This book, from 1988 to 2023, is a mix of Twilight Town and Fall Town, that are the last two books in a trilogy about this city, which is purposely anonymous, representing the dozens of cities and towns of the Rust Belt. It’s also what a coffee table photography book edit might look like, instead of my archive in book form format. After all i shot this over lots of time. Check out the Introduction here.
Ruby Teague's Home, East 65th StreetIn the oldest sections of the city, out eighty blocks from the center, the streets and blocks were a mixture of homes and apartments in many different architectural styles and materials. The Green House was one of the last remaining homes on the block, between Central Avenue and Quincy Avenue, when i shot it in 1990. I shot every structure on the block over a period of 12 years, until there was little left.The Henry Steinbrenner, Unloading Wheat at General Mills on the Cuyahoga RiverThe Ship's top speed was 11 knots, was built in 1916 and was used mostly for moving grain. When the shot was taken, in 1989, it was the oldest operating or boat on the Great Lakes. It was one of three ships that still ran on coal. It was finally scrapped in 1995.
Henry, George's father built Lake freighters in Cleveland, then Lorain. His son sold the business in the 1970s, but still owned three ships under the Kinsman Line name. Kinsman was a neighborhood and home to many Jewish and Italians, getting their starts in town.LTV Steel, C-5 Blast FurnaceToday the C-5 and C-6, behind it, are the last blast furnaces in Cleveland, and, are entirely operational.Homes, East 33rd Streethis was a small Polish enclave that originated when the steel mills were located on the Lake. The larger neighborhood it was part of, was Croation, and two Croation sisters, it's said, originally lived in the two homes. A church, St. Josephat's, is still across the street, although it's become some sort of arts center.
Why a Polish enclave inside a Croation enclave? Early poles to this town, worked the steel mills, which were originally on the Lake around Eas 39th Street, later moving into the Flats district on a river, inland.Holmden Hill & Jones & Laughlin Steel WorksJ & L eventually went under, but LTV Steel, on the other side of the river, bought it and kept the mill going. Today there are three homes left, but the mill, bought by Cleveland Cliffs,in 2020, is booming.Jack's Bar, Cedar Avenue - GoneLTV Steel, Gas Lines & Blast Furnaces, The FlatsYou'll never find a coke plant inside city limits again, and this LTV Coke Plant was demolished in the 1990s. The furnaces are still operational today, having gone through a number of owners. Home, E. 67th St., Beaver Heights, forgotten triangle – goneUnion Hill Baptist Church, Gill Avenue, Forgotten Triangle - GoneMaking churches, as well as, bars and stores, out of homes is a common practice.Union Hill Baptist Church, Interior Gill Avenue, Forgotten TriangleCarved out of an old home, by the 1980s, the Triangle had become an endemic masterpiece.Home, East 101st Street - GoneChurch & Apartment House, Scovill Avenue - GoneTrinity Gospel Church & Magic Beauty Salon, Woodland Aveenue - GoneSmith's Barber Shop - GoneThe Big Q Furniture Store, Woodland Avenue - GoneThe Big Q Furniture Store and abandoned apartments and retail -Woodland Avenue - GoneAmerican Republic Turning, Eagle Avenue Bridge & DowntownC-5 Blast Furnace, LTV SteelColumbus Road Bridge MovingGrille, Mike Boros Cafe, Buckeye RoadThe last Hungarian bar on Buckeye Road.Eagle Avenue, Lift Bridge Moving & DowntownThe bridge closed in 2006 and is scheduled for demolition in 2026.The Roof of the Colonial ArcadeBuilt by the Kenbridge Company in 1895 the colonial arcade was revamped in the late 90s and is still an operation today, although a much pricier place to shop.The Sdaway BridgeThe cities only suspension Bridge, it was actually a pedestrian bridge and linked to distinct neighborhoods of Hungarians and the east side and Polish on the west side. Later, when blacks moved into the east side and tensions rose during riots in the late 60s, the Polish side set the bridge on fire. Since then it's been abandoned. The local joke for many years was what is the longest bridge in the world? The SIDAWAY. It links Africa with Poland.Old FashionHot Dogs, Lorain AvenueFirst opened in 1920, it closed in April, 2020 during fever along Lorraine AvenueSteve's Lunch, Lorain avenue.Steve's lunch and the entire building succumb to a fire in 2012 and was demolished.Mike Boros Cafe, BeuckeyeThe bar never was closed until May, 1998, when Willie is in his 80s, and, the son of the original owner, simply took off his apron, closed the bar in the afternoon, and locked the door.
