What Happened to Millionaire's Row in Cleveland, Ohio?
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- Over the course of just a few short years, How did a simple dirt road in Ohio end up rivaling the beauty of Les Champs-Elysees in Paris?
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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We decided to remove the story about Amasa Stone’s house as it was quite graphic. We will share the story in this pinned comment.
Amasa Stone’s house was a sprawling second empire style mansion with octagonal rooms. He was a railroad magnate and engineer who prided himself on his ability to quickly design bridges. But in 1876, one of his bridges collapsed as a train passed over it. 92 of the 160 passengers lost their lives that day, most of them surviving the initial fall to be consumed by the resulting fire. The disaster was called the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster by the press and Amasa was implicated for his faulty design of the bridge. He retired that day and began giving away all of his money to charities and churches, but never could shake the guilt he felt for his oversite. By 1882 he had been diagnosed with insomnia, suffering nightmares on the rare nights he could sleep, and in 1883 he told his wife he was going to lay down upstairs, but instead locked himself in his bathroom and shot himself through his heart. Upon hearing the sound, Mrs. Stone sent a man servant upstairs, but he couldn’t get through the door, so he climbed through the transom window to discover Mr. Stone face down in the bathtub. Mark Twain added commentary to the news of Amasa’s death- writing, “ Apparently nothing pleases the almighty like the picturesque.” A sarcastic way of declaring justice had been served. Now I know this is a heavy topic to discuss on this channel and I wouldn’t feel right talking about it without offering help. If you or a loved one are experiencing a crisis situation, there is help! In the united states you can dial 988 and speak with a caring person who will help you through your crisis.
This House, thank you Ken for the information on this sad story and knowing that there's help out there for people who are suffering from depression and suicidal tendencies. 😢 💔❣❣
Thank you for being so kind and considerate. We need more people like you!
Sad story, but interesting enough to want to learn more. Thanks.
Tragic, an Engineering or Construction flaw caused a terrible loss, and the man obviously blamed himself, while the Press and Noted Famous Individuals *"Judged Him"* and further helped to nudge him into suicide.
I wonder, which was the worse tragedy, one that was unintentional, or the other that was Judgemental. "?"
Clearly the 2nd was a void of Empathy and Compassion.
I'd be curious to know the full report on the Bridge: was it design, faulty supplies, or faulty Construction "?"
What if the man wasn't guilty or an error of design?
1 man makes an easier scapegoat than the Corporations that provide the Materials, Construction, *and the Investors pressure for Profits"*
*Trains were not safe until after "Westinghouse finally got them to install his brakes and several other safety parts."*
It was a cut-throat era over eager to profit Investors and Corporatists.
thank you for including the 988 number!
there are a lot of youtubers who discuss distressing subjects who do not have it prominently featured either in the description, or a pinned comment.
so once again, thank you!
As a person who grew up in Cleveland: absolutely not. There’s such a rich history in Cleveland that was lost due to incompetence, depression, and convenience. Very sad as the city really was an American gem
There are a lot of places that progressives ruined.
I second that. We let a blemish become cancerous. Glad that Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights preserved the houses used as lookouts during the underground railroad. There are a lot if historical homes registered ®️.
Cleveland and Youngstown/Warren were booming during the age of the so called robber barons. Shaker Heights still has incredibly constructed houses replete with ornate woodwork, grand foyers and staircases. Slate roofing with solid stone foundations were common. And Hunting Valley...? Sheesh! The east side of Cleveland is still the most naturally beautiful area in the region.
I was raised in Geauga County and now live in the Chagrin Falls zip.
Only the politicians could ruin such a wonderful area.
@@deenchaser2429white flight
It would have been nice to see some of these magnificent mansions preserved, but let's face it....who would be able to keep them up?
if you remove the Historic Buildings, You Remove the History of the place and the Country, it is sad
It should be removed, because it was built off the backs and hard labor of black slaves.
What a street to have in a city and state, but it's all gone. Americans go to Italy, Rome and love looking at all the old old buildings, same with England...but then back home they tear everything down. Having that street intact as a museum tour street would have been totally great. Those mansions can never be reproduced and they have ALWAYS been replaced by some bland building that could have been built elsewhere. Same with a freeway.
