by Lynette Filips

     (Plain Press February 2024) This month we continue to look at the history of the northwest corner of Pearl Rd. and Memphis Ave. which the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) is seeking to “revitalize” with a $31 million new construction project. It is the most historic section of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005. A picture of St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, one of the numerous historic commercial and institutional buildings on Pearl Rd. (and, also on Broadview Rd.) included in the Historic District designation, accompanies the online listing of the “South Brooklyn Commercial District”.

     While OBCDC pursues funding for a plan to tear down the major portion of this corner to erect a four-story building with commercial space on the first floor, residential space on the upper floors, and a brewery in the church proper portion of the former St. Luke’s, another group of people in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood is still hoping to “Save Our Historic District”.

     This second in a series of articles will shed additional light on the history of downtown Old Brooklyn in the hope that someone in authority will realize that historic adaption of the existing buildings is superior to tearing down most of them and replacing the demo-ed area with new construction. Historic adaptation would accomplish the same goals of adding new residential space, updated commercial space and new socialization space to downtown Old Brooklyn, but it would do so by using the existing historic structures. It is the method which has been employed in downtown Cleveland to put new residential, hotel, retail and restaurant space in buildings which formerly housed department stores, banks and other businesses.

     In last month’s article I wrote about the legacy of three generations of the Gates family, the first of whom arrived in Brooklyn Township in 1816. The first names of the major male players were Jeremiah, Charles and Howard. They were all millers, and Jeremiah’s home at 3506 Memphis Ave. and Howard ‘s home at 4248 W. 35th St. are both still standing. Since they are residential rather than commercial buildings, they are not included in the National Register’s Commercial District. They are, however, important components of the historical nature of the area. Jeremiah built the original portion of his brick home in 1820; it is the oldest home in Old Brooklyn.   

     The first settlers who came to the Cleveland section of the Western Reserve were largely from New England and Upstate New York.  In 1795 approximately three dozen investors who called themselves the Connecticut Land Company purchased most of the Western Reserve from the State of Connecticut and in 1796 (the date of Cleveland’s founding) they began to survey the land. 

     Among the investors were brothers Richard and Samuel Lord, and Samuel’s son-in-law, Josiah Barber, became their partner soon afterwards.  They set up a land office called the Lord & Barber Realty Company and sold tracts of land in Brooklyn Township to the incoming settlers.

     In 1812, James Fish and his cousins Moses and Ebenezer Fish, and their families came to Brooklyn Township to buy property. They settled along today’s Denison Ave. (Newburg Rd. in those days) in Brooklyn Centre. In 1813, Ozias/Oziah Brainard also settled along Newburg Rd. and in 1814, many more Brainards (as well as folks with the surnames Hinckley, Ackley and Young) arrived in Brooklyn Township.

     Being part of a church congregation was as important to many of the settlers as building their homes and establishing their businesses/means of livelihood. And so, in 1814, north of today’s Big Creek Valley (Countryman’s Creek in the early days), a group of Methodists gathered. At first the members met in each other’s homes for classes and worship, then in 1818 they officially became a congregation. Ebenezer Fish, Seth Brainard and Ozias/Oziah Sylvanus were among the church’s founders. The original name of the congregation was Brooklyn Methodist Episcopal Church.  It was the first church congregation founded in Brooklyn Township and the first Methodist congregation founded in the entire Cleveland area. 

     Soon settlers were moving south into what became the Brighton/South Brooklyn/Old Brooklyn section of Brooklyn Township and some of them were also Methodists. In those days there was only a low-level bridge over the Creek and the Creek’s banks were steep and sometimes dangerously slippery to descend and ascend. The Methodists in Brighton wanted to have a church on their side of the valley. And so, in 1844, Brighton Methodist Episcopal Church was founded as an offshoot of Brooklyn Methodist Episcopal Church. It was the precursor of Pearl Road United Methodist Church (4200 Pearl Rd.) which is still one of the important historic structures on the northwest corner of Pearl Rd. and Memphis Ave. 

     In my January article I mentioned a cemetery called the “Old Burying Ground Lot” which is reputed to have been the first public cemetery located in the area about which I have been speaking. I thought that I would write about it in this month’s article, but the topic requires more research. More research is also needed for the Brighton Methodist Episcopal Church. I plan to return to them next month. 

     In the meantime, here are some thoughts from Old Brooklyn resident Susan Hudak who has been reading (my articles and others) about what’s being planned for the corner –

     I love Old Brooklyn.  My parents moved to South Hills in 1960 when I was a child, and my husband and I purchased their home in 1982 when they down-sized.  We raised three children here and have seen many changes in the neighborhood since then. It is inclusive and a good place to live. 

     I have noticed that cities that are respected and visited are the ones that hold on to and cherish the history of their area. Cleveland’s downtown, for instance, has undergone a revitalization and many of the historic buildings have had their facades stripped away to reveal the original architecture.

     The intersection of Pearl and Memphis is home to an unusually shaped triangular building which is officially called the Greenline Building. I was reading that there are plans to demolish it and rebuild that corner. There are few buildings constructed in this shape and I have always considered it to be a beautiful structure. I am sure that it is of historical significance and feel that it would be a mistake to destroy it. I hope that the current plan is reconsidered before we lose this gem of a structure.