A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 92

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 92

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"We, the undersigned, hereby covenant and agree to associate and form ourselves into a company, to be known and distinguished by the name and title of the 'Cleveland Pier Company,' for the purpose of erecting a pier at or near the village of Cleveland, for the accommodation of vessels navigating Lake Erie. Agreeable to an act of the legislature of the state of Ohio passed at their session in 1815-16, authorizing the incorporation of a company for the above said purpose. Alonzo Carter, A. W. Walworth, David Long, Alfred Kelley, Datus Kelley, Eben Hosmer, Daniel Kelley, George Wallace, Darius E. Hen- derson, Samuel Williamson, Sr., Irad Kelley, James Kingsbury, Horace Perry, Levi Johnson.20 This list includes all of the villagers then active in lake shipping. The light structure built was soon wrecked by the storms and no piers were built into the lake for dockage until J. G. Stockly built his famous "Stockly's pier," at the foot of Bank street.

One of the most historic of the old warehouses was the one purchased by Noble H. Merwin in 1816, at the foot of Superior street. Merwin formed a part- nership with Giddings. Later the firm was Giddings & Baldwin, then Giddings, Baldwin & Pease, and Griffith, Pease & Company. In 1854 the buildings fronting on the river from Superior to Canal streets were destroyed by fire.

"Conspicuous during the period (1825-36) we had many noted business men as forwarders and commission merchants of energy, education and thrift, all eager to fill and help on the tide of prosperity. Steamers, sail vessels and canal boats were built and pressed into service and lines formed for transportation eastward and westward, to the north and the south. In fact the pressure and na- ture of employment was much like that of our railroad system."

* Whittlesey's "Early History," p. 465.

20 Whittlesey's "Early History," p. 466.

John H. Sargent

William Collins

W. W. Card

J. F. Pankhurst Marine Engineer

GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED CIVIL AND MARINE ENGINEERS

723

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

"At this time (1847), there were engaged in business on the river as produce and shipping merchants, grocers and ship chandlers and supply stores, some twenty firms among which I can mention the names of Gillespie, Joyce & Com- pany, George C. Davis, Griffith, Pease & Co., Robert H. Backus, Bronson & Hewitt, George A. Foster, Hutchinson, Goodman & Co., John E. Lyon, W. G. Oatman, A. Penfield, Ransom, Baldwin & Co., J. L. Wheatherby, R. Winslow & Co., Barstow & Co., Ross & Lemon, Smyth & Clary, Beebe, Allen & Company and A. S. Cramer & Co." 21 The firm of Hewitt & Lyon, later R. T. Lyon & Son, should be added to this list.

With the opening of the river direct into the lake, and the development of the harbor, slips were built at River street, below St. Clair, for the schooners and steamers that now entered the river. The opening of the canal. brought a large cluster of warehouses on Merwin street. With the development of the railroads, the tonnage of the lakes was transferred to the trains, and better dock facilities were required. By 1853 six piers were built into the lake, immediately east of the river. These were occupied by the railroads and the government later had considerable difficulty in dislodging them, when the enlargement of the harbor required it. Small railroad tracks were laid along these piers. This was the beginning of the extensive docks that now fringe the lake and river.

The old river bed early became the site for shipyards and later of vast ore docks, with their gaunt arms reaching eagerly for the great cargoes.

VI. OCEAN GOING SHIPS.

One of the dreams of the lake men was a fleet of lake boats going direct to Europe, with the products of this region. In 1849 the barge "Eureka," three hundred and fifty tons, Captain William Monroe, sailed with fifty-nine pas- sengers for the gold fields of California. They successfully rounded the Horn and reached the Eldorado safely.

In 1856 the steamer "Dean Richmond" sailed from Chicago to Liverpool. The bark, "D. C. Pierce," was the first to clear from Cleveland for Europe. She left in 1858 with a cargo of staves and black walnut timber. Ten ships fol- lowed her the same year. In 1858 fifteen ships sailed from the lakes to Eng- land with cargoes of wheat and lumber. The number gradually increased until in 1860, "At least thirty-nine lake vessels passed down the St. Lawrence to the seacoast."22 The Civil war put an end to this traffic, and at the close of the war internal expansion taxed the carrier capacity of the lake fleets.