@Clair Waucaush, I totally agree. Could not have said it any better. It’s heartbreaking 💔 that beautiful historical mansions were destroyed without any regard. It’s true that Europe preserves its historical buildings. I used to live in Lübeck, Germany, many years ago and in the old city center, there is a brick Gothic construction called the Holstein Gate, a city gate, built in 1464. On each side of the structure there are two towers and when you walk through it, it seems you’re walking through the entrance of a medieval town; it’s a real cool 😎 experience. Meanwhile, here in the US let’s tear down our historic buildings to make room for parking lots and garages, and concrete jungles. Ultimately, it’s all about money and profit. SMH 🤦♀️
Clair, you nailed it. Too many people just want contemporary, poorly constructed junk.
Hard to hear, extremely hard to keep up. These buildings are incredibly expensive to maintain and update. It makes far more sense to knock them down and start over. If you like them so much, why aren't you buying them up and restoring them? Or should someone else do it for your enjoyment? Or piss away tax money on them when we can't hire enough police or fill potholes? Either buy them or shut up about it.
@@farmerbill6855 I bought three and restored them. Currently rent them out. Yeah, they aren't cheap, I hear you. The buildings in Europe are aquired, renovated and rented out by people of means. The US has just as many people of means too, but they tend to just bulldoze and build new. Why? I don't know. It isn't something I would ask the taxpayers to fund; they have enough problems already. But my buildings are beautiful and profitable. Thank you for the suggestion Farmer bill.
The buildings in Europe are 800 sometimes a 1000 or more years old. Nothing in the US is more than 300 unless it's on the east coast. They're just too big to be feasible unless you have a commercial use for a building that size. Even then the bill to heat it would about build you a new one after you retrofitted it with new windows, doors, insulation, and a heating plant. Old cars are beautiful too but you rarely see them on the road. I built and remodeled houses all my life, I love the old ones but it's not like they're any more or less better built than a new one. It all depends on the builder. You are correct, there's plenty of wealthy people but they're building their mansions in the country just like the builders of these did.
This is so heartbreaking. Thank you for showcasing this beautiful forgotten neighborhood. Our cities would be so much richer if people of the past weren't so quick to demolish things.
how cool would it be to have these homes (or a few of them) reconstructed as a museum campus?? each one, perhaps each representing a different architectural style, being an independent museum in and of itself.
We did it to build roads, this is the cost we pay for a car obsessed culture
My grandparents three story house with a turret & a wrap around porch was torn down & replaced with a gas station.
@@Magroo42 lol because houses for the rich are more important than infrastructure for normal people.
While I absolutely agree with your sentiment, Cleveland does a better job than most cities in using historical buildings for modern applications.
I grew up and worked in Cleveland for many years, and was actively involved with restoration efforts and the real estate business. Losing this district was one of Cleveland's MANY great planning mistakes. It was not AT ALL worth the convenience, which could have been achieved many other ways. Those buildings, what they stood for and their beauty can never be replaced.
Cleveland is garbage. Look at it now.
I would love to step back In time and see millionaires row in its former glory. Absolutely stunning
I agree.
As a native Clevelander things started changing after the industrial revolution. There are still stunning homes in Shaker Hts. Pepper Pike, Tremont etc. Once the urban blight took over that was it. There are still nice homes in very dangerous areas.
The house's that are leftover like these from that time period here in Cleveland are being fixed up and sold just as fast as they can be repaired, I see them being worked on everyday right by Cleveland Clinic between Euclid, Hough and Wade Park were I live.
Absolutely tragic - and frankly, disgusting. One of the most discouraging aspects of American culture is the indifference to our history and heritage - including our architectural heritage. Get out the bulldozers! Progress! This is the reason that so many American cities are ugly. Photos of my city in the late 19th and early 20th century show scores of fascinating Victorian & Beaux Arts buildings - all gone now, replaced mostly by junk.
We are living in ugly times
Usa has always been a terrible place, but it did look nice for a minute while people died unnecessarily in the streets and were beaten to death by corrupt cops.
Yepp breaks my heart angers me. I'm such a fanatic of older American architecture I just love them all anything pre40s think my favorite would have to be victorian and artdeco.
@@bmanagement4657 wtf did that happen?
Amen.
The inside of Mather was never gutted. Everything remains as it was. But they are offices now. But Cleveland state discovered that all the drop ceiling and walls had protected most of the carvings and rooms and so they were removed and they are all present.I know, I worked in it for 20 years and I had a room that was gorgeous.
Thank you for telling us this house is still around.
