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Old Brooklyn residents enjoy a Saturday morning tree walk
(Plain Press September 2025) Old Brooklyn Tree Stewards and Friends of Harmody Park combined for the first Old Brooklyn Tree Walk on Saturday morning August 9th. The event included scavenger hunts, tree talks, a demonstration of how to measure a tree’s age nondestructively, and a survey of what improvements people would like to see…
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Effort to preserve Old Brooklyn’s history continues
by Lynette Fillips (Plain Press September 2025) Over a year and a half ago when I started writing these articles for the Plain Press, I visited the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn’s (HSOB’s) museum, 3430 Memphis Ave., to check some historical information in their files. While there I met a thirty-something year old man…
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Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits granted to two buildings in Old Brooklyn Historic District
IMAGE COURTESY OF STEPHANIE RYBERG-WEBSTER Stephanie Ryberg-Webster, associate professor in the Department of Urban Studies at Cleveland State University’s Levin School of Urban Affairs, is the author of Preserving the Vanishing City: Historic Preservation Amid Urban Decline In Cleveland, Ohio. She was one of three persons speaking about the topic of Preservation Advocacy at a…
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Musicians entertain crowd at the Ben Franklin Community Garden
PHOTO BY GREG CZNADEL Saturday, July 5, 2025; Ben Franklin Community Garden: A branch in this maple tree cracked while those organizing a concert in the garden were setting up chairs under the tree. The seating area was moved to avoid a potential disaster. by Greg Cznadel (Plain Press August 2025) Alla Boara and…
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Dedication of memorial stone marks beginning of promised improvements at Harmody Park
PHOTO BY GREG CZNADEL Thursday, May 22, 2025; dedication of Harmody Park memorial stone, on Plymouth Road between Mayview Avenue & South Hills Drive in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood: (L-R): Ellen, daughter of Councilman Harmody (to whom park is dedicated) with Alexandria (Alex) Nichols, new Director of Cleveland Parks and Recreation (2024); and Ward 12 Cleveland…
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Fact checking corrects misinformation about history of Pearl & Memphis corner
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN German United Evangelical Church of Brighton, Ohio, built in 1853 and replaced in 1904. This little frame church faced Columbus Rd. (today’s Pearl Rd.) at the northwest corner of Mill St. (today’s Memphis Ave.) PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN St. Luke’s Evangelical…
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More information comes to light this past month concerning the Pearl Memphis project
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN One of the most prominent structures in the “South Brooklyn Commercial District” is the Pearl Broadview Building on the southeast corner of Pearl Rd. and Broadview Rd. After it was built in 1928, Hagedorn’s Drug was in the storefront at the corner, a jewelry store was…
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A variety of concerns drive opposition to proposed development at Pearl & Memphis
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building at 3409 “Short” Broadview Rd. was built in 1913 and owned by the Odd Fellows until 1958. Since then, ownership has passed to several different entrepreneurs. At the time that the South Brooklyn Commercial District was established with the…
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Old Brooklyn Tree Stewards reach out to new and longtime residents
by Greg Cznadel This year the Old Brooklyn Tree Stewards will once again be at Pedal for Prizes, OB Streetfest, and the Farmer’s Market. But this year we will be sharing our love of trees with the community in new ways. Hope Fierro, Community Engagement Manager at Old Brooklyn CDC and originator…
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Demolition of Pearl-Memphis historic buildings on hold until parking and financing confirmed for proposed development
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN In 2005 when the application for establishing the South Brooklyn Commercial District with the National Register of Historic Places was submitted, this iconic structure at the northeast corner of Pearl Rd. and Broadview Rd. was a branch office of US Bank. But when it was built…