Detroit Shoreway - Whiskey Island

DETROIT SHOREWAY (WHISKEY ISLAND)

Bounded on the North by Lake Erie

Bounded on the South by Clark Ave.

Bounded on the West by W. 84th St. (called Lowell St. before 1906)

Bounded on the East by W. 44th St. (called Harbor Street before 1906)

This neighborhood was originally part of Brooklyn Township.

The Detroit Shoreway neighborhood is home to many ethnic groups. This neighborhood contains the Franklin Blvd. and West Clinton National Register Historic Districts as well as Gordon Square (W. 65th & Detroit) and the Cleveland Public Theater. It is also known for its historic antique shops. The Gordon Square Arcade is the major commercial area of the neighborhood today. The Germans settled in the southern part of the area and came to work on the Ohio Canal. In the early 1900's, the Italians and Romanians were a major group in this neighborhood. The Italians founded Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in 1926. The Romanians founded St. Helena Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church on W. 65th St. Some of the earliest settlers were the Irish. They organized St. Colman's Church at West 65th Street in 1880. The Irish also lived in the Irishtown Bend area. This area was south of Detroit and east of W. 25th Street. Irish immigrants settled here. The Irish attended church at St. Malachi Church at W. 25th and Washington. This was in a larger area known as the Angle. The first Irish settlers came to Cleveland in the early 1830s. They were mostly diggers and dockworkers. Because of the potato famine of the 1830s and 1840s, the Irish spread to both sides of the Cuyahoga River. St. Patrick parish was established on Bridge Avenue in 1853. St. Malachi was founded in 1868. Irishtown Bend eventually became a warehouse district. This neighborhood is also home to Whiskey Island. It is named that because of a distillery that was built on the land in the 1830's. Because the Irish were diggers of the Ohio Canal in 1825 and were instrumental in redirecting the Cuyahoga River in 1827, Whiskey Island was settled by the Irish. Thirteen saloons were located on Whiskey Island. During the years, Whiskey Island was home to Akzo Nobel Salt Mine, and also the last Hulett Ore Unloader on the Great Lakes. Today it has been redeveloped into a park and marina. Also here was the Romanian Press at W. 55th and Detroit, the first Romanian paper in Cleveland.

MAIN ETHNIC GROUPS:

Irish, German, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Hispanic, Appalachian

NEARBY CEMETERIES: For a Spreadsheet showing where records can be found for the cemeteries mentioned below, see this site: http://usgenwebsites.org/OHCuyahoga/Cemeteries/index.html

Monroe Cemetery

Willet Cemetery

Fir Cemetery

St. Mary's Cemetery

CHURCHES: Click here to see church histories and possibly pictures of the churches below

https://sites.google.com/site/faqcuyahogactyresearch/cleveland-pastors-and-their-churches/cleveland-individual-church-histories

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic

Olivet Baptist

St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran

Franklin Street Congregational

St. Mark Presbyterian

Fifth Reformed