East Cleveland – Cleveland’s first suburb – was designed to offer a relaxed, scenic alternative to downtown living while also providing for easy access to University Circle and the city’s core. Explore the rich history of this area through the highlights below.

Timeline

1869

Lake View Cemetery was founded. The cemetery would later be the final resting place of John D. Rockefeller, James A. Garfield, Eliot Ness, among others, and home to numerous lavish funerary monuments and mausoleums.

1916

The city adopts a charter that provides women’s suffrage in municipal elections — the first of its kind east of Chicago. The East Cleveland Public Library opens thanks in part to land donated by John D.Rockefeller and a donation from Andrew Carnegie.

1924

Construction concludes on NELA Park, home to General Electric’s lighting division and the world’s first industrial park.

1938

John D. Rockefeller donates his Forest Hill estate to the city to become Forest Hill Park. Industrialist and philanthropist, Rockefeller rose from his position as an assistant bookkeeper for a Cleveland commission merchant to become one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. through his establishment of the Standard Oil

1955

Two rapid transit stations are opened at Superior and Windermere respectively, making the area a transportation hub.

1968

The East Cleveland Theater opens, which became known for its furtherance of interracial cooperation and understanding, particularly through its practice of interracial, nontraditional casting.

1975