VII. LIGHTHOUSES.

The first lighthouse on Lake Erie was built at Erie in 1818, the year "the steamboat," as the "Walk-in-the-Water" was called, appeared. In 1829 Cleveland had its first lighthouse. It stood on the bluff on Main and Water street overlooking river and lake. It had a sturdy tower of brick that was re-

21 Address of R. T. Lyon, "Annals Early Settlers Association," Vol. 4, p. 254. 22 "History Great Lakes," p. 192.

724

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

placed in 1872. It was eighty-three feet high, but towered one hundred and fifty-seven feet above the water. Its white light was visible about twenty-one miles. Its original cost was fifty-five thousand, seven hundred and seventy-five dollars, this including the substantial keeper's house. There were two keepers, one receiving five hundred and sixty dollars per year and the other four hundred and fifty dollars. The lamps consumed three hundred and one gallons of "min- eral oil" per year. In 1892 it was discontinued, for a modern lighthouse had re- placed it. This new light is at the end of the breakwater or pier. Its founda- tions were contracted for in 1884 and the iron tower from Genesee Station, New York, was removed to it, when the foundations were ready. It is pro- vided with a powerful flash lantern red and white alternately. In 1889 con- gress appropriated five thousand, two hundred dollars for a fog signal for the harbor and it was placed on the breakwater. Its noise was so annoying to the people on shore that a reflector was built to send the sounds over the water. A lighthouse was built on the west pier in 1831 and rebuilt in 1875. It has a white light. The east pier is provided with a fixed red light, built in 1869 and rebuilt in 1875.23 Cleveland is in the tenth lighthouse district.

"The Marine Record" was established in 1878 by Frank Houghton. In 1890 Captain John Swainson became the editor and publisher. Later the Marine Record Publishing Company was formed to publish the journal, with George L. Smith, president ; C. E. Ruskin, manager; and Captain John Swainson. editor. It was sold to Chicago parties about 1894.

The first number of the "Marine Review" was issued March 6, 1890, by F. M. Barton and John M. Mulrooney. Mr. Mulrooney was the editor and in 1898 he became sole proprietor, upon the withdrawal of Mr. Barton from the firm. It is now published by the Penton Publishing Company.

The Blue Book of American Shipping has been published in Cleveland since 1896, at first by Mulrooney & Barton, and now by the Penton Publishing Com- pany.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HARBOR.

The development of the harbor to meet the increasing requirements of trade has been the result of the cooperation of the city and Federal government. The city has confined its activities almost entirely to the inner harbor or river while the Federal government has levoted itself to the development of the outer harbors.

I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OUTER HARBOR.

The work of the Federal government may be divided into four periods. The first period begins in 1825 with the first government appropriation brought

2ª "History Great Lakes," p. 370.