That's, the night bartender, Dave, who, when Boros closed, bought a bar on Fleet Avenue, but, at that same time, he had to stop drinking and virtually close the bar. That happened when you need and get a liver transplant.LTV Steel Basic Oxygen Plant, East Side & HomesThe steel mill is now owned by Cleveland Cliffs and all the homes on Dille Street are gone.Rear of Shotgun Shack, East 38th StreetCollinwood Diesel Locomotive Shop, East 152ndIn 1874 the first round table and repair shops were built. By the 1950s, with the steam locomotive error over, it became a diesel locomotive repair shop.Home, Keyes AvenueHouse, Keyes AvenueHouse, Berwick AvenueStandard school, E. 58th St.M/N Pantry & Holy Temple B.C. Church, Cedar Avenue - GoneHome & House, East 78th Street - GoneThree Duplexes, Holton Avenue, Forgotten Triangle - GoneHome & Apartment Building, East 60th StreetBy 2009 many streets look like this with one or two remaining original homes in the empty spaces being taken up by new construction.Home & Store, East 81st Street, Forgotten Triangle - GoneThe picture was shot in 1995, in a few years the shop would close. It was the last local store in the neighborhood, and of the hundreds of homes that were there maybe a dozen that are still scattered around. whay It's the heart of the Forgotten Trinagle.Lohman Block, Woodland at Buckeye - GoneA well-known mercantile block where Buckeye Road ends at Woodland Avenue froming one of the triangles within the larger Forgotten Triangle that's made uo from portions of five city neighborhoods.Home/Church, East 82nd Street, Forgotten TriangleHome/Church, East 82nd Street, Forgotten TriangleEast 68th Street Rowhouse, 2004East 68th Street Rowhouse, 2009Home, East 38th Street - GoneThe oldest sections of the city still standing, in 1989, went from East 30th Street out to East 55th Street, and today a mere handful of the older homes remains, in neighborhoods, that were mostly empty spaces for many years, until new homes were built by 2000.Home, East 67th Street - GoneHome, Holton AvenueOriginally a deathly populated industrial neighborhood of Hungarians and other eastern Europeans, by 1970 there were a few left.Home, East 82nd Street, Forgotten TrinagleHome, East 79th StreetLTV Steel, Inscription on slag ladel, The FlatsPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery) - Bult 1910, Closed 1989, Demolished 1996Originally a plant buit for the manufacture of luxury vehicles, in the 1930s it became a large brewery, but finally closed in the 1980s and was torn down in 1994.Careless auto (schmidt's brewery lobbyPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), Staircase & Terra Cotta WallsPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), Spiral StairsPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), Chemical Safety StationPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), ScalePeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), Tasting RoomPeerless Auto (Schmidt's Brewery), Demolition 1995The famed front entrance to the main offices of the plant.B & O #463 bridge & Woodland and Westside Railroad power plant stacksLTV Steel, Open Hearth, Blooming and Slab Mills StacksThis section of the old republic steal mill was finally demolished in 2012.Eagle Avenue Viaduct & Terminal TowerBridge deterioration from 1970 until thwe 1990s was a constant problem in a city of bridges.Columbus Road Bridge, Gates MovingEagle Avenue Lift Bridge, Gates Moving - Built 1920, Closed 2005Buffalo Upbound Passing West Third Street BridgeWest Third Street Bridge MovingOre Boat Passing Under Eagle Avenue Bridge at Collision Bend, The Flats'57 Chevy Belaire, Palm Beach Cars, Broadway AvenueHouses & Monster Cars, East 83rrd StreetTim Willis owns the two homes and builds the various trucks and vehicles.Apartments & Car, Magnet Street - GoneTanker & Tank, Ashland Oil, Forgotten TriangleA well-known old-timer owned this tanker truck and made a living hauling waste oil. It's the center of a large section of the city that became know as the Forgotten Triangle. In the 1970s, a summer firestorm erupted, burning many out, in the once densley populated area, which, then, began the slow orgnic descent into oblivion.Crane, Glade Avenue, Forgotten TriangleTruck, Holton Avenue, Forgotten TriangleSign, Home, East 65th Street.East 65th Street & Bushnell Court. In a section of the Forgotten triangle, called Beaver Heights, a resdident has resorted to signage to to keep the crack heads at bay, Beaver Heights how deteriorated by 1997, further than just about anywhere in the city. It became the ideal place for drinking, getting high, turning tricks, scrapping, burning scrap and taking pictures.
