 44.8 per cent could not speak English.

In its ethnic complexity our population may be roughly divided into nine parts. Two of these parts are native born of native parents, four are native born of foreign parents, and three are foreign born. The foreign born may again be roughly divided into eleven parts, some, not over four of these parts, would be taken by the Germanic races including Scandinavia, Great Britain and Ireland with Canada and other American colonies would cover three parts. The Slav would likewise take three parts and the remaining part would be taken by. the Latin with the slightest possible aid of the Asiatic and the African.

In 1908 there were 92,616 voters registered by the board of elections. Of this number 30,910, or nearly one-third were naturalized whose nativity is given as follows: England, 2,836; Canada, 1,414; Germany, II, IOI ; Ireland, 3,705; Scotland, 556; Wales, 366; Bohemia, 2,488; Poland, 418; France, 93; Hun- gary, 1,906; Austria, 2,460; Russia, 1,723; Italy, 1,119; India, I; West Indies, 4; Spain, 3; Switzerland, 408; Isle of Man, 90; Sweden, 328; Denmark, 112; Finland, 21 ; Norway, 67; Netherland, 9; Belgium, II ; Africa, I; Arabia, I; Holland, 218; Roumania, 334; Australia, 6; Moravia, 3; South America, I ; Uraguay, I ; Syria, II; Greece, 3; Turkey, 22; Isle of Malta, I; Chile, I ; total, 30,912.

For a number of years the police department of the city has kept a record of the number of immigrants that arrived in the city and the number that settled here. The following table shows this immigration since 1870, and in the ap- pendix is given a detailed table showing the conditions by country each year :

BROOKLYN

RESIDENCE AND FARM OF T. N. BRAINARD. BROOKLYN. CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO, 140 ACRES.

From an old lithograph

ONE OF THE OLDEST HOUSES ON THE SOUTH SIDE The Brainard homestead in 1873. Shows the old Brighton (afterward South Brooklyn) street car.

/\24)

KINSMAN ST R.R GO

RESIDENCE OT V. A. ENSIGN, ESQ. CORNER OF KINSMAN AND ENSIGN STREETS, CLEVELAND, OHIO.

From an old lithograph

CORNER KINSMAN AND ENSIGN ROADS, 1873

121

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

TABLE SHOWING TOTAL IMMIGRATION.

Whole number

Year.

arrived.

Whole number set- tled in city.

187I

. 27,449

3,485

1872

. 26,273 .

23I

1873

35,781

3,685

1874

18,043

1,880

1875

16,286

1,323

1877

9,512

739

1878

9,953

638

1879

12,768

1,010

1880

. 29,447

3,469

1881

69,039

8,846

1882

73,118

9,272

1883

37,937

4,555

1884

32,419

5,227

1885

6,376.

2,726

1886

. 20,314 .

2,32I

1887

23,980

5,337

1888

. 20,338.

5,061

1889

. 16,061

4,730

1890

15,29I.

5,639

1891

13,665

5,995

1892

7,210.

3,III

1894

3,545

790

1895

6,169

2,104

1896

3,152

1897

1,642

1898

2,526

1899

3,900

1900

4,590

190I

6,388

1902

10,752

1903

13,651

1904

7,086

1905

14,138

1906

16,275

Our population that began in so small and simple a manner with English blood from New England, has thus become bewilderingly complex. Its first ethnic additions, the Celt from Ireland and the Teuton from Germany, were soon absorbed into our municipal life so that the taunting epithets "Irish" and "Dutch" are no longer heard among us. The Germanic influx has indeed from the first been the strongest single European factor both in the records of the naturaliza- tion bureau, in the population of the city, and in the cultural and commercial elements that have contributed to its greatness. While the streams of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland have waned those from the German centers have

122

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

quite maintained their strength, although Prussia's home policy is now checking German emigration. The Slavic infusion began feebly in the '6os from Bohemia, and later was augmented from Poland and Hungary until it has now reached formidable proportions. The Latin race is the last of the European group to come to us in considerable numbers.

These successive ethnic waves have risen and fallen with the industrial pros- perity of the country and with the European conditions that made their coming possible. Commingling with the original New England life of our city they have become absorbed into American customs and ideals, mellowing our own austere civilization with the best influences of their culture. It is becoming increasingly impossible to give an ethnic definition of an American.

