Lakewood

History

The area now called Lakewood was populated by the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Chippewa, Wyandot, Munsee, Delaware and Shawnee tribes until the Treaty of Ft. Industry pushed them west in 1805. Prior to the treaty, American settlers were prohibited from moving west of the Cuyahoga River. The treaty ceded 500,000 acres of some of the tribes' land to the United States for about $18,000 or 3.5 cents/acre. The Shawnee and Seneca, living with the Wyandot, were to get $1000 "...every year forever hereafter." In 1806, the area was formally surveyed as Rockport Township, Township 7, Range 14, of the Connecticut Western Reserve. It was purchased from the Connecticut Land Company by a syndicate of six men headed by Judson Canfield on April 4, 1807, for $26,084. In 1818, permanent settlement began with the arrival from Connecticut of James Nicholson. Other early pioneers included Jared Kirtland and Mars Wagar. Settlements were mostly along Detroit Avenue, a toll road operated by the Rockport Plank Company from 1848 to 1901, with large farms and properties extending north to Lake Erie. Making bricks and planting orchards were among the most prolific occupations until natural gas and crude oil wells were developed in the early 1880s. Current street names reflect this history such as Orchard Grove and Blossom Park. The most common occupations in Lakewood were farming and the building trades. A toll road was established from Cleveland to Lakewood by the Rockport Plank Road Company, operating from 1848 to 1901. Lakewood was incorporated as a village in 1889, and named for its lakefront location. In 1893, streetcars came from Cleveland to Lakewood with the construction of the Detroit Avenue line, followed by the Clifton Boulevard line in 1903 and the Madison Avenue line in 1916. Under the…

Geography

Lakewood is located about west of Downtown Cleveland. The city borders Lake Erie to the north, the Cleveland neighborhoods of Edgewater and Cudell to the east, and the neighborhoods of Jefferson and Kamm's Corners to the south. It borders the suburb of Rocky River to the west at the Rocky River valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Historical housing throughout the city and an active historical society are the norm in Lakewood. The "Make Lakewood Beautiful" program involves contests in which residents compete to make their homes look and resemble their original design and architecture, and awards are given to several homeowners each year. The city offers tours of the most famous homes in the spring, summer, and fall. * Arts District - Centered around the Beck Center for the Arts, on the west side of Lakewood. * Birdtown - Southeastern corner of Lakewood, a well-known 8-street residential district on the southeast side of the city that was built specifically for the workers of the nearby National Carbon Company in the 1890s. The houses are distinctive and most of the streets are named after birds. Birdtown was designated a National Register Historic District in 2006. It is adjacent to Madison Park, the former Union Carbide factory, and the W. 117th St. Rapid Transit Station. Birdtown achieved National Historic Register status in 2006. * Clifton Boulevard - Lined with big trees and multi-family homes, apartment complexes, and 4×4 brick structures, and turn of the century single family colonials, the seven-lane Clifton Boulevard is one of the busiest streets in greater Cleveland. * Clifton Park - The wealthiest neighborhood of Lakewood is situated in the northwestern corner of the city, and…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  48,037
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  42,937
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  41,810
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  34,469
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33,373
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,997
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  32,693
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32,525

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