@@Whoishere2333 it’s around and it’s been restored. They used the entrance of the mansion in the movie “My girl”, back in 1991.
It would truly make my day a thousand times over to be able to tour all of these homes. Too bad they're gone. 😌 Thanks for the quick tour. 💖
There is always the Seiberling estate in Akron
They aren’t all gone. The rich egos that built and maintained them are all gone.
It is amazing to me how people forget the real history. Cleveland once had the richest people in the world. There was resentment and a reconning -trust busting, unionization…. Does this sound familiar?
@@skyak4493 A race to the bottom, yet the Democrats who start it always end up wealthy. So strange. :-/
I just can't believe that all of these homes were demolished. I have been to many parties at Mather Mansion. I felt RICH, WEALTHY AND LIKE A KING walking through this amazing home. It's shameful that there was not enough money to preserve this neighborhood but enough billions to wreck it with "a pretzel" in the middle of and the I-90 Fwy! DAMN SHAME!
Cleveland is GARBAGE
As a Cleveland native, there are still parts of the city where the buildings are still beautiful. Parts of East Cleveland, Wade Park, University Circle have architecture that is stunning!😉💕🥰
And Bratenahl!
I lived in one as a sophomore and junior in a dorm.
Thank you for this video. Cleveland as a city is under appreciated in many realms and it’s architecture is one of them.
I remember being in Cleveland when I was in elementary school in the beginning of the 1970's, just after the incident in which the river caught on fire. Cleveland was a joke in that time, mocked even on television programs, but even as a fifth and sixth grader I noticed curbs made of marble and how in Terminal Tower, a beautiful building, the escalators were partly made of wood, maybe from when the building first opened in 1928, showing that quality lasts. I'm glad things have gotten better for Cleveland.
Yes people should appreciate when cleveland relased all theose baloons into the enviroment anc killed all the marine life. Just yesterday open sewage poured into lake erie. Go cleveland! Go to hell
I was born and raised in Cleveland and know the area well. It is always sad to see such beautiful home destroyed. Have you thought about doing a video on the history of the Franklin Castle (Hannes Tiedemann House) in Cleveland?
I'm a clevelander also. I agree.
Yep. I almost got in there! I'd love to see the castle.
I'm a clevelander also and let's look what happened to John D rockefeller's mansion, ❓❓❓ this breaks my heart to see what happened to my city which now is really shitty , we went from a thriving metropolitan City to a ghost town to a graveyard in 20 years, population out 250,000 or less at best Diamond Dave ♦️♦️♦️‼️
@@davidstaudohar6733 heartbreaking to know what happened to these homes
@@andreadeamon6419 Let's look At Happened to the American people that live here , , there used to be a real nice house across the street from where I live, it's been empty for 4 years, and that course of time they found three dead junkies in it, so they bulldoze the perfectly good house , the house didn't do anything wrong it's an inanimate object, every time Cleveland has to bulldoze and empty house it cost the taxpayers $35,000
Never lose hope, Cleveland. We will rise again one day!!
Tell it to the hardworking electrician who was shot to death and wrapped in a tarp three days ago, for his truck. Go lakewood! Go cleveland! pew pew!
@@user-zv7lm8uk7h Dude, you’re so right. Crime doesn’t happen anywhere, ever- except in Cleveland. Good call man. Thank you. Thank you very much. How insightful. You must be proud of yourself.
So sad that structures like these were lost along with their history. Much of their beautiful craftsmanship was probably thrown into landfills. I wish architecture and design was still as grand as it was in the past.
i come from cleavland and do custom stone work on a lot of theays old houses that are still left in shaker, cleveland heights and Coventry. there are still some very beautiful old houses left around this area.
Thank you for helping us all feel a bit better about this ☺️
I used to manage 2 of the 3 apartment buildings on Mayfield Rd. just before you reach Coventry Rd. while headed downtown. They're close to 100 years old now and still in use; I really miss the type of construction in buildings like this. You can keep drywall.
Please tell these fools how much it costs to maintain these structures and how little it costs to buy one.
@@skyak4493 Oh, I imagine it costs a fortune to renovate one to todays building codes, let alone try and do that and satisfy Historic Preservation Groups if it gets on a “Historic Register”, let alone to maintain it afterward. That is the reason so many of Great Britains nobility sold their castles and estate homes, too expensive to renovate and pay taxes and insurance on.