LAKE

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Scale 600 yds = 12 inches

Cuyahoga River

PART OF

CLEAVELAND

Eric Penna July 162 1827

Courtesy of the War Department from the original in U. S. Engineer's Office

MAP of the Mouth of CUYAHOGA RIVER OHIO

Exhibiting a PLAN for removing the obstructions at its entrances

References

Pur executed in 1826

Proposed extension of ditto and

proposed additional Pier

and

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Level of the water

Level of the Sand

Scale : 20 feet - 7 inch

(Sms) éthio Los Lauvica Capt 2 5gmy

THE FIRST MAP OF THE CLEVELAND HARBOR, 1827

ERIE

725

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

about by the urgent request of the citizens of Cleveland that something be done to prevent the forming of the sand bar at the mouth of the river which annually obstructed navigation .* The sum of five thousand dollars was appro- priated and used in the building of a pier at the mouth of the river, but this pier was so damaged the first winter and was of such little practical value that Captain Q. W. Maruice of the corps of engineers submitted a plan for closing the mouth of the old river bed, thereby compelling the river to flow straight into the lake, and then building two jetties about two hundred feet apart into the lake to the depth of twelve feet of water. It was estimated that this would cost $27,653.91. In March, 1827 congress appropriated $10.000 for carrying out the project. A dam two hundred and fifty-five feet long was thrown across the bed of the river to deflect the current and in the spring of 1828 the river had made a straight cut through the bar to the lake. Work was at once com- menced upon the piers. The channel in this year was from six to eight feet deep. In 1831 the west pier was completed and a beacon light erected on its outer end. By 1833 a channel eleven feet deep had been secured. The piers were built of timber frames resting on the lake bottom and filled with stone. The construction was evidently not calculated to withstand the onslaught of heavy seas, for they were constantly in need of repairs. From 1840 to 1843 no appropriations were made by the government, and when Captain A. Can- field examined the piers in 1844 he found them in a very dilapidated condition. The west pier had to be rebuilt from the water level up. No appropriation was made from 1846 to 1857 inclusive. In 1852 and 1853 appropriations were made for repairs, but from 1854 to 1864 no money was forthcoming. In September, 1864, Colonel T. J. Cram of the corps of engineers reported that the west pier was falling to pieces and that the east pier was preempted by railroad companies who were using it for wharves, while at the entrance of the channel a sand bar had formed preventing vessels of a greater draught than eleven feet from en- tering. He recommended the rebuilding of the west pier at the cost of $20,836, that the east pier should be repaired at the expense of the parties who had taken possession of it, and that . Congress should pass an act prohibiting the use of government piers by private parties. The repairs on the west pier was begun at once, but it was many years before the railroads were dispossessed of the east pier. In 1868, Major Walter McFarland was placed in charge. He found the piers in dilapidated condition and recommended their rebuilding with crib construction. The first period of government improvement ends in 1875. During this period the government had spent $346,881.61. This expenditure had in no sense kept the harbor in con- dition to meet the increasing needs of our lake commerce. It had at most provided temporary piers that needed constant repair and an artificial channel that required constant dredging.

2. After considerable public agitation in Cleveland the war department was induced to investigate the greater needs of the harbor and in 1875 a board of engineers met in Cleveland for that purpose. In June a report was submitted recommending as follows :

* A. W. Walworth went to Washington and demanded a hearing before the committee, and opened their eyes to the needs and possibilities of our commerce.

726

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

"A pile pier starting from a point on shore about 700 feet west of the extremity of the old bed of the Cuyahoga river, extending into the lake on a line running about north ten degrees west (and making an angle with the general shore line of about sixty-eight degrees) to the fourteen foot curve, a distance of one thousand feet, the width of the pier being fifteen feet, the height above water about seven feet, and both sides being well riprapped.

"From the fourteen foot curve the line is proposed to be continued by crib work filled with stone resting upon a foundation of rubblestone, five feet thick, and riprapped on both sides as fast as cribs are sunk, the riprap having on the outside a height of about eight feet above the bottom, and a base of about sixteen feet, and on the inside a height of about five feet, and a base of about ten feet. At a point one thousand, four hundred feet beyond the end of the pile pier con- struction and two thousand, four hundred feet from the shore the direction of the line is to be changed to one nearly parallel to the shore, and lying in an average depth of twenty-seven feet. The line parallel to the shore is to extend about 4,700 feet to a point nearly in the prolongation of the present west channel pier, which it is proposed to extend about 600 feet, leaving an opening into the new harbor of about thirty feet."

The west breakwater was completed in 1883, a total length of 7,130 feet, form- ing a harbor of refuge with an area of a hundred acres for anchorage in depths varying from seventeen to twenty-nine feet.

The board also recommended that a harbor master be appointed and that a strong seagoing tug be purchased to be used in placing vessels which could not be handled by the river tugs. It was a number of years, however, before these latter suggestions were adopted.

The commerce of Cleveland was growing so constantly and the art of ship building was progressing so rapidly that before the proposed plan could be entirely carried out the marine interests of Cleveland vigorously urged enlargement and modification. The War Department ordered a second board of engineers to meet in Cleveland, September 10, 1884, for studying the situation. This board recom- mended an eastern breakwater beginning at a point on the extension of the lake arm of the west breakwater and 500 feet from it, and extending eastward 1,100 feet than inclining toward shore 2,400 feet. This plan has been modified from time to time.

