Books About Cleveland

The following is a list of books about Cleveland, Ohio and some of the various ethnic groups who settled in Cleveland. You may find some of these in your local library, and if not, you can try to order them via inter-library loan. We have also included website addresses for those books that are available for download. 

Cleveland Books

• • Akers, William J. Cleveland Schools in the Nineteenth Century. 1901.

  • Alburn, Wilfred H. & Miriam Russell. This Cleveland of Ours. 1933. Digitized from CWRU.  Vol 1-4

  • Armstrong, Foster. A Guide to Cleveland's Sacred Landmarks. 1992

  • Avery, Elroy McKendree. A History of Cleveland and Its Environs. 1918. Digitized from CWRU Vol 1-3

  • Ayers, R. Wayne. Cleveland and the Western Reserve in Vintage Postcards. 2000.

  • Badal, James Jessen. In the Wake of the Butcher, Cleveland's Torso Murders. 2001.

  • Beers J.H. History of the Great Lakes. 1899.

  • Bridges of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. 1918.  On CPL website

  • Brooklyn Centre Historical Society. Reflections from Brooklyn Centre. 2004.

  • Burdick, Ronald and Baughman, Margaret. Historic Photos of Cleveland. 2007.

  • Bush, Chukayne, Hehr and Hershey. Euclid Beach Park - A Second Look. 1979.

  • Bush, Chukayne, Hehr and Hershey. Euclid Beach Park is Closed for the Season.

  • Butler, Margaret Manor. A Pictorial History of the Western Reserve 1796 to 1860.

  • Butler, Margaret Manor. Lakewood Story. 1949

  • Campbell, Thomas and Higgins, Edward. The Birth of Modern Cleveland 1865-1932.

  • Chapin, Edmund. Cleveland: Village to Metropolis. 1964.

  • Cherry, P.P. The Western Reserve and Early Ohio. 1920.

  • Cigliano, Jan. Showplace of America, Cleveland's Euclid Avenue 1850-1910. 1991.

  • City of Cleveland. Official Report on the Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the City of Cleveland.

  • Cleveland Centennial Commission. History of Charities in Cleveland 1796-1896.

  • Cleveland Centennial Womans Department. Album of the Western Reserve 1896.

  • Cleveland Restoration Society. Sacred Landmarks of Cleveland.

  • Cleveland Union Station, 1930 on Cleveland Memory On Cleveland Memory

  • Coates, William. A History of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland. 1924. Digitized by CWRU.  Vol 1-3

  • Cole, Arthur. Historic Sites of Cleveland. 1942.

  • Condon, George. Cleveland - Prodigy of the Western Reserve. 1979.

  • Condon, George. Cleveland: The Best Kept Secret. 1967.

  • Condon, George. West of the Cuyahoga. 2006.

  • Condon, George. Yesterday's Cleveland. 1976.

  • Cormack, George. Memories of a Lifetime Vols. 1, 2, and 3. (Cleveland Press Collection) 1999.

  • Cristy, A.B. Cleveland Congregationalists 1895: historical sketches of our twenty-five churches and missions and their work in missions - local growth and social life, with full directories of members to January 1, 1896. 1896.

  • Dittrick, Howard. Pioneer Medicine in the Western Reserve. 1932.

  • East Cuyahoga County Genealogical Society Abstracts of Wills, Estates & Guardianships Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court 1811-1852.

  • Eddlemon, Sherida and Nelson, Patricia. Our Ancestors of Cuyahoga County.

  • Ellis, William Donohue. Early Settlers of Cleveland. 1976

  • Ellis, William Donohue. The Cuyahoga. 1966.  https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/the-cuyahoga/

  • Ford, Horatio and Frary, Ihna. Village Green to City Center - Centennial of Euclid Avenue Congregational Church. 1943.

  • Foster, Leonard Gurley. The Early Days: A Pioneer Idyl. 1911

  • Francis, David and Diane. Cleveland Amusement Park Memories. 2004.