However, that does not keep it from being sad that such interesting and beautiful architecture and examples of history are allowed to fall into disrepair and eventually are lost. You can understand the reality or practicality without losing track of the appreciation.
OH Ken The fact that so many great houses all over the country have been lost...makes me so sad. I'm so fortunate to live in a large 1883 Victorian house that I just love. This area I live in Springfield Mass has the most Victorian houses in one area of anywhere in the United States. But even here many homes have been lost. Just 5 lots down the street from me there was a huge house many years ago ( I have pictures ) it's gone ...there's now a large apartment community. Very sad. Thank you for another great presentation.
its crazy that we lost these homes. They really didn't know just how special they were at the time. Thank heavens that at least, by then there were cameras invented. Otherwise, we would never have known how beautiful they were. Its ironic to say the least, that the house that was built to last an eternity by its owner, had in his will, that it be destroyed on his death! What a confused & selfish individual.
Starsky at first that was my reaction too. But then I learned that it was the fate stipulated by several other owners for similar reasons: Charles Brush loved his house and lived in it for forty years, personally witnessing the rise to the glory days of Euclid Avenue and also seeing more than hints at its eventual fate-many of these homes, so lovingly and painstakingly built of imported materials, were being chopped up into boarding houses, falling into despair then demolished, converted into used car lots, and more. He didn’t want to see that fate for his own. The loss of the Sylvester Everett Mansion in 1940 and earlier the Samuel Andrew’s Mansion in 1923 showed that the houses would have likely shared the same fate anyway. The Avenue vanished for many reasons, including a commercial push eastward from downtown (could zoning have helped?), pollution (one account described maids washing curtains inside, three times a week), crime, fear of shifting demographics to the south as early as the teens and twenties, the rise of the automobile and subsequent popularity of suburbs. Also other contributing factors were rising taxes and later the crash of 29-few could still afford to live in the homes. As early as 1912, Samuel Mather tried by building the last grand mansion on the avenue to stabilize an already shifting trend. Some commentators of the time said that the glory days were already finished by around 1910. The painful present is that where many of the grandest homes stood are empty lots now. I often wonder if the people of their time visited, what their reaction would be. The most awful was that a huge stretch of the most prestigious homes still remained by the late 1950s, but these were demolished all at once to cut the Interstate 90 inner belt/shoreway through, by 1957. At least that stretch could have been preserved, but the climate of the time was out with the old, in with the new, an old building is just an old building, and we want progress. And we lost so much.
My goodness! Those homes are amazing!!!! Imagine in the autumn and winter with the fireplaces going and all or during a thunderstorm what it was like inside of the homes. So great. Thank you for all your great videos. I love seeing these gilded age homes. Keep up the great work!
Maintenance! Poor maids and household servants
I’m from Cleveland. It was destined to be what became NY city that we now know. Politicians drove Rockefeller and any very successful businessman and creators out and into the arms of NYC.
*jews
I take the Historical Architecture over modernization any day. Great video, once again. GOD BLESS.
I agree.
Urban Renewal was detrimental to so many beautiful homes, buildings, historic hotels etc.
Parts of the area, and parts of Euclid Avenue further east, are today one of the worst slums in America. East Cleveland is an area where gangs of kids on 4-wheelers and dirt bikes terrorize motorists and routinely kill each other absolutely nothing.
The great migration destroyed America.
I already knew the Amasa Stone story but you should have included it because it's history and shows even the wealthy aren't immune to tragedy and that accident set the precedence for better bridge engineering requirements.
Some parts of the story were not appropriate for our family friendly rating. However, we made a pinned comment telling Amasa Stone’s story in this comment thread.
@@ThisHouse Come on, they learn worse in school!
@@sherriianiro747 true-though RUclips algorithms are unforgiving with one particular word, and I’ve seen a terrific documentary about the Eastland disaster in Chicago removed because of the usage of this term but it was simply and factually part of the story, in that case there was a man who had been standing on a bridge with one outcome for himself intended, and then yes jumped but only upon realizing that he could-and did-save others and himself instead. Yet RUclips took it down and even upon review stood by their decision-notice I didn’t even use the word in my comment as a result 😅
Sad.... That type of craftsmanship could never be replicated.
Cleveland has a rich history. We are always referred to as the mistake on the lake but once upon a time the wealthy flocked to our shores. I’m saddened to think all the beautiful mansions are gone.
