History Of Cleveland Essay, Research Paper

Cleveland, Ohio has been in existence for 203 years. There are more than 500,000 people living in Cleveland, yet few know about its past. In this paper, I am going to take you along as I tell you the history of Cleveland.

On July 4th 1796 the Connecticut Land Company sent out a search party to find new land. General Moses Cleaveland headed this search party, and on July 22nd of 1796 they found their new land, naming it Cleaveland after the leader of the search party.

The beginning of the population was predominately white. In 1800 the population of Cleaveland was what now would be an unheard of 7. In 10 years however the population grew to 57, 10 years following that increasing by almost %1100! What did 1840 now spell, as Cleveland was the 45th largest city in the nation at 6,071 people. Decade by decade Cleveland grew, becoming more of a populated city then others. Just 40 years after being the 45th largest city in the nation it was the 12th. When the 20th century came around Cleveland was proud to be the 7th largest city in the nation with 381,768 people. Although Cleveland never became the largest city in the nation, the closest they got was 5th with 900,429 people. Interesting enough, even though that was the highest position Cleveland ever got, that wasn t the highest the population ever was. In 1950 the population was 914,808 which put them in 7th place.

With large populations came major events. The first major event for Cleveland is one that now is a regular occurrence. A year after it was founded, the first wedding was held in the settlement of Cleaveland. In 1803 mail service was extended to Cleveland making the town able to communicate with the rest of the nation. In 1810 the first doctor arrived, followed 3 years later by the first courthouse being built. Some things even happened that are still around today, such as the bridge across the Cuyahoga River and Ohio and Erie Canal. Newspapers were established and the Old Stone Church that is still standing was built in 1820. The first street light, which is now seen everywhere, was placed in 1849. In 1866 the Cleveland Police Department was established, which like the street light is still seen today. The first phone company began service in 1880, giving people another way to communicate. Something that to this day Cleveland is still famous for, the Old Arcade opened in 1890, with 11 years later another thing that Cleveland is famous for, the baseball team joined the American League. In the 21st century many modern things that are still around today were built such as the public libraries and Cleveland Airport.

Not everything was easy for Cleveland though. It had some tough times, like in its beginning. In 1800 after the Connecticut Land Company had found the land they had difficulty selling it. People wouldn t offer enough money, so they had to rewrite new contracts with people and make some land look a little better so that it would seem more profitable for people to purchase. In 1832 a cholera epidemic took 50 lives. Luckily however, there were doctors available so the epidemic didn t reach more then the 50 it had already destroyed. In 1933 Cleveland was dealing with the Depression just as the rest of the country was. Their unemployment rate peaked in that year with nearly 1/3 of the city s workers jobless. As the years went on though, just as with the rest of the country Cleveland rebuilt itself.

As for the possible future of Cleveland, things are looking good. We have a great baseball team, and with this being a sports city the fact that the football team just returned will only do better for our city. As of right now Cleveland is the 23rd ranked city for population in the United States. Newer exhibits such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and celebrities showing such town pride such as Drew Carey draw much wanted attention to the city, bringing in more money and more publicity to Cleveland which will hopefully mean just continuing success of this town. The only problem with more tourists and such things coming to our town would be pollution, which if that is a factor in the future will have to be dealt with in a very sensitive manner. Right now though, Cleveland is a great place to be living in and shows that everyone living here should be proud.

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