Buckeye–Shaker is a neighborhood on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. It encompasses two sub-neighborhoods: in its south and west, the old Buckeye neighborhood, and in its northeast, the Shaker Square neighborhood, which is centered on a historic shopping district and an eponymous rapid transit station, located at the intersection of Shaker and Moreland Boulevards, on the light rail line that connects the city of Shaker Heights to downtown Cleveland. From the early to mid-20th century, the Buckeye Road neighborhood was known as Little Hungary, serving as the historic heart of Cleveland’s Hungarian community, which at one time was the largest in the world outside of Hungary and for years has been almost completely African-American. Shaker Square, continues to be known as one of Cleveland’s most notable neighborhoods, in terms of shopping, dining, architecture, education of its residents, participation in civic life, diversity and quality of living.
Buckeye–Shaker is bordered by the neighborhoods of Woodland Hills on its west, Mount Pleasant to the south, University Circle to the north, and the suburb of Shaker Heights to the east.
Shaker Square
The historic American Colonial-Georgian shopping center, which was largely influenced by European town squares, was built between 1927 and 1929 by the Van Sweringen brothers. Several pieces were added to the four quadrants – likely in the 1950s. Nearby, along Van Aken Boulevard but essentially an appendage to the Square, a commercial strip was built in 1939. The two brothers, who also developed much of the land to the east of the neighborhood as the planned community of Shaker Heights, envisioned Shaker Square as its gateway between the urban and suburban living spaces represented in the early 20th century. On either side of the train tracks are two lawn areas. A short distance east of the Shaker Square stop, the track splits into the Green Line (that heads east to Green Road) and the Blue Line (that runs southeast on Van Aken Boulevard until it reaches Chagrin Boulevard).
Buckeye Road
The Buckeye Road neighborhood was known as Little Hungary and developed as the heart of Cleveland’s Hungarian community in the late 19th century. By the 1920 United States Census, over 42,000 residents in Cleveland listed themselves as having been born in the Kingdom of Hungary, with a large portion of these residing in the Buckeye Road neighborhood. Like many immigrant groups, the Hungarians came to the United States looking for a better life. Those who settled in Cleveland, OH came when the city was one of the nation’s leading industrial cities. Working primarily in the heavy manufacturing sector, these immigrants settled in their tightly-knit community due to its proximity to the steel mills and day-labor jobs. Between the end of World War II and 1970, the neighborhood represented one of the most powerful political blocs in Cleveland’s Democratic Party. By the end of the 1970s, many of the original inhabitants of Buckeye Road had migrated to the suburbs as they ascended the economic ladder, largely due to the white flight, which had produced similar migrations out of the inner city in many US metropolitan areas. By the beginning of the 21st century, only a handful of Hungarian residents remained in a neighborhood that today is predominately African-American. Benedictine High School, a Catholic high school and perennial football powerhouse that boasts Chuck Noll as an alumnus, is located just south of Buckeye on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Bed Bug Exterminator Cleveland
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