Our population is an industrial population. Manufacture and commerce have enticed these teeming thousands to our city. In 1900, 297,681 of our population were over ten years of age. Of these 153,856 or 57.1 per cent were engaged in gainful occupations, divided as follows :

Occupation

Male

Female

Professional service

5,40I

2,496

Domestic and personal

17,415

14,246

Trade and transportation

34,927

6,248

Manufacture and mechanical

55,879

10,602

The industrial conditions of our city, however, do not preclude the possi- bility of home life. Cleveland has always been a city of homes. Its geographi- cal position has made expansion easy and its cheap building lots have made in- dividual homes possible. Flat and apartment house building began virtually with the decade of 1900. There were in 1900, 63,205 dwellings in the city, housing 81,915 "families," this making six persons to a dwelling and 4.7 persons to a "family" group. But in private families the average number of persons was 4.5. This is a decrease over 1890, when there were 4.9 persons to a family group and over 1880, when there were five persons.

The following table shows the size of these families :

Year. One person. 2-6 persons.

7-10 persons.

II and over.

1900

3.4%

77.9%

16.9%

1.8%

1890 2.3%

76.2%

19.7% 1.8%

This shows the natural tendency of the increase of the small family group in our city life, and the decrease in families of seven persons or over.

The ownership of homes and the number of families in a dwelling are both very important factors in the life of the city. There were 50,354 dwellings with one family in them, 10,224 dwellings with two families in them and 2,627 with three or more families in them. The following table shows the decrease in the number of one family dwellings :

Year. One family per per Dwelling. 1900 79.7% 83.9%

Two families per Three families and

per dwelling. over per dwelling.

· 1890

16.2% 13.2% 4.1% 2.9%

This table would be greatly modified for the year 1910, because the number of double houses, apartment houses and tenements has greatly increased.

VIEW FROM THE SOUTH

LALFERD KELLOGG, SCRANTON AV. CLEVELAND, OHIO.

From an old lithograph

SCRANTON AVENUE IN 1873

123

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

The ownership of homes is shown in the following :

Total homes. Owned.

Free. Encumbered. Rented.

Unknown.

80,014 29,139 16,240 12,246 48,844 2,031

The increase in owned homes is shown in the following :

Year. Owned.

Free. Encumbered.

Rented.

1900 37.4%

21.3%

61.% 62.2%

1890 24.7% 57. %

43.% 60.9%

These figures reveal a very healthy condition of home life in our population. A larger proportion of the people of Cleveland own their own homes than is true of any other large American city.

There remains one other important phase of the growth of our population, namely the comparative growth of Cleveland with its competitors. While Cleve- land was laid out as the "capital city" of the Reserve, it had to make this claim a reality by overcoming several rivals in a severe pioneer struggle for suprem- acy. It was not until three or four decades had passed that its superiority over its Western Reserve neighbors became clearly established, and its lake port com- petitors are even now growing with marvelous strides. It was not until the century had passed that Cleveland became the metropolis of the state.

There are three kinds of towns that Cleveland has had to overcome in com- petition. First, those that were its immediate neighbors in the county. New- burg was its strongest early local rival. "Cleveland a town six miles from New- burg" is the classic phrase describing their relative importance. A gristmill and immunity from malaria on account of its higher ground were the causes of this ancient inequality. Ohio City, on the west side, and Euclid, on the east, thrived for a time, but these, like all other towns now suburban, grew like adjacent buds from the more thrifty Cleveland. In this local rivalry one city alone was possible. While agriculture was the leading pursuit and the stage coach the only means of travel, many villages could thrive. But the canal and steam transportation enabled the city to absorb them all. Secondly, was the larger rivalry of the Western Reserve and adjacent territory. This, too, was a pioneer rivalry. It depended, as do all intercity struggles, on the lines of trans- portation. In stage coach days Ravenna, Painesville, Kent, Wooster, Warren, Elyria, Norwalk and Ashtabula were all more or less prominent. Some of them had a much better start toward municipal importance than Cleveland. Paines- ville, Warren and Ravenna were peculiarly prosperous with their environs of rich farming land. The canal brought a new rival-Akron-which for a time was the milling center of all this region. It had what Cleveland lacked, ample water power. Had not the steamboat and the railroad antiquated the old stage and canal routes, it is interesting to speculate how these rivals would now rank.

