Elwell Parker Complex

Elwell-Parker Industrial Park: 4205 St. Clair Ave.

178,000 sq. ft.; five buildings

The Company

The formation of Elwell-Parker occurred in 1882, in Wolverhampton, England. At the time, the company built dynamos, electric lighting, and equipment for tram cars. In the late 1800s, Alexander E. Brown, interested in building electric motors to power machinery that transported ore and coal, incorporated Elwell-Parker Electric Company in Cleveland. In its early years, Elwell-Parker dabbled in development of a range of electric motor production until it found its niche.

In 1906, the same year that Elwell-Parker moved to its complex on St. Clair Ave., Morris S. Towson, then an engineer for Elwell-Parker, designed an electric baggage carrier, which was used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This technology was extended over the next few decades to lift trucks, used in general industry.

The Anderson Carriage Co. of Detroit took controlling interest in Elwell-Parker in 1909, for the use of its operations to build car components. At the time, electric cars were prominent in the market, but in only a few years, production would slow, then nearly cease, because the public demanded longer-range vehicles.

In 1920, Morris S. Towson was made president, and the Towson family helmed the company, generation by generation, up until the late 1980s. When Towson became president, the company focused its production solely on industrial trucks. His son, Sheldon, took over in 1941, and S.K. “Pete” Towson took the reins in 1958.

The 1960s and 1970s forced Elwell-Parker to innovate: they began to create assembly line industrial vehicle components. However, with the downturn of the steel and automotive industries in the early 1980s, the company started to struggle. In the late 80s, Pete Towson began to ready himself for retirement but found there weren’t any heirs interested in taking command.

Towson allowed for employee ownership, selling a portion of family shares, but by the mid-1990s, Elwell-Parker was on the verge of liquidation. Sue Lan Ma, a turnaround specialist, purchased Elwell-Parker Electric Company, changing its name to Elwell-Parker Ltd., and for a while, it seemed like it would return to its former prominent position in Cleveland. In 1999, Ma purchased McVeigh Material Handling, and was honored by two Cleveland business organizations for her contributions.

However, in 2000, Elwell-Parker lost its buildings to foreclosure and was sold to Hoist Liftruck of Bedford Park, Ill. After that, the buildings changed hands a couple of times, housing a small number of tenants, but were eventually demolished.

An art exhibition at Brownhoist Gallery in 2011 featured manipulated found objects from the Elwell-Parker complex. Artists Timothy Riffle and Jerry Mann collaborated to celebrate “the industrial archaeology of Cleveland.”

The wood used in [the tables/floor? in] this restaurant fulfills a similar function. Though the Elwell-Parker complex no longer exists, its history continues through its materials.

The Place: Goodrich-Kirtland Park neighborhood

Goodrich-Kirtland Park was annexed to Cleveland in 1850. Irish immigrants settled the area around 1865, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, still one of the significant landmarks of the area, was built in 1873.

The neighborhood began to urbanize early--especially in comparison to other Cleveland neighborhoods, which remained rural into the first couple of decades of the 20^th century. In the 1870s and 1880s, businesses began to replace residences as the railroad lines allowed for development of industry. These business attracted Eastern European immigrants, such as Slovenian, Lithuanian, Croatian, German, and Polish populations.

Another immigrant group to play an important role in the formation of the neighborhood was the Chinese people. Cited as one of the oldest immigrant groups in Cleveland, the Chinese began to settle in this area in the 1860s. Other Asian population groups, such as Koreans, Thai, and Vietnamese, followed. Another wave of Asian immigrants arrived in Cleveland in the 1970s and 1980s, and now a large portion of Goodrich-Kirtland Park is made up of Asiatown. In 1991, Asia Plaza, referred to as the heart of Asiatown, was created to accommodate the emerging Asian population, and the Asian Town Center, opened just a couple of years ago, hosts a variety of retail and restaurant choices, as well as green space.

One structure of the neighborhood’s history still plays a vital role in the community: the Goodrich-Gannett Neighborhood Center. It was founded as a settlement house in 1896 by Flora Stone Mather. In the 1960s, it became a neighborhood center, and is named after the Reverend Goodrich of Old Stone Church and Alice Gannett, who was head worker at the settlement house for a number of years.

Though the neighborhood of Goodrich-Kirtland Park is still mainly industrial, many of the older manufacturing buildings in the neighborhood are being converted into loft spaces, for studios, office work, and live-work spaces. Asiatown, concert venues, restaurants and bars, and the Steamship William G. Mather Museum all serve as pulls for visitors.