Cheers to this comment 💯❤️
Don't feel bad about the 'Mistake on the lake" nickname. Just be thankful it gets shared with Lorain, Erie, PA and Buffalo.
Always makes me see all the parking lots and bland buildings there now
Please realize Rockefeller bought a house that was already built, he did not build his home. He also bought the corner House and had it moved on greased wooden logs to the adjacent Prospect Ave. He then rented out the house to a school and created a large corner lot for himself. Also note he was on the south side of the street which was always the less desirable side. The lot the lots were smaller, the north side was on an old Lake ridge which had an elevation and drop off to it so the house could have a view of the lake and also a lots were substantially deeper.
Also the Andrews home was the largest home in square footage built in Cleveland, the ever at home was the second largest.
The stories where these majestic mansions are torn down make me both mad and sad.
You can travel west of Cleveland to Lakewood Ohio and they still have some of the old grand homes not to far from the lake
Yes you can get shot and wrapped in a tarp like the gentleman did three days ago in Lakewood. How wonderful! Nice hardworking electrician, killed for his truck WHILE GOING TO WORK. Go Lakewood! Go Cleveland! pew pew
There are some of these elegant old neighborhoods still surviving in some areas. St. James Court in Louisville is still intact, happily. There should be a nationwide survey to find out just how many of these splendid old mansions are left.
Milwaukee has the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, the put a freeway through the south of the city and north of the city. Destroyed entire neighborhoods.
St. Louis still has it's millionaire's rows in the Central West End intact. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places many years ago and can't be torn down.
What helped in St. Louis was that many of the elite areas in Central West End had private streets which preserved the communities. That local identity was vital in the 1950's and 60's when urban "renewal", actually urban destruction, was so devastating for American cities like Cleveland.
There were once multiple mansions in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, most of which have now been demolished. The reason for the neighborhood's creation and destruction are very similar to this neighborhood in Cleveland. It was just too close to downtown. Even as early as the 1920s, commercial buildings and apartment blocks were encroaching the mansions, and by the 50s, what remained was mostly decaying and abandoned. The millionaires who could move packed up for Cherry Creek, which is still full of mansions today. One notable survivor is the Colorado Governor's Mansion, which now looks very out of place in the more densely developed area, with even a highrise office building across the street.
It is a huge loss, the Hanna mansion is the centerpiece of the Shoreby Club, and one of the Francis Drury mansions is where the Brothers of the Holy Cross on the grounds of Gilmour Acemedy. Mr Drury had an exact copy of his Euclid Ave mansion built on his country estate
I was in the Drury home all the time. It’s still standing. There is even some of the original tunnel that went from the basement of the home and under Euclid Ave. to across the street to his original Cleveland Playhouse theater.
The buildings you refer to were later estates built after those families had moved from Euclid
@@ktoth29 the buildings I’m referring to are on what was millionaires row on Euclid ave. The video is about millionaires row on Euclid ave.
Shoreby in Bratenahl was in fact the summer home of the Mather Family not Hanna; the Samuel Mather Mansion on Euclid Avenue still exists-though the famous backyard garden complex was removed in the 2000s by CSU, to put up a parking structure-typical story for the Avenue. When the grand Hippodrome theater was demolished further west on Euclid, an empty lot stood for decades, only now seeing a large new project this year. Fascinating history!
it's so wild to me that a rockefeller used to live in cleveland, ohio.
Big Oil began in Cleveland -- not Texas -- with the opening of John D. Rockefeller's (THE Rockefeller) Refinery No. 1 in the Flats. For a lot of years, Cleveland was number 2 in both the steel and auto industries -- Take that, Pittsburgh and Detroit! It was and remains a great city.
John Samuel Oram, Inventor of Barrel Stave Machinery, lived on Millionaire’s Row! The barrels were used to hold & transport the Rockefeller’s newly discovered oil!
At the risk of generalizing, it seems that it was not until more recently that Americans began appreciating the value in saving historic buildings, despite it's costs. The Eurocentric U.S. at the time was "new" and future oriented. "Old" structures became disposable. The thought of preservation went against the American ideal of an expanding country where modernity was the ideal and far cheaper to pursue. To me that is what brought in the urban renewal of the 1960s and 1970s where so many historic buildings were torn down in the name of developing "modern" cities with horrible architecture that has not stood the test of time. Thank goodness that over time more Americans have come to appreciate the value of preservation of truly magnificent historical buildings.