Meanwhile the homes that were left are still occupied by long-term residents, who remember it as a safe, peaceful place until around 1980s.House East 65th StreetReno Hotel, East 40th StreetOne of the more notorious houses of sin along East 40th Street up until its demolition in 1998Apartment House, Hough AvenueLTV Steel, Open Hearth, Blooming and Slab Mills Stacks & Basic Oxygen PlantHouse, Thackaray AvenueHouse, East 69th Street, Beaver Heights, The TriangleApartment House, Berwick AvenueHouse, East 78th StreetHouses, East 69th Street, Beaver Heights, The TrianagleHouse, Berwick AvenueHouse, Platt AvenueHouse, Lynn AvenueThe Hough neighborhood.Store & Apartment, Kinsman AvenueHome, East 62nd Street, Beaver Heights, The Triangle - GoneHouse, East 65th StreetHome & Republic Steel Bleeder Stack, Pershing AvenueCoke Plant #1 - LTV Steel - built 1916, closed 1990, demolished 1997.Coke Plant #1, DemolitionCoke Plant #1, DemolitionCoke Plant #1, DemolitionCoke Plant #1, DemolitionDanzey's East 79th StreetDanzey's East 79th StreetPage's Junkyard, East 83rd Street, Forgotten TrianagleHouse, Hawthorne Avemue - GoneHouse, Cedar AvenueThis section of Cedat from 30th to 55th, had numerous small mansions of wood, brick or stone. It's 1982, but could be any year, as the abandonemt of Victorian era homes all look the same as far identifying its year.Home, East 65th StreetHouse, East 58th StreetHouse, East 68th StreetHouse, Hawthorne StreetTrailer, Christmas, 2000Willow Avenue Bridge, The FkatsThe bridge provides access to whiskey Island, which is largely industrial and even more industrial back in the day.Eagle Avenue Viduct Bridge & DowntownLtv steel, C-5 & C_6 Blast Furncaes & Buffalo Unloading Iron OreProspect AvenueWeizer BuildingDunbar Insurance Company Building, Woodland Avenue. - GoneThe Dunbar Insurance Company was a successful black owned business in the cty.Dunbar Insurance Company Building, Woodland Avenue. - GoneHouse of a Million Items, Woodland Ave. - GoneFormerly the Reserve Trust Bank, the shop is gone. Reserve Trust was a precursor to the Cleveland Trust Bank which would impact the city greatly. The Gund family, that started by brewing beer, before banking, would play a huge roll in philanthropy and even sporrts when the a Gund family meber bought the pro basketball.team, in the seventiers and eiughties. Another Gund, Agnes, would be instramental in the founding and continuesd success of MOMA in New York.nk Vault, Quincy Savings Bank, Quincy Ave.Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Originally the Upson Nut and Bolt Company, it was bought by Republic steel in the 1930s. It made its own iron in the furnaces along the Cuyahoga River, and was embedded almost in the downtown section of the city.Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Federal Steel & Wire, The Flats - Built 1921, Closed 1978, demolished 1992Door, East 66th StreetDoor, Thackaray StreetHome, Quincy AvenueHome & Car, East 65th StreetHouses, Holton Avenue, Forgotten TrianagleHomes, East 82nd StreetLTV Steel, Cleveland - Door to Caster PlantThis caster, built in the early 1990s, attached to the basic oxygen plant, would revolutionize the rolling process and speed up everything after the Steel was made. TYhat was the tragedy of the bankruptcies of 2001, because the American steel industry was the most modern and least labor intensive, producing the highest tech steel, in the world.
