The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, recreational, entertainment, and residential area of the Cuyahoga Valley neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
History
In 1796, Moses Cleaveland and his survey party landed on the banks of the Cuyahoga upon their arrival from Connecticut. Early settlers included Lorenzo Carter, whose land holdings had much of what makes up today’s East Bank entertainment district, including Whiskey Island, which was created when the Corps of Engineers straightened the mouth of the river.
Early residents found the Flats inhospitable with humid summers that brought airborne illness and harsh winters with strong winds and snowfall off Lake Erie. Many took to higher ground in current-day Downtown. Bed Bug Exterminator Cleveland
Cleveland developed slowly until the arrival of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which brought a trade route from the Ohio River and other southern Ohio cities. The heavily Irish immigrant workforce built the canal and took residence on the West Bank of the Flats and neighboring Ohio City.
Ohio City’s rise, fueled by the produce that flowed from Medina County farms along U.S. 42 to the West Side Market, was soon viewed as a threat to Cleveland’s development. In response, Cleveland destroyed half of a floating bridge at Main Street (Main Street Bridge, located near the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway crossing), which was the sole river crossing. Cleveland then built a new bridge further downstream (Columbus Road Bridge) which connected Cleveland Mayor John W. Willey and developer/friend Jas Clark’s “Willeyville” and “Cleveland Centre” developments along the newly constructed Columbus Road. The new bridge diverted the produce trade from the West Side Market to the new Central Market. Infuriated Ohio City residents, rallying with the cry of “Two bridges or none,” marched on the new bridge with guns, axes, and other tools. They met a mob of Cleveland residents ready to fight; county sheriff’s officers put down the ensuing “Bridge War.” The courts ultimately forced Cleveland to rebuild half of the Main Street Bridge, but the damage had been done, and Ohio City soon became the first area to be annexed by the larger city.
A recession in the mid-19th century caused the Cleveland Centre mixed commercial and residential plan to collapse, and the land was purchased by industrialists connected to the canal and growing railroad lines. The cities’ poor Irish lived along the West Bank in the “Irish Ghetto” near the intersection of Columbus, Carter, Franklin, and Riverbed Roads. Shipmen would find services at establishments like the “Flat Iron,” the oldest Irish Bar in the Flats, which was originally a four-story cafeteria and inn. Lumberyards lined the river with freshly cut wood waiting to be shipped. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company on the East Bank was putting Cleveland, OH on the map as an industrial power.
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