  • French, Collins. Origin and History of the Cleveland Viaduct. 1878.  https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/35/

  • Freese, Andrew. Early History of the Cleveland Public Schools. 1876. https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p128201coll0/id/1254/

  • Gebben, Claire.  The Last of the Blacksmiths.  (Historical novel of German Immigrants to Cleveland)

  • George, Milton. The Settlement of the Connecticut Reserve of Ohio, 1796-1850. 1950.

  • Gieck, Jack. A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825-1913. 1992.

  • Gleason, William. History of Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument. 1894.

  • Grabowski, John and Diane. Cleveland Then and Now. 2002.

  • Grabowski, John and VanTassel, David. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. 1996. Digital version at CWRU

  • Greater Cleveland Genealogical Society. Cuyahoga County 1852 Land Ownership Map Index. 1974.

  • Hall, Theodore. Sesquicentennial Story of Cleveland 1796-1946. Digitized by CWRU

  • Herrick, Clay. Cleveland Landmarks. 1986.

  • Herrick, Clay. Cleveland's Rich Heritage. 1975.

  • Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Ohio with Cuyahoga County History. https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~henryhowesbook/genealogy/index.html

  • James Ford Rhodes High School. South Brooklyn. 1946.

  • Joblin, Maurice. Cleveland Past and Present. Digitized at FullBooks.com

  • Johanesson, E. Cleveland Architecture, 1876-1976. 1979.

  • Johnson, Crisfield. History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 1879. Digitized by CWRU

  • Karberg, Richard and Toman, James. Euclid Avenue, Cleveland's Sophisticated Lady, 1920-1970. 2002.

  • Kennedy, James Harrison. A History of the City of Cleveland, Its Settlement, Rise and Progress (1796-1896). 1896. https://www.clevelandmemory.org/ebooks/kennedy/

  • Knight, Thomas A. Picturesque South Brooklyn Village. 1903.

  • Lawrence, Ann and Schattinger, Joan. Cleveland's Flats - The Incredible City Under the Hill. 1979

  • Lawrence, Ann and Schattinger, Joan. Cleveland's Flats on Tour - A Self Guide to the Riverfront. 1980's.

  • Liederbach, Robert J. Cleveland Past. 1975.

  • May Dugan Center. Whatever Happened to the Paper Rex Man? 1993.

  • Miggins, Edward M. A Guide to Studying Neighborhoods and Resources on Cleveland. 1984.

  • Miller, Carol Poh. Cleveland, A Concise History 1796-1990. 1997.

  • Morse, J.S. Cleveland City Guide. 1882.

  • Morton, Marian. And Sin No More: Social Policy and Unwed Mothers in Cleveland. 1993.

  • Orr, Charles. All About Cleveland - A City Cyclopedia - The Cleveland Cicerone. 1908. Digitized by Rails and Trails

  • Orth, Samuel. A History of Cleveland, Ohio. 1910 Digitized by CWRU Vol 1-3

  • Page, H.R. Cleveland Illustrated. 1889

  • Post, Charles. The Cuyahoga: The Crooked River That Made a City Great. 1941.

  • Reese, John. A Guidebook for Tourists and Travelers over the Valley Railway from Cleveland to Canton. 1880.

  • Robison, W. Scott. History of the City of Cleveland: Its Settlement, Rise and Progress. 1887. Digitized by CWRU

  • Rose, William Ganson. Cleveland, The Making of a City. 1950.

  • Schofield, M.P. Landmark Architecture of Cleveland. 1976.

  • Spain, Daphne. Safe Havens for Cleveland's Virtuous Women 1868-1928.

  • Titus, Simmons & Titus. Atlas of Cuyahoga County. 1874. https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4014coll24/id/502/

  • Toman, James and Cook, Daniel. Cleveland's Towering Treasure - A Landmark Turns 75. 2005.

  • Upton, Harriett Taylor. History of the Western Reserve. 1910. Digitized by CWRU Digitized by GoogleBooks.

  • Urann, Clara A. Centennial History of Cleveland. 1896.

  • Wallen, James. Cleveland's Golden Story. 1920 Digitized in Cleveland Memory

  • Western Reserve University. Street Names of Cleveland and Vincinity. 1927.

  • Wheeler, Robert. Pleasantly Situated on the West Side. 1980.