But steam, gave Cleveland an eminence, both by land and by lake. Her geographical situation was strategic. A third class of rivals appeared, the lake ports, and they are still in the field. They include the smaller harbors of Con- neaut, Lorain, Toledo and Sandusky. The continued supremacy of our city will depend upon her wisdom in constantly developing the transportation factors that have made us preeminent in Ohio. Some of these rivals are growing with remarkable rapidity and it may be but a few years before they will assume great commercial importance.

124

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

A fourth rivalry, an interstate competition, early developed with other lake ports, Buffalo and Detroit, Duluth and Milwaukee, and Chicago. In point of age Detroit is the ancient city, Buffalo the medieval city, Milwaukee and Chicago the modern cities, and Duluth, the recent city. And of all of these, Chicago alone, by reason of her fortunate situation, has outdistanced Cleveland.

What the undisclosed future, with its unlimited possibilities for physical advancement, holds in store for these peaceful rivals on the borders of our inland waterways, not even sanguine conjecture dare foretell.

MAP OF CLEVELAND AND VICINITY SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPLE ETHNIC GROUPS. 1910

NOTE. THESE GROUPS CAN BE SHOWN ONLY IN A GENERAL WAY. THE GERMAN POPULATION SETTLED LARGELY ON THE WEST SIDE.

EUCLID

CEDAR

CENTRAL

AVE

QUINCY

BOHEMIAN6 Ave

LAKE

WOOALA

DETROIT

TROIT

ROUMANIAN

RUSSIANG & POLES

BROADWAY

E 55TH, KINSMAN

INGARIANS

RIV

MADISON

SLAVS

37.

CLARK

RORO

UNION

AVE

STOBER

HUNGARIAN

LORAIN

IRISH

AISE

POLES

AVE.

AVNOVOBS

AVE

HARVARD

MILES

RVE

CROATION.

AVE

ST.

POLES

CROATIANG

AVEC

SWEOLS

ST. CLAIR

SUPERIOR

ST.

E 105TH

ITALIANS

MAYFIELD

AVI

CEDAR

ROAD

IRISH

RUSSIAN

are

WOODLAND

HUNGARIAN

BUCKEYE BOHEMIANS

RORO

AVE

SCRANTON

AVE

BOHEMIAN

AND

custom

w. est4

BOHEMIANS

CROATIANS

WARNFA

EUCLID

RORD

NERRET

BORO VALIAN

AVE

SUPERIOR

AVE

CROATIANS

DENISON

DIVISION III. SANITATION, HEALTH AND FIRE PROTECTION, THE PARKS, THE MEDICAL AND DENTAL PROFESSIONS.

CHAPTER XII.

GENERAL SANITARY CONDITIONS: THE SEWER SYSTEM, GAR- BAGE DISPOSAL, SMOKE INSPECTION AND BOARD OF HEALTH.

With the crowding of population, came the important questions of sanitation. Cleveland has been singularly free from great scourges. The early settlers suf- fered greatly from malaria, the ague driving many families from the river north to the bluff near Doan's Corners and Newburg. In 1832, the Asiatic cholera, prevalent in many American cities, reached Cleveland, and again in 1849 and 1854. There have been brief epidemics of typhoid and diphtheria, smallpox, and lesser contagions.

Cleveland is, however, a healthy city. The cool breezes of Lake Erie temper the summer's heat and the winter's cold, compensating in some degree for the prevalence of catarrh which their moisture brings.

SEWER SYSTEM.

The topography of Cleveland makes the problem of drainage comparatively easy. Most of the city is built upon a plain bisected by the valley of the Cuya- hoga, and traversed by many brooks or runs, some finding their way directly to the lake, others merging with the river valley. Into these runs, and into the lake, the early sewers emptied direct. The first sewers were scarcely more than drains, and were built only for local purposes. There was no comprehen- sive drainage system. The city was divided into sewer districts only for pur- poses of taxation. The sewers in the different districts were of various levels ; there was no common interceptor, and all of them sought the most direct outlet to the lake or the river for the discharge of their sewage.