3. The third period begins with work on the east breakwater in 1888. Lieuten- ant Colonel Jared Smith was placed in charge of the work and he pushed it vig- orously forward. He found that the old piers were "in a condition of positive ruin." The east pier was so decayed "as to be unfit to work upon." The lo- cation of these piers was somewhat changed and they were entirely reconstructed by casting huge blocks of concrete and sinking them in place.

It was found that the water enclosed between the shore arm and the west breakwater was contaminated by the refuse that flowed into the river and thence into the lake. In 1895 an opening of two hundred feet was made in order to allow a current to sweep in and cleanse the water.

The first large wharves constructed on the lake front east of the river were begun in 1894 when two docks were built with a large slip between them. These

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Courtesy of War Department. From the original in U. S. Engineer's Office

THE SECOND PLANS FOR CLEVELAND HARBOR, 1837 Contemplates using old river bed. Shows method of emptying canal into river.

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727

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

wharves were equipped with coal loading machines with a capacity of twenty cars per hour.

In 1896 congress authorized the completion of the improvements at an es- timated cost of $1,354,000. This included the completion of the east breakwater with an extension of 3,000 feet added to the original plan of 1888; the removing of the superstructure of the old west breakwater and replacing it with concrete masonry ; reenforcing the cribs below the masonry ; sheathing the face of the huge breakwater with blocks of stone, and entirely removing and rebuilding the old east and west piers and widening the mouth of the river. In 1899 congress authorized the dredging of the channel and the sheltered area to a depth of twenty-one feet, and the act of June 13, 1902, authorizes the dredging to a depth of twenty-five feet.

4. The fourth period of development begins with the river and harbor act of June 13, 1902, which authorized the development of the breakwater eastward to Gordon park a distance of 16,000 feet, at an estimated cost of $4,481,456.

By 1904 the superstructure on the west breakwater was completed. The substructure of timber cribs filled with stone remains as the foundation. The survey of the east extension to Gordon Park was completed in September, 1903. In the fall of 1904 the first United States dredge was delivered at the harbor. It was named after Congressman T. E. Burton, and has been used almost con- tinuously since that date in perfecting the harbor. This dredge was built especially for work in this district. The improvement and enlargement of the main en- trance to the harbor was virtually completed by 1908.

In 1907 an appropriation of $98,000 was made for the building of a government dock at the foot of Erie street.

The improving of the outer harbor of Cleveland, then, is based upon the au- thorization of congress as planned in the basic acts of 1875, 1896, 1899, 1902 and 1907. To June 30, 1908, $5,004,604.93 has been expended. This amount has made possible the widening of the mouth of the river, the rebuilding of the east and west piers and capping them with concrete, the rebuilding of the superstructure of the west breakwater and the protection of the lake face of their cribs, the re- pairing of the old east breakwater, the extension of the breakwater eastward to- ward Gordon Park and the partial dredging of the entire enclosed area. About seventy-five per cent of the entire project is now completed. The net result is a twenty foot channel at the mouth of the river and a vast harbor six miles in length available for docks and anchorage.

II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INNER HARBOR.

When the first surveying party landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river they found a substantial sand bar closing its entrance to large boats. The spring floods usually washed it away so that boats could pass up the river to the foot of Superior street but during the latter part of the summer and early fall the storms would wash up a new sand bar. Boats anchored outside and unloaded by lighters. As the harbor was unprotected these boats were often damaged by storms while at anchor. The dependence of the new town upon the lake and therefore upon a safe and convenient harbor was early recognized. The commer- cial interests formulated a demand upon congress in November, 1825, for fifteen thousand dollars for a "desirable harbor." This demand brought little fruit. On the first of September, 1826, a town meeting was held with Samuel Cowles as

