Grabski - Clevelands Flats

In 1863, the firm of Andrews and Clark Company built its first oil refinery. The company consisted of Samuel Andrews, Maurice, Richard and James Clark as well as a certain young man by the name of John D. Rockefeller. Crude oil would be boiled here to produce ten barrels of naptha and kerosene (gasoline was a waste product of the process) per day. Rockefeller would buy out the Clarks in 1865 and would go on to found the Standard Oil Company five years later, around the same time as this photograph was created. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

By the 1870s, Cleveland would be host to hundreds of vessels every shipping season. An assortment of steamers and sailing ships crowd the mouth of the Cuyahoga in this image. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

The Great Lakes were carved out by glaciers, and ice returns every winter to try and reclaim the inland seas. Vessel navigation halts during the winter months and ship owners take advantage of the time off to refit their ships. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

Steel has long played a role in the history of the Flats. One of the earliest companies would be the Hotchkiss and Gaylord Bolt Works, seen here during the late 19th century. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

A collection of blacksmiths from Hotchkiss and Gaylord is pictured here. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

Piles of iron ore tower over early lake steamers in this image from the beginning of the 20th century. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

The Cuyahoga River moves rather like a large snake as it winds its way to Lake Erie. As it does, it switches back on itself several times, forming peninsulas such as this one. At left is the Columbus Street dual-swing bridge. No other bridge in the world resembled this one before its construction in 1895. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

Believe it or not, the Cuyahoga does finally get to the lake. The rivers mouth is one of the few straight stretches along its course. In the early 1900s, the Pennsylvania Railroad had freight houses set up along the east bank of the Cuyahogas terminus. Note the lake boat in winter lay-up to the left and the early automobile (very likely a Ford Model T) in between the buildings. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

It is 1911 and, while the Amazon of Fairport and the George H. Gorliss go about their affairs, the steamer St. Clair finds itself jammed between the pilings of the Erie Railroad Bridge. The St. Clair s 56-foot beam was apparently just a bit too wide to fit through this part of the Cuyahoga. The boat would be freed and would sail until 1961. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

This image from 1912 is of the Superior Viaduct, which would be completed in 1878. The bridge allowed traffic to pass from Clevelands west side over the Cuyahoga and into downtown. It stood over 3,000 feet in length and had a 332-foot-long center span that would pivot in order to permit boats with tall superstructures to pass. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)

While the pivoting center span certainly made life easier for sailors, folks on the viaduct had a much more aggravating experience. Wagons and street cars would be stopped dead in their tracks (usually for five minutes or so) an average of 300 times every month. A new high-level span would be finished in 1918 in response to this problem, and the old viaduct was closed in 1920. Although much of the Viaduct would be demolished to create space for new buildings and to widen the Cuyahoga, a 600-foot-long section still remains on the rivers west bank. (Cleveland Press ArchivesCSU Library Special Collections.)