Independence

History

Independence was originally called Center and was renamed in 1830.

Geography

Independence is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Much of the land area in Independence is used by the intersection of I-480 and I-77. The I-77/I-480 interchange is a four-level stack interchange, but locals often refer to as the cloverleaf, as it largely replaced a nearby interchange of that type. The larger interchange opened in 1940, but construction of the Willow Freeway, which became I-77, was stalled by World War II and was not completed until the 1950s. In the late 1970s, I-480 connected into I-77. The original 1939 cloverleaf is still in existence on Granger and Brecksville Roads. It is still in use today, generally for local traffic. In the 1970s, many Cleveland businesses needed backup and extra office space from their downtown Cleveland offices. In the 1970s, the Rockside corridor was developed into offices and numerous hotels to help downtown Cleveland. In 1991, the Crown Center on Rockside Road was built, making it the tallest building between Downtown Cleveland and Akron. This area is referred as Cleveland's Silicon Valley.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  39,397
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  37,258
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  37,091
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  28,653
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26,879
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  26,720
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26,435
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  26,172

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-03-05
  3 km SW of Madison, Ohio
• M 2.7 — 2026-01-06
  4 km ENE of North Madison, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2025-05-12
  4 km ESE of Madison, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2024-06-01
  1 km E of Madison, Ohio
• M 3 — 2024-03-30
  2 km SSW of Maple Ridge, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2024-01-05
  3 km SE of Madison, Ohio