The History Press

A history of bygone eateries in downtown Cleveland featuring everything from diners to fine dining

From humble and hungry beginnings, the city of Cleveland grew over centuries until it boasted a dizzying array of gustatory choices. City dwellers and travelers alike flocked to the eateries at Public Square and Terminal Tower, including the Fred Harvey restaurants with their famous Harvey Girls. A single block-long street, Short Vincent featured the Theatrical Grille, the longest-running jazz joint in the area. The walls of Otto Moser's were a veritable Hollywood roll call, and the New York Spaghetti House offered a complete dining and aesthetic experience.

Fill your cup with the libation of your choice, grab a snack, and join author Bette Lou Higgins on a historical tour of the restaurants that kept Clevelanders fed.

From 1917 to 1919, terror struck the streets of Akron. As soldiers marched off to World War I and Spanish influenza ravaged the community, police officers faced a sinister threat.

Murderous kingpin Rosario Borgia placed a bounty on officers' heads for interfering with his criminal enterprises. Gangsters gunned down seven cops, killing five, in a series of brazen attacks over fifteen months. Author Mark J. Price chronicles the crimes, victims, gangsters and the relentless pursuit of justice.

Award-winning true crime author Jane Turzillo brings together the strippers, gangsters, robbers, shady politicians, and more from Cleveland's rough and rowdy past.

Grab a seat and a handful of napkins and join author Ron Koltnow as he recounts the mouthwatering story of an Ohio original.

Founded by industrialist Ohio Columbus Barber, Barberton drew workers from around the globe, especially eastern Europe. Immigrants brought their traditions and their cuisine. In time, Barberton became home to five Serbian fried chicken restaurants, all within a two-mile radius. Belgrade Gardens, Hopocan Gardens, White House Chicken, Terrace Gardens and Milich's Village Inn (later Village Inn Chicken) were Serbian in origin yet consummately American. All served up the traditional dinner - chicken, fries, coleslaw and hot sauce. Against all challengers, Barberton proudly defends its title as "Fried Chicken Capital of the World."

Many things go bump in the night in Licking County, and not all of them are rowdy undergraduates. Some are the restless spirits of the dead.

With specters plaguing the chapel, the library, and a dorm room, Granville's Denison University is one of the most haunted campuses in the country. Nearby at the historic Buxton Inn, previous owners look after the property in death as they did in life. The grave of a Johnstown witch is said to emit an eerie green mist every Halloween night. A young boy's ghost floats on the water of Hell Lake, and a mysterious woman in white haunts the bridge on Swamp Road.

Author and paranormal investigator with the Tri-C Ghost Hunters Nova Stiles leads a bone-chilling tour through the haunted history of Licking County.

Despite a brewing pedigree richer than that of Milwaukee or St. Louis, Cincinnati's role in American beer history is quite often underappreciated.

Drawing on years of research, Michael D. Morgan, author of the award-winning Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King, tackles this subject with a fresh perspective. Complete with new findings, the true story of the city's first brewer comes to light, as do the oft-heralded deeds - and overlooked misdeeds - of the beer barons who built empires their progeny drove to ruins. From the story of the Scottish brewery that made Cincy famous for English ales, through forgotten Prohibition political scandals, to the birth and rise of the modern craft beer movement, Cincinnati Beer explores previously untold stories of our beer-soaked past.

Explore the investigative intricacies and courtroom drama of crimes of passion, greed, and revenge in Stark County, Ohio.

Rendered in painstaking detail, accounts of high-profile killings and courtroom intrigue filled the pages of Stark County's early newspapers. The triple hanging of three teenage boys in 1880 seized the attention of the entire community. When George Saxton, notorious womanizer and President McKinley's brother-in-law, was shot dead on the front lawn of his widowed lover in 1898, the whole nation looked on. For the brutal slaying of his wife, James Cornelius became the first local prison inmate executed in the electric chair in 1906.

Using contemporary local newspaper accounts, Kim Kenney, author of Canton's Pioneers in Flight and coauthor of Stark County Food tells the story of eight Stark County murders, unfolding the grisly details while honoring the lives cut short by violence.

Organized in 1819, Meigs County rests in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio along the beautiful Ohio River.

The land's deep reservoirs of coal and salt provided early residents work in mines and in shipping the goods via steamboat and railroad. Local communities also nurtured talented scholars like James McHenry Jones and poets and writers such as James Edwin Campbell and Ambrose Bierce, as well as Dr. Brewster Higley VI, whose poetry inspired the American classic "Home on the Range." The county is home to Ohio's oldest standing courthouse in Chester and to Pomeroy, the only town in America with no cross streets. Join historians Jordan and Calee Pickens as they recount times of prosperity and hardship that have been engrained on the timeline of Meigs County.

The dreadful howls of coyotes are common in the shadows surrounding Medina County, but perhaps something else, something entirely more fearsome, lurks in the night.

In 1906, the specter now known as the Woman in Black so terrified residents in Medina Square that a curfew was imposed. Restless spirits, rattling chains, and nefarious deeds are rumored to have occurred in a farmhouse in Sharon Township. Legend has it that about 100 years ago a witch preyed on the residents of Liverpool Township, and the ghost of a teenage boy is said to haunt the men's restroom at Plum Creek Park in Brunswick Hills.

Join parapsychologist Brandon Massullo as he sheds light on the ghostly lore surrounding Medina County's restaurants, libraries, freeways, parks, and more.

With stories of inventors, movie moguls, local cuisine and sports heroes, Editor Mark C. Peyko and the writers of the Metro Monthly not only chronicle the history of Youngstown, but also capture the essence of their home.

