| 1790s | 1800s | 1810s | 1820s | 1830s | 1840s | 1850s | 1860s |

1870s | 1880s | 1890s | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s |

1790s

In 1796 General Moses Cleaveland arrived with some surveyors from the Connecticut Land Company. He reported back that he laid out a town on the bank of Lake Erie. The following year four families moved into the city.

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1800s

Only seven residents remained in the new settlement when the 19th century began. A few years later, in 1803, the area became an official part of the country when the State of Ohio was created. Settlers could buy salt, considered a luxury, that came from Pittsburgh at $20 a barrel.

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1810s

The population of Cleveland had grown to 57 in 1810. As the War of 1812 began, Public Square was a cow pasture and the city's first lawyer and physician started business. While most settlers were farmers, other industries emerged, including a bank, taverns, general stores and tanneries.

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1820s

As the Ohio Canal neared completion, more people and industries came to Cleveland. The population was at 606 in 1820. A decade later the population was 1,075. Also during the 1820s, The Flats became Cleveland's center of industry with several docks and warehouses opening.

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1830s

Cleveland continued to develop as a center of manufacturing, with businesses that made iron, steam engines, carriages, soap and candles. With 5,080 people calling Cleveland home in the middle of the decade, more church congregations were organized. There were three churches in 1830 and eight congregations in 1837.

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1840s

The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal opened in 1840, providing a route from Akron to Pittsburgh. This became an important means of transportation to Cleveland residents and businesses. To maintain roadways, every male citizen was appointed to show up two days each year with a shovel in hand. Also during this decade, Cleveland's first schools and library opened.

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1850s

The city's population was at 17,034 at the start of this decade. But as Americans went west in search of California gold, Cleveland became a stopping place for some and a permanent home for others. Within ten years, Cleveland's population hit 43,417. During this decade, railroads began traveling through Cleveland.

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1860s

Cleveland men left behind businesses to help the Union battle the South in the Civil War. Schools and businesses suffered as the war effort escalated. Cleveland women organized the Ladies Aid Society, which became the nation's model for war relief.

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1870s

Cleveland's 92,829 residents made the city the 15th most populated in the nation in 1870. As the industrial age began, Cleveland factory workers earned 27 cents an hour. In this post-war industrial boom, the city became a center of steel and oil production, with the creation of Otis Steel and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.

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1880s

Cleveland was the oil capital of the world with 88 refineries in the city in 1884. Rockefeller bought out many of them. The city was also one of three centers in the clothing industry. Almost every downtown corner offered shoeshines for a nickel, and Cleveland residents saw their first streetcar, although most still traveled by horse-drawn carriages.

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1890s

Cleveland celebrated its centennial during the Gay Nineties, when the city's population of 261,353 placed it tenth in the nation. As more industries grew, so too did pollution and congestion. Cleveland's shipyards were making more ships than any other city in the country. The automobile was introduced, and Cleveland became a leader in car manufacturing. The first movies were introduced to city residents who paid the nickel admission to watch "shorts" as a piano player provided background music.

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1900s

At the turn of the century, motion picture theaters were becoming more popular. The first plot-thriller to come to Cleveland was The Great Train Robbery. Downtown, Bailey's department store sold Derby hats for 95 cents and kid gloves for 49 cents.

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1910s

With the arrival of 1910, Cleveland was the sixth largest U.S. city with a population of 560,663. Although Detroit overtook Cleveland in the automobile production business in this decade, Cleveland led the country's production of automotive parts. With the eruption of World War I, Clevelanders joined the war effort, carrying the first American flag to fly in Europe.

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1920s

Cleveland hosted the 1924 Republic Party's national convention, while women enjoyed their newly gained right to vote. The city became the fourth in the nation in percentage of homes owned. City developments included Playhouse Square and the city rejoiced as the Cleveland Indians won the 1920 World Series.

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1930s

While the world struggled through the Depression, Cleveland finished building Severance Hall, the stadium, a public auditorium and Terminal Tower complex. At the time, the Terminal Tower was the largest building outside of New York. The city also became a center for producing and racing airplanes, as Cleveland began a Labor Day tradition with the National Air Races.

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1940s

Cleveland called itself "the best location in the nation" during this decade, when its 878,336 residents made it the sixth largest city in the nation. As World War II began, Cleveland's position as a production of aircraft and automotive parts strengthened. City factories produced artillery, small arms, aerial bombs, binoculars, telescopes and other war essentials.

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