There was a great deal of opposition to building these drains, arising from a conflict between the abutting property owners and the city, as to the relative amount each should share in the expense. In 1856 a state law was passed pro- viding for the assessing of cost to abutting owners, and some years later the law fixed the ratio of expense between the city and the adjacent owner.

128

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

The early drains were built of stone or brick, primarily for the carrying of surface water, and were near the surface. Culverts were built along the streets for the same purpose. As the city grew and more extended sewers were neces- sary, the old drains had to be discarded.

The first official suggestion for a sewer system was made by Engineer T. R. Scowden, in 1853, as an appendix to his report on water works to the special committee of the city council. He detailed no plan, but advised a careful survey of the contours, and suggested two interceptors, one along the lake and the other parallel with the river. He said that the water works and sewerage system should be built together under the same authority.

The mayor, in his annual message in 1858, said: "the adoption of a general system of sewerage must follow as a necessary consequence of the intro- duction of water from our water works, but it is not necessary that this general system should be carried into effect all at once. It may be done gradually, to enable one or more main sewers to be constructed, as they may be needed, with- out the necessity of a loan of money and without the whole expense being required to fall upon the land adjoining the sewer. A law has recently been passed by the legislature authorizing main sewers to be constructed by special assessment upon all the lands benefited by the sewer. The passage of this law was hastened in reference to the immediate necessity of a main sewer from some point on Euclid avenue, to the lake, to carry off the water conducted upon it by a drainage of an area of more than two hundred acres."1

Nearly forty years elapsed before such a comprehensive system of sewers, was adopted by the city. The sewer mentioned by Mayor Starkweather, for the draining of Euclid avenue, was cut through the ridge on Sterling and Case avenues at a cost of nine hundred and fifty-two dollars and forty-three cents.2 It was called the Sterling sewer, and was nine hundred and fifteen feet long. It was apparently only a drain for surface water.

In 1859 there was considerable activity in the building of sewers. A brick sewer was built on Willson avenue from near Euclid to Curtis avenue, fifteen hundred and forty-nine feet, costing two thousand, forty-two dollars and sev- enty-five cents. A sewer was also built the next year on East River street, costing two thousand, one hundred and eighty-four dollars; and one on Depot street ; while the old stone sewer on Front street, one of the oldest in the city, was "relaid." The entire amount spent by the city in sewer and culvert repair and construction for the year, five thousand, nine hundred and sixty-seven dol- lars was considered a large sum for that purpose.

In 1864, Dr. John Dickinson, the health officer, complained of the great need of sewers. He says the channels in the gutters of the paved streets are not deep enough to carry away the surface water after a heavy rain, nor of suf- ficient grade "to keep the water from stagnating on them," especially on River, Superior and Ontario streets.

In 1865 a new state law enabled the city to greatly extend its system of sewers. Previous to that year, the city had built twenty-three thousand, one hundred and sixteen feet of sewers. In 1865 John Whitelaw became city engi-

1 See Annual Report, 1858.

2 See Engineer's Report, 1858.

129

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

neer, and he built twelve thousand, eight hundred and six and three-fourths feet, at a cost of twenty-nine thousand, six hundred and seventy-four dollars and twen- ty-two cents. In 1865-6, the principal sewers built were three thousand, three hundred and sixty-five feet on St. Clair street; six hundred ninety-three and one- fourth feet on Pearl street; two thousand, eight hundred and thirteen feet on Erie street; one thousand feet on Spring street; and two thousand, three hun- dred and forty-one on Oneida alley and branches.

In 1866 an ordinance was passed for building a main sewer on Case avenue from the lake to Kinsman street, and plans were made for an intercepting sewer from the lake "along the C., C., & C. R. R. track, and through East River, Mer- win, James, Champlain and Canal streets, to Eagle street," designed to intercept "all the sewers now discharging, or that may hereafter be built and discharged, into the river, between the lake and Eagle street."3

In 1868 other large additions were made to the system; five and one-third miles of main sewers were built, costing two hundred and twenty-nine thousand, six hundred and eighty-five dollars and eighty-one cents, and including Case, Eagle, Sterling and Perry streets, while four and two-thirds miles of branch sewers, costing fifty-eight thousand, three hundred and ten dollars and sixty-nine cents were built. Bonds were issued to cover the costs of these improvements. In 1869, the Erie and Main street sewers were begun.