Born & Raised in Cleveland. Millionaire's Row (East Cleveland) had always been an interest of mine. To see such huge houses just decaying even to this day seems like terrible waste. Lots still stand but, seem hazardous to enter. I would also like to see the interiors of these homes to get an idea of what they were like in their prime. Especially the one with Japanese Cherry wood wall paneling.
A drive down Shaker Blvd., North Park Blvd. and other streets in the area you will still find many homes of this magnitude built in the early to mid 1900's in pristine condition.
That’s somewhat true, though stylistically none were quite as ostentatious as the Euclid Avenue ones, partly because the ornate 19th century styles were already falling out of favor. I would have loved to have seen the grand promenade of Euclid, so heralded by Mark Twain and many others.
So sad that folks didn't appreciate the beauty and just build outward on the other side of town.
Such a sad story. One would have thought that provided the room, they may have planned Cleveland in another direction away from the homes.
That would’ve been very difficult because Lake Erie is to the north end the Cuyahoga River cuts Cleveland in half. The steel industry was booming and took up a significant area immediately south of downtown. Unfortunately, there was no place to build businesses except east (Euclid Ave, Superior Ave, Carnegie Ave, Chester Ave, and St Clair.) In more recent history, Cleveland Clinic demolished midtown to expand the hospital. The older neighborhoods southeast of the hospital are being gentrified within ten years.
This story, along with the magnificent mansions, is the most fascinating story that I have seen on f/b to date. Thank you all so very much!
Wow Charles Francis Brush really was of the mind that “I really don’t want anyone else to have what I created” and “You can’t take it with you “.
Wow!!! What an incredible history you brought to light!!
So many great houses! The Stone house being the most interesting looking I think!
Amasa Stone's house would have been amazing to explore! We removed his story from the video, however, if you check out our pinned comment you can read the short, tragic history of his house.
This has happened to so many American cities. The waterfront in St Louis is the perfect example. If Cleveland city hall had money for freeways, they could've preserved these houses and kept the street cars/trolleys, which I imagine were shut down in the 1950's too.
I’m so happy I found your RUclips channel! This breaks my heart to it’s very core! I live in Birmingham Alabama, and remember when our gorgeous terminal train station was demolished to make way for an extension of the freeway...the station, one of the most beautiful in the country, was torn down. And that was the end of the story...the site now, is just an empty parking lot! So sad!
Just amazing mansions, so sad they are gone.. yet built so great they could have lasted centuries!! Ken another great episode. I've been so busy to watch some past videos.. but plan on a mini marathon! Great work as always!
Thank you for the video documenting the rise and fall of the great architecture. More tragic is the impact that "urban renewal" highways had on destroying Cleveland and so many other cities. To answer your question - my favorite house would be Sylvester E's.
Always an interesting video... thanks so much, Ken.
Thank you for the historical info on these beautiful homes! It is very sad though, that they were demolished & their history gone😢😢
The McGreggor house on millionaire row.. or East Cleveland is an architectural masterpiece and is now a nursing home
I was sad to see that you left out the Stager/Beckwith mansion near 39th street. It was converted to the Univerity Club, then purchased by Myers University and ultimately is owned by the Cleveland Children's Museum. Still a stunning building.
I have the poster of all of the beautiful homes on this road. Stunning homes!!!
In Europe “castles” mostly survived the test of time by being placed on estates and large land tracks away from dirty busy cities, only a rich fool would build a mansion in town or that close to urban development
Great research and rare photos! There were a lot if luxury duplexes and apartments in the area. Beautiful buildings crumbling under overgrown foliage. Sad what happens when jobs leave. Those left feel hopeless and helpless,
I use to live in a home. It is till this day my favorite home I have ever lived in. It was on Fairhill Rd in Cleveland 44120. I will not give the actual address but my home was described as Enchanting English Cotswold Style Home. Breathtaking architectural details include diamond-cross stained glass windows, English white oak wide plank floors, gothic arched ceilings, decorative plaster crown moldings and cathedral doorways. If your from the Cleveland area. You'll know.... I now live out of state. It was breathtaking. I do miss living in that home
The Stager-Beckwith mansion still stands on Euclid. It is now the home of the Children's Museum.
As a native Clevelander, I always said how sad it was that the city would let that happen to such a beautiful street.. I would love to have a time machine to walk through that neighborhood.
This is just one example of how Cleveland has and is mismanaged. I live in Cleveland and have watched it fall and try to rebuild.