728

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

chairman and John W. Allen, secretary, where it was unanimously resolved that the young town needed a harbor and a committee was appointed to prepare a petition to congress for aid. The result of this has been shown above. In 1828 the harbor admitted vessels of seven and one-half feet draught and the towns- people were delighted. The "Herald" records that: "Schooners and steamboats daily come up to our wharves and load and discharge their cargoes." By March, 1829, however, the water had fallen again to five feet at the mouth of the river and there was a sand bar awaiting the spring freshets. The building of the cribs was delayed on account of the quicksand and the delay was very irksome to the townspeople. In 1837 the old river bed was opened to the lake, giving one hun- dred men work during that season of great financial depression. The same year the outer harbor was surveyed by the town with a view of building a break- water. This was the first agitation for building a mole or outer harbor. The inaction of the Federal government led to a public indignation meeting. February 3, 1844, in the courthouse. This meeting was vehement in its spirit and em- phatic in its memorial to congress. By 1850 the citizens had come to believe that they could not depend upon congress for the development of their harbor. Pri- vate interests had from the beginning of the town improved the river front for shipping purposes. Stone's levee was one of the earliest landing places. In 1851 the Cleveland & Toledo and Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula railroads began to build six piers at the foot of Water street, near the passenger station.

In 1854 the inner harbor was so narrow that boats lying at wharves on either side seriously obstructed the passageway, and the Board of Trade began an agitation which resulted in the city cooperating with the owners of the wharves in the dredging of the old river bed. Previous to this, some dredging had been done in the main channel of the river. By 1855 the congestion had become so acute that much trade, especially in grain, was lost to the harbor. The annual sand bar still persisted at the entrance.

Finally the city through costly experience learned that if the inner harbor was to be fitted to the needs of the city's commerce it would have to be done at the city's expense. The city has continued down to the present day to dredge the river. In 1870 the mayor complains "the dredging of the river is a source of continued expense" and the engineer reports that "every freshet makes a sand bar." The variation in the amount expended from year to year, depended largely upon the size of this sand bar. One half of the expense of dredging was shared by the property fronting on the river. It was attempted to have the depth of the channel keep pace with the increasing size of the vessels. In 1874 the depth was fourteen feet. But the ambition of the city was not realized. In 1875 Mayor Payne in his annual address said, "But if vessels drawing twelve or fourteen feet of water stick on sand bars in the mouth of the harbor or lodge in the mud be- fore they reach their destined docks, as was true last season, the best lake trade will shun us and will seek accommodation where it can be had at less cost and no annoyance." He suggested that the dredging might be done in March and April instead of midsummer.

The fluctuations in the lake level have always directly influenced the amount of dredging in the river. For instance in 1879 the water was ten inches lower than in 1878.

CLEVELAND HARBOR. SHOWING DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT WORK.

RALROAD PIENS

LAMESIDE

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SUPERIOR

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₩ 65 TH

¥. 45

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Courtesy of War Department-compiled from originals in United States Engineer's Office

729

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

The finishing of the Valley and Connotton railroads gave a great impetus to trade in the upper river. Great quantities of coal, ore, limestone and lumber were handled there, and more dredging became necessary. In 1881 the Cleveland roll- ing mills built a large blast furnace on the upper river near the N. Y. P. & O. railroad tracks and a depth of fourteen feet became necessary. The great bends in the river were increasingly a menace as the size of the vessels increased. By 1887 the deeper draught vessels found it difficult to reach the N. Y. P. & O. bridge even in a sixteen foot channel.

Meantime a great many bridges had been built across the river so that Walter P. Rice, the city engineer reported that, "the river has been robbed of water way at every bridge crossing. The result being a lot of undermined, sliding abut- ments and a choice assortment of ice gorges."

In 1888 the work on the inner harbor was finally placed upon a more scien- tific basis. The work was systemized; water gauges were established at different bridges; trained inspectors were employed and daily reports made; the channel was widened from fifty to seventy-five feet; the old river bed was enlarged for dry dock purposes ; piles were driven near the Cleveland & Canton railroad bridge and at the Willow street bridge; and a sixteen foot channel was maintained as far as the upper blast furnace. Instead of the yearly contracts for dredging, the city entered into a five-year contract thereby greatly lessening the expense.

The year 1896 marks the beginning of the larger development of the inner harbor. The city undertook to secure the necessary land and donated it to the general government for the rebuilding of the west pier one hundred and eighty feet west of its former location. It was planned to widen the river to the Elm street line; to dredge its channel to a depth of nineteen feet and a width of one hundred and thirty feet, wherever practicable. In 1896 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad opened a channel one hundred feet wide from the old river bed to the lake.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 92

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