The blows of hammers and the humming of mills once echoed throughout the Mahoning Valley. Steel reigned supreme, and immigrants from every corner of Europe came to forge new lives and an enduring community. When the sounds of industry were silenced, Youngstown remained a strong and vibrant community. Peyko and company create a portrait of their city through a beautifully rendered collection of vignettes.

Explore the history of the City of Murals through the eyes of those who lived it. Perfect for fans of Ohio and American frontier history.

Beginning as a military fort on the banks of the Ohio River, Steubenville powered into the twentieth century with steam and steel. Fierce battles, raging fires and tragedy on the river could not deter this indefatigable community, and it emerged as an industrial and cultural beacon for the Ohio Valley.

With warmth and humor, Dr. John R. Holmes chronicles the fascinating history and the colorful characters of Steubenville. Brimming with tales of lavish theatres, local brews, famous crooners, and personalities such as spunky Mother Beatty and legendary steamboat captain George O'Neil, this collection of vignettes offers a glimpse into a vibrant city and its proud people.

Local author Jacob R. Mecklenborg reveals a fresh, thought-provoking, full examination of the Cincinnati subway's demise and what its future might hold.

What of those ghostly catacombs that lie dormant below city streets? Those subway tunnels, never finished, never filled with the screeches of trains and the busy commotion of commuters. Just there. Dead. You've heard of the subway's demise. The tunnels were too narrow. The city was too broke. A grand miscalculation. Well, most of what you've heard is, sorry to say, untrue. The popular story of the subway's demise is myth-laden and as incomplete as the original plan. The full story, long buried in mounds of public records dispersed in libraries, is now exposed.

Join local history preservationist Christopher Busta-Peck and unearth aspects of Cleveland's past that dangle too near extinction from city memory. Too often, we think of history as something that happens elsewhere.

But it's not. Travel down East 100th Street to the home where Jesse Owens lived when he shocked the world at the 1936 Olympics. Ascend the stairs to Langston Hughes's attic apartment on East 86th, where the influential writer lived alone during his formative sophomore and junior years of high school. From the massive Brown Hoist Building and the Hulett ore unloaders to some of the oldest surviving structures in Cleveland, Busta-Peck (of the wildly popular Cleveland Area History blog) has Clevelanders talking about history again. Here's why.

Welcome to Marietta, the elegant Ohio River city where this state's history begins. This informative guide will help you make the most of your time.

Explore ancient earthworks, stroll shady brick streets lined with glorious Victorian mansions, wander through museums and kick back in a wide variety of restaurants and taverns. Venture into nearby West Virginia and visit Fenton, America's oldest art glass company; Blennerhassett Island, where Aaron Burr hatched a plot against the U.S. government; and Henderson Hall, the majestic great house of a former slave plantation - all within fifteen miles of downtown Marietta. It includes an overview of the area's rich history, maps, dozens of vintage and modern photographs and descriptions of the best sites and attractions the region has to offer - including those that most visitors miss.

The riveting story of Slovenian heritage in Cleveland, Ohio and how the culture remains relevant even today.

The Newburgh, St. Clair and Collinwood neighborhoods formed the core of Greater Cleveland's enormous Slovenian population, still the largest in America. The city's Slovenian heritage is replete with gripping tales of World War II prison camp escapes and bizarre bank robbers who threatened the St. Clair Savings institution. The catastrophic East Ohio Gas explosion and tragic Collinwood school fire are etched into local consciousness. The rise of neighborhood residents to professional sports stardom and national political prominence contribute to a proud legacy. And the century-old "Cleveland style" Slovenian polka remains an important cultural expression. Author Alan Dutka offers the first comprehensive history of the struggles and triumphs of Cleveland's Slovenians.

Geneva on the Lake details the history of this town which resides on the coast of Lake Erie, one that is well-loved and enjoyed by many.

For over a century, Ohio and Pennsylvania families have made an annual trek to a special spot on the shores of Lake Erie. This tiny piece of Northeast, Ohio, has made a huge impression on the hearts of thousands of visitors. But what is it about this town that draws generation after generation back for a vacation every summer? Why, when other resorts and amusements crumbled apart in the mid-nineteenth century, was Geneva on the Lake able to sustain some of the most trying times in the entertainment industry? Perhaps, by tracing the history of the town, and by exploring what the town is today, one may discover the answers to these questions. By examining numerous accounts of happy times on the lakeside, one will discover that some feelings have held true since the resorts beginnings; Geneva on the Lake has a magical way of lingering in our memories, connecting us to our past, and forever remaining in our hearts.

Behind Put-in-Bay's breathtaking scenery and wild nightlife is a side of the island that will make your hair stand on end.

Passersby claim to see the ghost of assistant lighthouse keeper Sam Anderson, who jumped to his death in the turbulent water of Lake Erie during an 1898 smallpox outbreak. Doors open and close of their own accord, and some say a spirit named Benny tosses things around at the Put-in-Bay Brewery and Distillery. Stage actor T.B. Alexander married the granddaughter of famous abolitionist John Brown and became one of the island's most noted mayors. His ghost is said to linger in the historic barroom of T&J's Smokehouse. Author William G. Krejci hosts this tour of the darker aspects of island life.

Cleveland storyteller Dan Ruminski discovered that the 6 acres under his home were originally part of a 1,400-acre grand estate known as the Circle W Farm.

The impressive estate was created by Walter White, founding brother of the White Motor Company. Drawn in by the fascinating history, Ruminski's investigation soon embraced the full legacy of Cleveland's industrial history and the indomitable characters who created the city's Gilded Age. John D. Rockefeller, Samuel Mather and more giants of industry built Cleveland's Millionaires' Row. Come peek inside the once-grand mansions these millionaires called home and hear the delightful stories that bring the past to life. Join Ruminski and Alan Dutka on a return to this section of Euclid Avenue, which wasn't merely the most stunning show of wealth in Cleveland but also in the entire country.