Picture of Towson's Electric Truck

8508 Connecticut Ave. Re Birth Certificate

8508 Connecticut Ave.

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1408 sq. feet, multiple occupancy

Built in 1910, Colonial style

**

Newburgh Heights—Slavic Village

In the late 1790s, a log cabin built at the intersection of the current Broadway Ave. and East 93^rd began the settlement of what is now the Newburgh Heights neighborhood of the Slavic Village in Cleveland. At its inception, the area was its own village, called Newburgh. Newburgh even vied for--but lost to Cleveland--the distinction of being named the county seat in the late 1820s.

In the mid-1800s, significant historical events occurred that led to the neighborhood becoming the place that it is today. The Czech presence in the area began to increase; immigration of the Czech people boomed during this time because of the Prague Upheavals, an early Czech national movement quashed by the Habsburg military. The Polish presence increased as well, with many laborers working in stone quarries in the area. And, Cleveland began annexing pockets of Newburgh--with Newburgh’s citizens’ cooperation and encouragement. The gradual absorption of Newburgh into Cleveland took ninety years.

The first rolling mill also began operating in the area. The mill employed many Czech and Polish immigrants, as well as English-speaking workers, but tension between the Eastern European groups and the English-speakers led to union clashes. Strikes in the late 1800s sparked violence and arson with the intention of intimidating immigrants into not crossing picket lines. New Polish immigrants were recruited to work in the mill from the east coast. Eventually, the issue was resolved, and the union lost power--but the base immigrant population of the area was more prominent than ever.

The Czech and Polish immigrants’ culture colored the neighborhood. Churches like St. Wenceslaus, built in 1867, and St. Stanislaus, built in 1888, served as centers for the community. Large businesses and construction projects by Eastern European immigrants sprang up in the early to mid-1900s, leading to the richly varied neighborhood that exists today. Now a community that celebrates its past and plans for the future, bike trails, art installations, and festivals are all prominent features of the neighborhood.

The People

During the early part of the twentieth century, the residents of the multi-family dwelling at 8508 Connecticut Ave. were, in many ways, typical of those who lived in the area. The neighborhood’s residents worked blue collar jobs--many at the nearby mills--and most of the population was of Polish descent. At the time, the property was divided into two living spaces: upstairs and downstairs.

One Polish resident of the property, Joseph Solek, was naturalized as an American citizen while he lived at 8508 Connecticut Ave., in 1924. He immigrated through New York in 1900, as a seventeen-year-old. Solek was a factory machinist who lived in the building with his wife, Helen, also a Polish immigrant, his daughter, Mildred, and a boarder, another Polish immigrant named Powell Sulek. We know that this group lived in the building through at least 1930.

The other occupants of the house at that time were second generation immigrants from Austria and Germany, Stephen and Olga Fisceri. Stephen was the conductor of a street railroad, which may well have been the interurban Cleveland and Youngstown Railroad, which eventually became Shaker Heights Rapid Transit.

Ten years later, the structure was home to people of English and Swiss descent. Rose Nash occupied the downstairs apartment with her son, Robert, who was a recorder at the steel mill. Her grandkids, Robert Jr., Audry, and John, also lived there with them. Both Robert and Rose were widows. Upstairs, Elmer Reinhardt lived with his wife Edna, their daughter Beverly, and a son from Edna’s previous marriage, Miller. Elmer was an accountant at the oil plant.

Harvesting the wood at 8508 Connecticut! 

The Wood

The house at 8508 Connecticut Ave. was built of Southern Yellow Pine, the strongest softwood lumber. A popular choice for home-building because of its strength, ability to hold fasteners, and its resistance to wear, Southern Yellow Pine played a key role in building during the Industrial Revolution. Europe imported vast amounts of Southern Yellow Pine in the 19^th century.

It’s a high density wood that grows in a band from East Texas all the way to Virginia. It has been used in home construction since the 1800s and is also used extensively in wooden roller coasters, docks, and utility poles.

There are four main species: shortleaf, longleaf, loblolly, and slash. Each of these species has similar characteristics, but can demonstrate variation in color and grain. Color ranges from light orange to dark red, and can even sometimes be a cream color. The grain pattern might be wavy or knotty. Sometimes its long needles are used in holiday decorations when it’s cut.

