Featured Apartment:
Cleveland-Collinwood- We've got a
newly-renovated one bedroom unit that has a great layout for roommates who need
their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've
put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom.
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Collinwood Information
Collinwood is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio annexed by the city in 1910. Originally part of Euclid Township, Collinwood grew around the rail yards of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. It was named for Charles Collins, chief engineer of the railroad. Collins committed suicide in the wake of the Ashtabula Rail Disaster of 1876, when an iron bridge over the Ashtabula River failed and a passenger train fell into the gorge.
In 1908, Collinwood was the site of an event known as the Collinwood School
Fire, one of the most deadly school fires in American history. 172 children and
two young teachers died inside Lake View School after being trapped in stairwell
vestibules. Originally, it was thought that the students were trapped because
doors to the school opened inward; however, the coroner's report indicated that
the doors did indeed open outward. National building standards requiring that
doors in public buildings open outward were already in effect. The fire did
result in nationwide school inspections and stricter building codes. While some
of the children died from burns and smoke inhalation, most were either crushed
or suffocated in the frantic attempt to escape the building. Those killed in the
fire who could not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Cleveland's
Lakeview Cemetery.
Collinwood became the home of several European ethnic groups along with Southern
Appalachians. Later in the 1960's an influx of African Americans also formed a
community in Collinwood. South Collinwood was known as "Italian Village" with a
population of Italian descendants greater than that of Cleveland's Little Italy
neighborhood. Central Collinwood was mostly Slovenian, Croatian, German, Polish
and some Russians. West Collinwood was mostly Southern Appalachians. North
Collinwood was a mixture of all groups including Catholic Irish.
South Collinwood was well known for the Italian Feast of the Assumption, held
every August at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. Many of the Italians in this area
of Cleveland can trace their roots back to Campobasso, Molise, Italy. Molise was
part of Abruzzi e Molise until 1964 when it became a separate Provence. Many of
the Slovenians in Collinwood can trace their roots back to Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Slovenian Polka King Frankie Yankovic was from the Collinwood neighborhood and
played live Polka in many of the taverns and dance halls in the area.
Southerners mostly from Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky who came to work
in the many factories that supported mostly the auto industry, had a vibrant and
festive culture, especially along the E. 140th section, with many "Honky Tonk"
bars that featured live country music and Southern food.
Collinwood took national center stage in the 1970's during the Cleveland "Mafia"
wars when the Genovese related Cleveland Mafia, centered in Collinwood and
Murray Hill neighborhoods, fought a territorial war with infamous Irish
Gangster, Danny Greene. The eventual bombing death of Green brought the Federal
organized crime task force to Cleveland which, after many trials, is said to
have crippled the Mafia in Cleveland and nationwide.
Today, the only vestiges of Italian culture that can be found in the Collinwood
neighborhood are at the Messina Bakery and Mirabile's Italian Restaurant and
Lounge, both on Ivanhoe Rd. Also, the Slovenian Home is still active on Holmes
Ave.
North Collinwood is also home to Overlook Park, a private lakefront park located
off of Lakeshore Boulevard. The park was used in August 2006 as the stage for an
outdoor independent movie festival.