It's just that countries like China or selling their steel at a far cheaper price. Two years later the mail and caster wheel bike at a bargain price and are still functioning today haven't been bought by Cleveland Cliffs.LtV, West Side Plant, Stacks, Reheat FurnacesLTV Steel, Cleveland - Rolling Mill, Basic Oxygen Furnace, 240 Ton Alliance LadleLTV Steel, Cleveland - Basic Oxygen Plant, 110T Hook CradleLTV Steel, Cleveland - Basic Oxygen Plant, Caster SledLTV Steel, Cleveland - Rolling Mill Reheat FurnaceHome, East 40th StreetHouse, East 40th StreetSheriff Street Market Demolition & Terminal TowerFood Warehouse, Sheriff Street MarketDemolished for the new baseball stadium.Lindsay Wire Weaving, Water Tank - GoneWooltex & Tower Press, Water Tank, Superior AvenueLTV Steel, Cleveland - Gas HolderCoal TipplesAround this time half the lines on this main line were cut out, but it's an active Norfolk nd Southern property today with a large switching yard just west behind camera.Coal Tipples, DemolitionThe tipples stood idle since the steam days ended and were taken down in 1989.Charles Ciangiolo Fruits & Vegetables - GoneStill a food distribution center today, albeit, much quiter and desolate than the old days.Giant Tiger Department Store, Sign, Carnegie AvenueGiant Tiger was a very regional discount department store.Old Fashion Hot Dogs, Lorain AvenueGolden Pin Bowl, Harvard Avenue - GoneThe Last Home, Ensign AvenueHome, House & Car, Hawthorne Avenue.Homes, East 33rd StreetHomes, Artur AvenueChurches Rawlins Avenue - GoneOriginially a Hungarian school, by the 1960s the Hungarians had moved out of Lower Buckeye and the the old school building on the left became one of the Hagar churches and the building on the right became home to Reverend Lee's Baptist Church.
Both recently shut down and are abandoned and will be torn down in 2022. Houses, East 77th StreetHouses, Lakeview RoadHome, House & Car, East 38th Street - GoneHouse & Home, Luther AvenueHouses, East 79th Street & Hough AvenueHomes, East 85th StreetThree Duplexes, Holton Avenue, Forgotten Triangle - GoneOnce you get out to East 71st Street you begin to see, here and there, developments of duplicate buildings. As you go further east in the neighborhoods built in the 1920s boom years, more streets are found with the same style of home.Three Homes, East 46th StreetThe Dall Homes came to the brink of loss and, in 2019, people took it over for its restoration.Four Homes, Independence AvenueAs of 2025, there is one home left. The shot was taken in 2002)Advertisement, Hillbilly JooseA regional and local beverage company, Cotton Club, brought the Joose out in 1970s.Variety Store, Cumberland AvenueGlass Bottles Strategic Materials Glass Plant, West 3rd Street, The Flatslass Bottles, Strategic Materials, Glass Plant, West 3rd Street, The FlatsGlass, Strategic Materials Glass Plant, West 3rd Street, The FlatsHomes, West 19th StreetHomes, West 19th StreetHouse & Home, Griswold Avenue, NightHouse & Home, Griswold Avenue, DayHome, East 65th Street, Beaver HeightsHouse, East 65th Street, Beaver HeightsSam Laud Upbound Passing Under the Detroit Superior Bridge, The FlatsOre Boat, Upbound, Passing Under the Columbus Road Bridge, The FlatsNewburgh & South Shore & Baltimore & Ohio Lift BridgesOne bridge remains - the old B & O.The Manastee Being Pulled by the Iowa TugAlgoway & Tug Upbound, The FlatsHome, Quincy Avenue - GoneHomes, East 77th StreetHouses, East 77th StreetHoney Boy BBQ, Central AvenueApartments, East 46th StreetApartments, East 46th StreetHouse of