A popular wood still in abundant use today, Southern Yellow Pine grows rapidly and is renewed more quickly than it is harvested. Growing it does not endanger old growth forests.

3592 E. 149th St. ReBirth Certificate

3592 E. 149^th Street

Built in 1953

Single-family dwelling: three bedrooms, two bathrooms

The Place

The makeup of the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant has undergone both ethnic and socioeconomic shifts since it was first settled in 1826.

The first residents hailed from the Isle of Man, near Ireland. Then, in the late 19^th century an influx of Jewish settlers from Bavaria arrived, only to move out again in the 1930s. Other immigrant groups in the 19^th and early 20^th century included Czechs and Italians.

In 1921, Mount Pleasant became a neighborhood instead of a rural community: streets were mapped and trees planted along Bartlett Ave., just half a block away from 3799 E. 149^th St.

Now, it’s a predominantly African-American community. The first African-American settlers came to the community during World War I. In the 1940s and 1950s, African-Americans became the majority ethnic group in the area.

The neighborhood’s socioeconomic makeup has been in flux since the mid-20^th century. Philip Richards, an African-American writer and professor who grew up in the area, wrote about the population shifts in the neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, as seen by his own family: “[Richards’ parents]…departed Mount Pleasant as it filled with black newcomers from the inner city. Years earlier, when they had moved into Mount Pleasant, both the Eastern European immigrants and the black middle class were leaving.”¹

Now, Mount Pleasant is an area with a rich history and hope for the future. Many positive programs have been initiated, including a painting program to revitalize existing structures, home ownership workshops, an energy efficiency program, and other community outreach through Mount Pleasant NOW. Luke Easter Park and the Zelma Watson George Community Center also provide opportunities for community building in Mount Pleasant.

The People

The house from which your [table/countertop ] was made was built in 1953, a time when racial tension was a prominent issue for the denizens of Cleveland. Phillip Richards wrote about his experience coming of age in Mount Pleasant in the 1960s, and we can imagine that those who lived in the house had similar experiences.

Richards attended elementary school in a mostly white part of town and then went to Alexander Hamilton Junior High School in Mount Pleasant. As he grew up, he struggled against his anger even as it was provoked by seemingly everyone around him--black or white. He found solace in academia and is now an English professor at Colgate University. You can read more about his experiences in the Cleveland Magazine article from 2006² or in his book, An Integrated Boyhood: Coming of Age in White Cleveland.

April McClellan-Copeland, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, recently participated in a multimedia series³ that takes a look at Mount Pleasant’s past and present. She fondly remembers her childhood on 138^th St., recalling family parties and playing outside with the large number of children who lived on her block. She spoke of the respect for neighbors that was characteristic of that close-knit community.

Tommy LiPuma, legendary Cleveland music producer and Verve label head, also grew up in Mount Pleasant, very near where the house once stood. The first record he made was the O’Jays early regional hit, “Lipstick Traces⁴.” LiPuma continually gives back to his hometown, donating funds to the Cleveland Art Museum and to Cuyahoga Community College.

The Wood

The house at 3799 E. 149^th Street was built of Southern Yellow Pine, the strongest softwood lumber. A popular choice for home-building because of its strength, ability to hold fasteners, and its resistance to wear, Southern Yellow Pine played a key role in building during the Industrial Revolution. Europe imported vast amounts of Southern Yellow Pine in the 19^th century.

It’s a high density wood that grows in a band from East Texas all the way to Virginia. It has been used in home construction since the 1800s and is also used extensively in wooden roller coasters, docks, and utility poles.

There are four main species: shortleaf, longleaf, loblolly, and slash. Each of these species has similar characteristics, but can demonstrate variation in color and grain. Color ranges from light orange to dark red, and can even sometimes be a cream color. The grain pattern might be wavy or knotty. Sometimes its long needles are used in holiday decorations when it’s cut.

A popular wood still in abundant use today, Southern Yellow Pine grows rapidly and is renewed more quickly than it is harvested. Growing it does not endanger old growth forests.

Harvesting the Wood!

1 Richards, Philip. “Coming of Age at Alexander Hamilton Junior High School.” Cleveland Magazine. October, 2006.

2 Richards, Philip. “Coming of Age at Alexander Hamilton Junior High School.” Cleveland Magazine. October, 2006.

3 http://www.cleveland.com/mountpleasant/media/

4 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xoh93_the-o-jays-lipstick-traces_music