  • Whittlesey, Charles. Early History of Cleveland, Ohio. 1867. Digitized in Cleveland Memory

  • Wickham, Gertrude van Renssaelaer. Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve 1796-1840. 1896. Much is transcribed for this site See Townships under Cities, Villages and Townships.. Transcription on HeritagePursuit 

  • Wilson, Ella Grant. Millionaires' Row: Famous Old Euclid Avenue (1932-1937). 1937.

  • WPA. Annals of Cleveland, 1818-1935. 1937 (Can be found on Heritage Quest)

  • WPA. The Peoples of Cleveland. 1942.

CUYAHOGA BOOKS FROM ARCADIA PUBLISHING

• • Baldwin-Wallace College

  • Bay Village

  • Bedford and Bedford Township

  • Berea

  • Brecksville

  • Brewing in Cleveland

  • Cleveland and Its Streetcars

  • Cleveland and the Western Reserve in Vintage Postcards

  • Cleveland Area Disasters

  • Cleveland Area Golf

  • Cleveland Browns History

  • Cleveland Czechs

  • Cleveland Heights

  • Cleveland Heights Congregations

  • Cleveland Heights: The Making of an Urban Suburb

  • Cleveland Mainline Railroads

  • Cleveland Metroparks

  • Cleveland Police

  • Cleveland School Gardens

  • Cleveland Slovaks

  • Cleveland, Ohio from Black America Series

  • Cleveland’s Buckeye Neighborhood

  • Cleveland’s Department Stores

  • Cleveland’s Downtown Architecture

  • Cleveland’s Flats

  • Cleveland’s Gospel Music

  • Cleveland’s Greatest Fighters of All Time

  • Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery

  • Cleveland’s Legacy of Flight

  • Cleveland’s Lighthouses

  • Cleveland’s Little Italy

  • Cleveland’s National Air Races

  • Cleveland’s Playhouse Square

  • Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Roots

  • Cleveland’s Slavic Village

  • Cleveland’s University Circle

  • Cleveland’s Vanishing Sacred Architecture

  • Cleveland: 1796-1929

  • Cleveland: 1930-2000

  • Cuyahoga County: The First 200 Years

  • Cuyahoga Falls Ohio

  • Cuyahoga Valley

  • East Cleveland

  • Erie Street Cemetery

  • Euclid Beach Park

  • Fairview Park

  • Fenn College

  • Lake Erie Boats and Ports in Vintage Postcards

  • Lakewood

  • Legendary Locals of Berea

  • Legendary Locals of Cleveland

  • North Olmsted

  • North Royalton

  • Northfield Park

  • Olmsted Falls

  • Orange Township: Between the River & the Wooded Hills

  • Parma

  • Railroad Depots of Northeast Ohio

  • Riverfront Stadium: Home of the Big Red Machine

  • Rocky River, Ohio

  • Shaker Heights

  • South Euclid

  • Strongsville

  • The Overlook of Cleveland and Cleveland Heights

  • Westlake

  • Woodland Cemetery

TRANSPORTATION

• • Christiansen, H. Northern Ohio's Interurbans and Rapid Transit Railways. 1965.

  • Hays, Blaine. Cleveland's Dynamic Transit Heritage. 1986.

  • Toman, James. Cleveland's Transit Vehicles. 1996.

  • Toman, James. Cleveland Transit Throughout the Years. 1999.

  • Toman, James and Hays, B. Horse Trails to Regional Rails: The Story of Public Transit in Cleveland. Kent State University Press. 1996. This company published a lot of streetcar and transit books: Cleveland Landmarks Press Inc.

FICTIONAL BOOKS ABOUT CLEVELAND OR BASED ON CLEVELAND

• • Hay, John. The Bread-Winners. (based on Millionaire's Row).

  • Petkus, Peggy Murphy. Millionaire's Row. 1989.

  • Petkus, Peggy Murphy. Millionaire's Hill. 1991.

  • Petkus, Peggy Murphy. Millionaire's Children.

  • Richards, Emilie. Whiskey Island. 2000.

  • Young, Agatha. (aka Agnes Brooks Young). Light in the Sky. (based on Millionaire's Row).