a Million Items, Woodland Avenue - Gonebernard's pharmacy, 19th street & cedarToday the entire area has been transformed and rede developed by the biggest employer, in the state of Ohio, a hospital.Chinatown, Rockwell StreetThese places are gone.Shanghai restaurant, Rockwall StreetColonial Apartments, Euclid AvenueThe colonial apartments, Euclid AvenueMoe's barThe George McConico unloading grainThe Mike Burrows CaféThe sSdaway BridgeHome, East 61st Street, Beaver HeightsHouse, Page's Junkyard, East 84th Street, Forgotten TrinagleHome, Quincy Avenue - GoneHome, Holton Avenue, Forgotten TriangleHouse, Holton Avenue, Forgotten TriangleHomes, Berwick AvenueHomes, Berwick AvenueHomes, Berwick AvenueColumbus Road Gates Moving, The FlatsColumbus Road Gates Moving, The FlatsValentine Beauty Salon, Professor Avenue - GoneValentine Beauty Salon, Professor Avenue - GoneAmerican Republic Turning & Downtown, Collision Bend, The FlatsLTV Steel, Cleveland - Coke Gas Pipe BridgeLTV Steel, Cleveland - Ore Bridge, Coke Piles & Blast FurnaceLTV Steel, Cleveland - Torpedo CarsLTV Steel, Cleveland - Torpedo Car & Blast FurnaceLTV Steel, Cleveland - Sign, C-1 Blast FurnaceLTV Steel, Cleveland - Door to the Cast HouseLTV Steel (J&L), C-1 Blast Furnace DemolitionShot at midnight in a one hour exposure, the structure would be imploded in eight hours.LTV Steel, Cleveland - C-1 Blast Furnace & Blower HouseSt. Joseph Church, Woodland Avenue - GoneBuilt in 1873, a fire in 1993 forced demolition.Door, East 65th Street, 1998Door, East 65th Street, 2005Window Display, Buckeye RoadCollinwood Diesel Locomotive Shop DemolitionCollinwood Diesel Locomotive Shop DemolitionCollinwood Diesel Locomotive Shop, Powerhouse, Breaker No 6House, East 72nd StreetHouse, East 72nd StreetHouse, East 38th StreetBar & Apartments, East 79th StreetEagle Avenue, Lift Bridge Moving & DowntownMississagi Unloading Stone The FlatsLTV Steel Coke Plant #2, Conveyors _ GoneThe coke plant was demolished in the mid 1990s.Gas Lines, LTV Steel Coke Plant #2 - GoneThe coke plant was demolished in the mid 1990s.Gas Lines, LTV Steel Coke Plant #2 - GoneThe coke plant was demolished in the mid 1990s.Gas lines, LTV Steel Coke Plant #2 - GoneThe coke plant was demolished in the mid 1990s.MacDonald's, East 152nd Street, Collinwood - GoneLTV Steel, Basic Oxygen Plant & Open Hearth StacksThe open hearth, blooming and slab mills have been demolished, but the east side basic oxygen plant is operational. The shot was taken high up and inside the abandonded conveyor belt bridge over the Cuhahoga River, in the midst of its demolition, as part of the giant coke plant being dismantled.Torpedo Car, Scaling Torch, LTV SteelLTV Steel Coke Plant #2 & C-5 Blast FurnaceThe coke plant was demolished in the mid 1990s.House & LTV Steel Coke Plant #1 - GoneHouse & LTV Steel Coke Plant #1 - GoneLTV Steel Coke Plant #1 - GoneLTV Steel, Basic Oxygen Plant & HomesHome, Townsend Street - GoneIn 1996 when i took the shot, i promised to return with a 16x20 print for the owner. I came back eight weeks later, and there was nothing there but an empty field a. The home had burned down in a fire shortly after taking this shot.Homes, University Place - GoneWhen I shot this I had to ask permission from the family across the street so I could stand on their porch. They had lived here all of their lives, and were asking why I was doing this. I kept saying that these two homes were very old and kind of historic, but they were going to be demolished, and they insisted that there was no evidence of that.