As someone who lived in Cleveland for years.. there’s still many mansions outside East Cleveland and Shaker Heights. A beautiful drive through the city that way.
The Images of America series of books has an edition about Cleveland's mansions. It has a great collection of photos.
Thank You! See my comment above re John Samuel Oram (my Great Great Grandfather)!
In the 1950s, I studied engineering at case institute of Technology (now part of Case-Western University). On weekends I worked on the west side of Cleveland and would travel back and forth on the Rapid Transit from W117th either to the Cedar Ave. or if that was too slippery to the Terminal Tower, where I’d catch the Euclid Ave. Bus. For three years I lived off-campus. For two years I lived in a rather elegant three story home in what was known as fraternity row, housing behind the Art Museum and Rose Gardens. The owner, a professor at Case, rented rooms in what had been the servants’ quarters. The third floor hall had call bells which would indicate where the servant was needed in the main house. In my last year at Case I lived on the third floor of what had once been a rather elaborate 3-story house on 84th Street, across from Harshaw Chemical Company Research facility. Most of these homes were 2nd tier houses for the upper middle class who worked either downtown, in the industry that had sprung up along Euclid in and around 55th street or in the academic and art communities (Art Museum, Severance Hall and the Cleveland Orchestra) around 109th. I believe the Cleveland Health Museum on Euclid is the former home of the daughter of the oil magnate Louis Prentiss, a major benefactor to the Cleveland art community and for whom Severance Hall is named.
Great stories! Alas, the Prentiss Mansion was demolished when the new Cleveland Health Museum was built-and alas the museum later folded and the building was absorbed by the Clinic.
On Euclid Avenue the wood frame house built by Rufus and Jane Dunham still exists and is a museum. Also, further east is the property that Rockefeller used as a summer home. Forest Hill in East Cleveland. Portions of this land were developed in 1923 by JD Rockefeller, Jr as a residential development. Many of those homes still exist.
This home in East Cleveland became Huron Road Hospital, which is gone now too
Can you tour any of these homes?
@@sandyhossman7771 There are still some standing up the hill by the observatory in E Cleveland/Cleveland Heights border
I think there is about 3 of them standing and in good shape. I have been in 6 of them. However; for a while They wouldn’t stop tearing some down. The best one that is left is at Cleveland State University, and it’s been restored.
They all finally said to themselves "Hey wait a minute! I'm a millionaire! WTF am I doing in CLEVELAND????"
Yeah, the weather here sucks. And post-steel-era Cleveland is an ugly industrial mess for the most part.
I went to Cleveland State. I remember the Mather Mansion. It was still gorgeous inside back then, about 1969. I haven’t seen it since. I enjoy your channel.
I too am from Cleveland an so wish at least some of those beautiful homes would have been saved!!😭
No highway was not worth tearing down these masterpieces
My mother would have said, "If you're not willing to look after it, you did not deserve it".
Awesome video as well as the history.
So cool and yes I do wish that the mansions in Millionaires Row in Cleveland still stood to this day so that if I ever saw them it would be looking back on piece of historical architecture great video!
Thanks for another great video.
I have never quite understood the lack of knowledge of the value to historical buildings. The materials, the ideal of the individual or family energies of the formation.
Thank you for sharing your interests.
Uh, point of clarification. Andrew's Folly was larger than the Everett house, which was a close second.
During my last year of college around a dozen of us got to live in the Drury mansion at 86th & Euclid. Prior to our occupancy, the property was used as a home for unwed mothers & after we moved the property housed parolees. It was a great experience living there & I’m happy to report that the house still stands.
A fine video of forgoten history. It amuses me to see what is remembered and what is forgotten. To answer your question, it is no surprise or shame that this neighborhood rose and fell. It happens again and again through history -the wealthy gather in one place and build to satisfy their egos. Ultimately the buildings secumb to natural forces -the upkeep is extremely costly and nobody rich enough to afford one is willing to pay for another man's (or woman’s) ego. The cities that spawned the wealth continue to grow, driven by comerce the buildings have greater permanence with cash flow greater than maintenance. Eventually the rich leave their expensive little islands to decay.
Looking back, as your video does, lamenting the loss of such glamour and splendor you forget that it takes money to keep such things, and resentment of the rich is not a recent development.
This cycle is the rule, not the exception.
