Cleveland’s Bygone Millionaire’s Row

Overview of Cleveland’s Millionaire Row.

“There is a stretch of Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue (US Route 20) that was once known as the most beautiful street in America. It was also known as “Millionaire’s Row”, because in the late 1800s to the early 1900s the street contained the homes of some of the richest and influential people in the city and the county. Some of the names of the families who lived on “Millionaire’s Row” included those of industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller; banker and industrial distributor George Worthington; arc light inventor Charles F. Brush; mining magnate Samuel Mather; industrialist and politician Marcus Hanna; John Hay, personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State under William McKinley; and Jeptha Wade, founder of Western Union Telegraph.”

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Amasa Stone Overview from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland

From the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

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STONE, AMASA (27 Apr. 1818-11 May 1883) was a contractor, railroad manager, financier, and philanthropist, born in Charlton, Mass. to Amasa and Esther (Boyden) Stone. He apprenticed in construction, and worked with his brother-in-law Wm. Howe to perfect the Howe truss bridge, buying the patent rights in 1842 and eventually constructing hundreds of bridges using his own improved design.

After building the Cleveland-to-Columbus spur of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad, in 1851 Stone came to Cleveland to superintend the road and build the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula. By 1852, he was a director of both roads; by 1857, he was president of the CP&A. He built or directed other railroads, including the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Road, taking part of his pay in stock, then investing his wealth as a major stockholder in Cleveland Rolling Mill and related mills throughout the country, as well as in several banks.

On 29 Dec. 1876, a Lake Shore Rd. Howe truss bridge collapsed at Ashtabula, plunging a train into a ravine, killing 92. An investigation implicated Stone who, ignoring engineers, had used an overly long span. The road’s chief engineer, Chas. Collins, committed suicide. He was also vexed by William H. Vanderbilt’s 1883 plan to consolidate the Lake Shore Rd. with the NICKEL PLATE ROAD. On 11 May 1883, after several steel mills he controlled failed, Stone committed suicide, leaving a wife, Julia Gleason Stone, 2 daughters, Clara Stone Hay and FLORA STONE MATHER†. His multi-million-dollar estate included a $100,000 bequest to Western Reserve University. In 1881 Stone had donated $500,000 to WRU to establish Adelbert College in memory of his son, who had died in a swimming accident at Yale in 1866. He was buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.

Glenville Riots Documentary

This introduction film explorers the events of the Glenville Shootout (in Cleveland) that led to riots from July 23-28, 1968. This event follows the election of Carl Stokes as Mayor of Cleveland, the first African-American mayor of a major US city.

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Teaching Cleveland Digital