March 3, 1837 - This Day In History... A Tale of Two Cities, Cleveland-style

I married a west-sider. After meeting at The Ohio State University, my then-boyfriend always said, “Yep, I’m from Cleveland. Where the west side is the best side, and the east is the least”. He always said it with a wry grin, and being a Columbus-ite myself, I didn’t really understand the significance of his words. Fast forward to just over 15 years later, when we were looking for a place to live in the Northeast Ohio area. I found some lovely homes in Shaker Heights, Solon, University Heights, etc. and was quite excited. When shown these, he responded with a furrowed brow and remarked, “I’m not even sure they would allow me to live on the east side. We better stay west of the river.” I thought he was kidding. The east suburbs are lovely, full of beautiful historic homes, sweeping lawns, brick and stone and some gorgeous family neighborhoods.

Cleveland in 1835

Now, those of you reading this who have lived here for some time are smiling right now. But newbies like myself thought he might be a bit crazy. When pressed further, I learned that there was an old joke that you needed a special “pass” to cross back and forth over the Cuyahoga River. Once you lived east or west, you tended to stay that way, and do your business (including your career) pretty much on that “side”. To a girl who grew up in circular Columbus, this mentality was pretty foreign.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that there had actually been a Cleveland ‘civil war’ of sorts! It appears that these east v. west roots ran inordinately deep: way back to 1836, in fact.

You see, the Columbus Street Bridge was the first permanent bridge over the Cuyahoga River. It was built in the spring of 1836 to the tune of $15,000 and was, in part, financed by the Mayor of Cleveland at the time, John W. Willey. It promoted the commercial development of Cleveland but at the expense of Ohio City. 
 

Columbus Street Bridge - 1837

The bridge was 200 feet long, 33 feet wide and 24 feet high, with a draw at the center allowing ships to pass. Travelers could now bypass Ohio City entirely, including the old floating bridge there that was owned jointly by Cleveland and Ohio City. When they saw their trade diverted to Cleveland, Ohio City residents boycotted the new bridge.

The westsiders obviously objected on the grounds that the people from Brooklyn, Elyria, and the countryside, would go over to Cleveland by the new route, instead of passing down into Ohio City, for their trading. This meant a direct loss, as each year brought hundreds of teams in, from the south and west, loaded with wheat, flour, corn, pork, etc. – not to mention the loads of goods that were carried away in return.

To make matters worse, at the direction of a cunning Mayor Willey and his financial partner Mr. Clark, the Cleveland City Council ordered that their half of the Ohio City-Cleveland floating bridge be destroyed. It was done in the dark of night, and when the westsiders awoke to a rising sun, they saw their direct communication and commerce to Cleveland utterly destroyed. They realized that to reach any point of Cleveland at all, they would be forced to travel south and use the hated Columbus Street Bridge.

To say they retaliated is a bit of an understatement. They tried (in vain) to powder explode one end of the new bridge. A group of 1,000 Ohio City volunteers began digging deep ditches at both ends of the bridge, making it impossible for horses and wagons to reach the structure. But the westsiders were still unsatisfied with this and took to using guns, crowbars, axes, and other weapons to finish off the bridge. In the midst of all this, their rallying cry could be heard: “Two bridges, or none!”

Mayor John. W. Willey

Well, the Cleveland eastsiders quickly caught wind of this, and a militia armed with rifles as well as the old cannon used during July 4^th celebrations were brought to defend the new bridge. When Mayor Willey stepped up to try to calm the situation, he was blasted with stones thrown by the westsiders. The Ohio City residents began tearing up the bridge planks and threw them in the river. Meanwhile, Old Deacon House slipped over to the east side and disabled the antique cannon. But gunfire was exchanged and approximately eight men were injured.

Eventually, some may say amends were made and Ohio City was annexed by the City of Cleveland in 1854. So, there you have it. A deep-seated, longstanding rift between the people who flank either side of the Cuyahoga.

Which brings me to two wonderful Northeast Ohio associations which I’d like to highlight: The Cuyahoga West and Cuyahoga East chapters of the Ohio Genealogical Society. These two fine groups of genealogists do not merely serve just their sides of the Cuyahoga. It's clear that they cheerfully exchange the information that benefits all of us who are interested in family history. Please visit their websites for a treasure trove of material, or attend one of their monthly meetings. Use whichever bridge you like.