The homes were demolished by 2006 for new expensive condominioms. The home i shot from was completely rehabbed and become, literally, part of a larger new devlopment around it.Home & Catalpa Tree, Aberdeen StreetHouse, Hawthorne Avemue - GoneMike Boros Cafe, Grille, Buckeye RoadClosed in 1998. It was the last Hungarian bar on Buckeye Road, which had the largest population of Hungarian outside of Hungary.
The owner, Willie Burrows, son of the original owner, simply took off his apron, walked out the door, and, unceremoniously, locked it, never to reopen the bar again.Old Fashion Hot Dogs, Lorain Avenue - Built 1937, Closed 2020It's 1989 and later, in 2020, at the start of the covid pandemic i spent some time duting its last days in operation.Old Fashion Hot Dogs, InteriorSt. Theodosius Church & Standard Refinery Powerhouse StacksThe old homes and the power plant are gone, but the church remains.Homes & St. Theodosius Church, West 7th StreetThe homes are gone, and today expensive condominiums have replaced them.Church, Sophia Avenue - GoneThe city had a strong tradition of home conversions into churches, bars, and stores.Homes & LTV Basic Oxygen Plant, Holmden Avenue - GoneHomes, Holmden Avenue - GoneWeizer Block, Buckeye Road - GoneThere's another Weizer Block on Upper Buckeye, built in 1920.Steve's Lunch, Lorain Avenue - GoneThe entire building was destroyed in a fire in 2012.Home, Holmden Avenue - GoneColonial Arcade, Euclid Avenue Through to Prospect AvenueBuilt 1895, The Colonial was probably pretty classy in its day, and always held on to its grandeur. Recently gentrified, the shopping/office lane, for most of its time, had modest shops that sold hats and coins. There were small diners and barber shops with offices upstairs above the shops. At the time, in the early 1980s, it reflected the striong blue-collar majority of the city. The milieu of great, entertaining and healthy architecure for everyone, mostly working-class, was remarkable, particulalry by today's standards.LTV Coke Plant #2, Gas Lnes - GoneC-5 Blast Furnace, LTV SteelHolden Hill and LTV basic oxygen plantHome & Mill, Holmden AvenueThe home in the mill are still there both occupied and operational. The meal is now run by Cleveland Cliffs.LtV, Cleveland - Slab Mill Stacks & Basic Oxygen PlantAt the time they were tearing down Coke plant number one. This provided the perfect location for the camera which was inside the conveyor belt which shipped fresh Coke over the river to the blast furnaces. The only problem was the plant was in full demolition so I had to be careful. It was quite a walk up, but there were parts along the way where I could shoot from.LtV, Cleveland - Blast Furnace C-1Since it was 3 AM and I was shooting film, a one hour time exposure was required. The glass furnace was built in 1952 by Jones and Laughlin steel Company, which was bought by LTV Steel in the early 1990s. There was a huge recession in steel in 20 01 one more than 50 steel makers went into bankruptcy, and, LTV was one of them.General Mills, Sign, The Flats - Closed, 2020This was an operating grain mill from the time of the Civil War until it closed in 2020. The silos are to be saved and turned into hotel rooms.WPA Stone mural of Valley view projects.
