We took the Greyhound bus to Cleveland.
Our suitcase trundle to a city centre hotel zig-zagged through street caverns of even more monumental buildings than we had seen elsewhere.
Guess who built this one?
I have included some retro-research on Rockefeller that may be of interest: “In 1855, at age 16, he found work as an office clerk at a Cleveland commission firm that bought, sold and shipped grain, coal and other commodities. (He considered September 26, the day he started the position and entered the business world, so significant that as an adult he commemorated this “job day” with an annual celebration.) In 1859, Rockefeller and a partner established their own commission firm. That same year, America’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania.”
Cleveland’s position on Lake Erie, the Erie Canal and later railroads stimulated its growth as a transhipment point for lumber, copper, coal and farm produce. Here is another example illustrating the successful combination of individualism and commercial enterprise in the ‘land of opportunity.’ The Rose Building still stands and is now the HQ of Medical Mutual of Ohio.
Everyday life for the people of Cleveland was improved by the sponsorship of libraries by Andrew Carnegie, another self-made industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry.
We caught this exhibition on show in the fantastic Central West library.
After World War 2, the fortunes of Cleveland followed the familiar economic decline and dereliction endemic to the Rust Belt. But fortunately, some visionaries in the 1980s proposed a revitalisation strategy. We took a guided cultural and architectural tour which revealed some of the ‘gems’ – old and new.
And no visit to Cleveland would be complete without a visit to…
We had a ball…
