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Organized efforts to establish an eight-hour workday existed as early as 1866 in the United States. The Cleveland Rolling Mills Strikes of 1882 and 1885, as part of this almost-70-year struggle, contributed to the establishment of the eight-hour workday. Both strikes challenged the two-shift, twelve-hour workday in addition to seeking recognition of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers. The first strike – by English, Welsh, and Irish skilled workers – was at the Newburgh Rolling Mills, a major producer of steel rails for the rapidly expanding railroad industry that once stood near this site. It was quickly broken when unskilled Polish and Czech immigrants, unaware of the ongoing labor dispute, were hired. The strike ended when these new workers did not support the union. (continued on other side)
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Following the national merger of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1955, more than 2,000 labor delegates representing one million union members convened at the Cleveland Public Auditorium for the founding convention of the Ohio AFL-CIO in 1958. This leading labor organization achieved significant advances in the quality of life and security for working Ohioans during the second half of the twentieth century in areas of civil rights, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance. Its notable legislative successes include the passage of a public employee collective bargaining bill in 1983 and a voter referendum that protected worker’s compensation in 1997.
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This monument, dedicated July 4, 1894, honors Cuyahoga County men and women, who performed military and patriotic duties during the Civil War (1861-1865). William J. Gleason (1846-1905), army veteran and local businessman, proposed its creation in 1879. Captain Levi Tucker Scofield (1842-1917), Cleveland architect and sculptor, designed the structure and supervised its 19-month construction by contractors, A. McAllister and Andrew Dall. George T. Brewster of Boston and George Wagner of New York, professional artists, assisted Scofield as sculptors. A 12-member Monument Commission, appointed by Governor Joseph B. Foraker in 1888, oversaw the project, which included the removal of William Walcutt’s 1860 marble statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry from the site. The monument’s cost of $280,000 was raised by a countywide property tax levy. An 11-member commission maintains the monument funded by the county. (continued on other side)
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The town of Bedford was settled in 1837. Early residents, Hezekiah and Clarissa Dunham donated the land that serves as Bedford Public Square. The Dunhams built one of the area’s first homes in 1832, which stands at 729 Broadway with the letters H & D above the doorway. Early settlers were attracted to the area by the abundance of natural resources and a large waterfall for mill sites. Bedford also served as a stagecoach stop on the route from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The road or Turnpike Road as it was called was originally part of the Mahoning Indian Trail. By 1895 the road was renamed Main Street (and later Broadway) when the Akron, Bedford, and Cleveland Railway Company (ABC) traversed the middle of the street carrying passengers. The interurban is called “America’s first high speed long distance electric interurban” with speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. [continued on other side]
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For seven glorious summers, from July 13, 1895 to July 27, 1902, laughter and gaiety rang forth from the first amusement park in Franklin County. With intoxicants banned, the Park was enjoyed by the “respectable” folk of the Gay ’90s – the stone water tower/jail was quick to house any ruffian who threatened disharmony. Delighting young and old were the Zoological Garden, Ornithological Museum, the Scenic Railway roller coaster, Shoot the Chutes (the water slide of its day), swimming, boating, baseball, bowling, concerts, dancing, picnics, strolls in the cool woodlands, pony rides, fireworks, the orchestrion replicating a 36-piece orchestra, grande vaudeville, and theater. Minerva Park’s popularity faded with the opening of Olentangy Park, only 3 miles from downtown Columbus.
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At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 1944, an above ground storage tank that held liquefied natural gas in the East Ohio Gas Company’s tank farm began to emit vapor from a seam on the side of the tank that dropped into nearby sewer lines. It mixed with air and sewer gas and ignited, resulting in explosions and fires that brought damage to nearly one square mile of Cleveland neighborhoods. With 79 homes and two factories destroyed, nearly 700 people were left homeless, 131 killed, and 225 injured. The East Ohio Gas Company took responsibility for this tragedy to aid those in need through direct financial assistance and by rebuilding the community. The disaster also led to a movement by public utilities and communities across America to store natural gas below ground without tanks.
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The Cozad-Bates House is one of the oldest remaining structures in Cleveland’s University Circle. The original section, built circa 1853, is the only pre-Civil War residential structure left in the neighborhood. Built by Samuel and Jane Cozad’s son, Andrew Cozad, the first section used locally made brick to form a simple two-story, one-room-deep, vernacular English-I house. The family owned a large portion of the land which is now occupied by University Circle. Justus Cozad, Andrew’s son, returning from the west where he worked as a railroad superintendent and civil engineer, built the later section on Mayfield Road for his larger family in 1872. It is a rare surviving example of Italianate-influenced residential architecture, including a hipped roof, curved bay windows, paired eave brackets, and prominent belvedere. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated as a Cleveland Landmark in 2006.
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Joseph Peake was born in Pennsylvania in 1792 and came to Ohio in 1809 with his parents and brother. They were the first African Americans to settle permanently in the Cleveland area. He was the son of George Peake, a runaway slave from Maryland, who fought on the British side at the Battle of Quebec in 1759 during the French and Indian War. A man with some means and talent, George Peake invented a stone hand mill for grinding corn, a labor-saving device that endeared the Peakes to their neighbors in western Cuyahoga County. Joseph Peake and his wife Eleanor, an African American from Delaware, bought land in the 1840s on the Mastick Plank Road and built a home near this marker. [Continued on other side]
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