Ohio is sad and depressing. Whatever beauty they had in their cities is dead. I was in the Toledo area last for 2 months. The people are sad and poor. It's heartbreaking.
Thank you Jon, you are correct. Where are you from? I live in Ohio and FUCK ohio and FUCK cleveland with its shootings and crime and "Atv and stolen dirtbike sprees"
Once cleveland reclaims its water front it will be a great city once again. Being that the west is going to suffer because of drought and wild fires, the south, hurricanes, places like cleveland will have a Renaissance. What make them desirable at the turn of the century are doing so today. Invest in local real estate.
In addition to the "push" of encroaching commercial interests, there was the "pull" of newer more fashionable homes being built further afield around the turn of the century. The inflection point was probably when the streetcar (which had been diverted down Prospect during the 19th century) was rerouted straight down Euclid to University Circle.
Another sad ending to these wonderful homes. I see it all over Nashville. Tearing down homes with character only to replace them with ugly, white or black boxes!
Our disposable culture is shameful, sinful , and we are left with a pop culture. Tragic reality, because with this mindset we will keep disposing until even the prefabricated will ultimately actually be disposable. Say prayers for our National lack of appreciation, & tradition, it’s a sad thing not to have what came before.
I am from a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there. I think the best building in Cleveland was the Art Museum.
It's so wild that home built by millionaires would just be destroyed
this is really one of your more devastating reports!! thank you for bringing to light these unique and exquisite mansions that have disappeared. the lack of foresight that made it possible for so many of those mansions to be demolished is truly sad. the gentleness of your voice while reading this material conveys perfectly the reverence and the tragic mourning of the past. four foot stone blocks, you say??!!!! perhaps it is only the slums that will last forever. 💔
So these people built grandiose mansions. How much does it cost to maintain just the roof alone? Where would the money come from over the century? Did they leave trust funds behind for maintenance?
@@jglee6721 in many, many cities, significant properties are maintained by the city as well as private organizations. not every city operates on the verge of bankruptcy. that is the saddest part of this story. it would have only required the willingness to organize funding for even a handful of these magnificent structures. gutting the interior of a surviving mansion is not true preservation. lessons learned, i should hope. 💔
Please do the lost neighborhood millionaire's row mansions in chicago illinois
Thank you for the suggestion, cheers!
Good video. As a Cleveland native, I can tell that some of the homes are still standing. The area is in the middle of making a come back as the is a majore provate university and 2 well know hospitals in the area now. Cleveland Clinic deing one of them.
Thank you for sharing! Did Rufus Dunham, the farmer, stay as a farmer on his property, or did he sell some of his farm to these millionaires? I read in a couple of other comments that his home building is now a museum, but I wondered if he stayed a farmer?
Great video and added story. Subscribed
I really appreciate these videos. This one is especially fascinating due to the tragedy involved. If you haven't yet considered a piece on the Buffalo Asylum, it has an iconic facade that houses a terrible and tragic history. I'm surprised it's not more famous. Thanks so much.
Just throwing these to towns out Williamsport pa or the Mason family from Ambler Pennsylvania. Been a resident of both towns and the history is crazy. Keep up the great videos and thank you so much for this great history
In other countries alot of great architecture has been preserved for centuries and prooved to be a source of tourism and admiration. Imagine if these beautiful buildings in England or France or Italy was plowed down for a highway.
This country has so little of its historical past preserved or beautiful buildings. So much is allowed to decay or go to slums.
And much has been destroyed for malls or parking lots or whatever is the latest thing in modern housing.
It's really ashame. Ashame that we don't treasure our past or want to care for it.
Hi there. I've always wondered about millionaires row. Now I know. Thanks. I'm looking forward to more content.
Great video this was so informative
It is never worth loosing great architect masterpieces for progress. Currently living near Lansing, MI and have seen pictures of R.E. Olds mansion that was built in the heart of Lansing only to be torn down to run a freakin' highway through the center of the city (496)... Sad, very sad....
Thanks for this awesome rare history despite the story's extremely unhappy ending.
Part of the Francis Drury mansion on Euclid Avenue now is the Foundation House on the Cleveland Clinic campus. I attended a conference there several years ago.
This was a beautiful street and I remember a lot of them … Dad worked out of one of these homes when he worked for Peoples Appraisal!!! ..
Parts of lakewood, Cleveland heights, and Shaker heights still have many of these beautiful old style Victorian and Colonial Mansions still viewable today