The period from 1865 to 1882, may be considered the second period of the development of the system. There was little change in the building of sewers, and the amount spent by the city from year to year varied with the funds avail- able.

In 1880 agitation began for better sewers. The city engineer says: "If the city becomes a large city, it will need an intercepting sewer along the lake to Willson avenue." 4 In 1881, the mayor in his message says, the Cuyahoga river is "an open sewer through the center of our city."5 And the city engineer reports that there are fifteen sewer districts, that ten main sewers east of the Cuyahoga river, and one west emptied into the lake, six main and submain sewers west of the river discharged into the river and four into Walworth run, eleven main and submain sewers east of the river discharged into the river, and four into Kingsbury run, making twenty-five sewers that discharged into the river, while the increasing number of factories and oil refineries added to the vile condition of the river. In April, 1882, the city council appointed Mayor Herrick, John Whitelaw, engineer of the water works, and B. F. Morse, city engineer, as a special committee, to make plans for a comprehensive sewer system. The com- mittee retained Rudolph Hernig, C. E., of New York. On June 26, 1882, he re- ported, recommending an intercepting sewer to discharge into the lake at Marquette street. The rapid growth of the city has left Marquette street in the down town sections and it is fortunate the plan was never executed. A new law was passed by the legislature providing for the sale of five hundred thousand dollar sewer bonds and a board of sewer commissioners, composed of five members, appointed · by the mayor and the council, to serve five years without pay to have charge of the

3 See Engineer's Report, 1866.

4 "Reports," 1880.

5 "Annual Reports," 1881

130

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

construction, maintaining and cleaning of sewers, but the board of improvements were to devise the plans .* Later, under the federal plan, the board of control had charge of the sewers, and when the present code was enacted, the director of pub- lic service had charge of them.

In 1884 the city engineer made plans to better the condition of the sanitation of the river, first, by an intercepting sewer, second, by providing an artificial current in the river. The last project though several times suggested, has not been acted upon, but the first project was taken up, and the city council directed its attention to the problem of cleaning the river of its pollution. In 1885, it authorized the opening of a street in Walworth run valley, from Scranton ave- nue to Clark avenue, and in this street a main sewer was built to divert sewage from the river.

Plans for a comprehensive sewer system lay dormant until 1895, when Mayor McKisson appointed an expert sanitary commission for the purpose of studying the threefold problem of water supply, intercepting sewer and river purification. The commission consisted of Rudolph Hernig, C. E., of New York, George H. Benzenberg, C. E., of Milwaukee, Desmond Fitzgerald, C. E., of Boston, M. E. Rawson, chief engineer of the department of public works, and M. W. Kingsley, superintendent of the water works. The commission reported that the water supply be taken from a point far out into the lake, to the westward of the current discharged by the river and that an intercepting sewer be built, to dis- charge into the lake, some eight or nine miles east of the Public Square. A project for flushing the river, by discharging a supply of water into it, pumped from the lake through a large tunnel, to a point six miles up the river, was suggested but not recommended by the commission. The legislature, in 1896, authorized the issuance of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars bonds for beginning the in- tercepting sewer, and plans were at once made for this enormous project.6

It was decided to build the west side portion of the interceptor first, on account of the urgent needs of that portion of the city. Accordingly, work was commenced on the Alger street section, in 1897. The same year, work on the Walworth run branch was commenced; these portions of the work were pushed rapidly toward the river. It was not until April, 1902, that construction began east of the river. This was at a point near the outlet, in Collinwood, on land purchased by the city. The work has steadily progressed from that day, and in a few years the interceptor will be completed. It is one of the great engineer- ing achievements of our city. It is built of reenforced concrete, portions of it lined with brick, and its largest diameter is thirteen feet six inches. Portions of it were laid more than forty feet under the surface, and its outlet is nearly four thousand feet from the shore where it discharges through a vast pipe laid on the bottom of the lake, in about forty feet of water.

In April, 1909, there were five hundred and five miles of sewer in the city.

In 1858, "Rules relating to plumbers" were adopted by the city. They have been revised from time to time until they now are embodied in a voluminous plumbing code.

* Ohio Laws, April 16, 1883.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1262