To find more fictional books about Cleveland, search the Cuyahoga County Public Library catalog with the following search terms:

"Cleveland (Ohio) Fiction." There are 100 fiction books about Cleveland. Some of the authors are listed below, but there were many others:

Lisa Black

Greg Cielec

Casey Daniels

Raymond DeCapite

Christine Petrell Kallevig

Michael Koryta

Laurie Loveman

Richard Ondo

Les Roberts

Tavorris Robinson

David Stephens

EMIGRATION

• • Fox, Paul. The Poles in America. 1922.

  • Guillet, Edwin. The Great Migration. 1937 - at Ohio Link.

  • Miller, Kenneth. Peasant Pioneers. 1925. - at Ohio Link.

  • Shippen, K.B. Passage to America. 1950. - at Ohio Link.

  • Wittke, Carl. We Who Built America. 1963.

ETHNIC

• • Cadzow, John. Lithuanian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. 1978.

  • Callahan, Nelson and Hickey, William. Irish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. 1978. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/43/

  • Coulter, Charles. The Lithuanians of Cleveland. 1920. Digitized by CWRU

  • Farham, Hannah and Lee, Sawyer. The Huguenots in France and America. 1843.

  • Ledbetter, Eleanore. The Czechs of Cleveland. 1919.

  • Ledbetter, Eleanore. The Jugoslavs of Cleveland. 1918. Digitized by CWRU

  • Macron, Mary Haddad. Arab-Americans & Their Communities of Cleveland. 1979. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/22/

  • Pap, Michael. Ethnic Communities of Cleveland. 1973.

  • Papp, Susan. Hungarian Americans and the Communities of Cleveland. 1981. http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/hungarians/"> Digitized by CSU

  • Veronesi, Gene. Italian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. 1977. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/54/

GERMANS

• • Jubilee Edition of the Waechter und Anzeiger. 1902. (German Newspaper in Cleveland available at Cleveland Public Library)

  • Ozment, Steven. A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People. 2004

  • Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland and It's Germans. 1898.

  • Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland and It's Germans. 1907.

  • Gebben, Claire.  The Last of the Blacksmiths.  A historical novel about German immigrants to Cleveland.

POLAND

• • Bak, Eugene. Life Journey - An Autobiography. 2002. He was born in Poland and his family was one of thousands sent by the Russians to Siberia. Later they were released and went to India/Pakistan where he grew up. His father was with the Polish army. Mr Bak lives in Cleveland.

  • Coulter, Charles. The Poles of Cleveland. 1919. Digitized by CWRU

  • Davies, Norman. God's Playground. Revised Edition of Volume II - 1795 to the present. 1982.

  • De Zayas, Alfred. A Terrible Revenge. 2006.

  • Grabowski, John J. Polish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. 1977. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/42/

  • Lukowski, Jerzy and Zawadzki, Hubert. A Concise History of Poland.

  • Martin, James Conroyd. Push Not The River. 2000.

  • Martin, James Conroyd. Against A Crimson Sky.

  • Michener, James. Poland. 1984.

  • Reymont, Wladislaw. The Peasants 1925. (four books, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.) 1925.

  • Sienkiewicz, Henryk. With Fire and Sword. 1892.

  • Sienkiewicz, Henryk. The Deluge. 1891.

  • Sienkiewicz, Henryk. Fire in the Steppe. 1892.

  • Stauter-Halsted, Keely. The Nation in the Village: The Genesis of Peasant National Identity in Austrian Poland 1848-1914. 2001.

  • Thomas, Gordon and Witts, Max Morgan. Voyage of the Damned. 1974.

  • Tuchman, Barbara W. A Proud Tower. 1967

  • Zamoyski, Adam. The Polish Way. 1988.

PRUSSIA

• • Clark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom, The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. 2006.

  • Goertz, Adelbert. Genealogy Guide to East and West Prussia. 2003.

  • Hagen, William W. Ordinary Prussians. 2002.

  • Raymond, A. Intimate Prussia. 1918

  • Tims, Richard Wonser. Germanizing Prussian Poland. 1941.

SLOVAKS

• • Ledbetter, Eleanore. The Slovaks of Cleveland. 1918. Digitized by CWRU

  • Megles, Susi. Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. 1978.