Becker - Cleveland

WELCOME TO CLEVELAND! A lighthouse is poised at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River with the Cleveland skyline in the distance. Standing above everything else is Clevelands newest landmark, the historic Terminal Tower, at the time the tallest building between New York City and Chicago. Clevelands skyline would change dramatically over the years, leaving the Terminal Tower the giant no more.

THE TERMINAL TOWER, CLEVELANDS NEWEST LANDMARK. On June 28, 1930, the new Union Terminal was dedicated. It was built at a cost of $150 million and employed over 500 office workers. The transportation terminal was situated below the tower itself, which had been completed by 1928. Terminal Tower stood over 700 feet above the station concourse and had 52 floors, including an observation deck. (Photograph by Frank Reed.)

INSIDE THE TERMINAL TOWER. As soon as visitors passed through the brass-plated glass doors to enter the Terminal Tower, they were surrounded by ornate, high-arched ceilings and marble floors. The lobby remains much the same as it looked in this 1939 photograph, when a trip to Public Square in downtown Cleveland was a treat. Graham Anderson, Probst & White, a Chicago architectural firm, designed the Terminal Tower.

DEDICATION OF THE TERMINAL TOWER. Dedication ceremonies to mark the official opening of the new transportation terminal were held in the station concourse and were attended by hundreds of local and national dignitaries. Two people who were most conspicuously absent from the occasion were brothers Mantis James and Oris Paxton Van Sweringen, the visionary businessmen who were responsible for the building of the landmark Cleveland Union Terminal Complex.

RETAILERS WELCOME THE

TERMINAL TOWER. The opening of the new Cleveland Union Terminal Complex, arguably the finest of any American city at the time, was cause for a citywide celebration. Here, the May Company department store was decorated with banners. This busy retail strip included the F.W. Woolworth Company, Baileys Department Store, and Richmans, all of which have since closed. Cleveland, once a retailers mecca, has no major department stores downtown today.

CLEVELAND CELEBRATES ITS 134TH ANNIVERSARY! In July of 1930, members of Clevelands City Club, (left to right) Warren M. Briggs, Bernard S. Brady, and R.G. Beattie, prepared to lay a wreath at the foot of the statue of General Moses Cleaveland, the citys namesake and founder, who arrived in 1796 as part of a surveying party. The monument to Moses Cleaveland still remains on the southwest quadrant of Public Square.

THE HIGBEE COMPANY. Anchoring the Terminal Tower complex on Ontario Avenue and Public Square was the Higbee Company department store, photographed here in 1934. The Higbee Company would remain one of Clevelands and Northeast Ohios major retailers for several decades. Higbees was sold in 1987 to Dillard Department Stores, and in 1992, it was renamed Dillards.

TAYLORS DEPARTMENT STORE. Another major Cleveland department store was Taylors. When it first opened in the late 19th century, it was known as William Taylor Son and Company. The store was located at 630 Euclid Avenue and stood nine stories tall. When this photograph was taken in 1934, the store had completed renovations totaling half a million dollars and had shortened its name to Taylors Department Store. In 1961, Taylors closed its doors.

THE HALLE BROTHERS COMPANY. In its heyday, Cleveland was home to many of the largest, most lucrative retailers in the business. The Halle Brothers Company, seen here on Euclid Avenue, together with the May Company and the Higbee Company, completed the trio of popular shopping destinations for downtown visitors. When this photograph was taken in 1936, Halles had already opened several branch stores in neighboring suburbs, a move soon followed by its competitors.