Welcome to Tremont

Last Thursday I took another local sightseeing excursion.  I explored the Cleveland neighborhood of Tremont.

Tremont sits above the Cuyahoga River valley on the opposite side from downtown Cleveland.  It was once part of the independent town of Ohio City until it was annexed by Cleveland in 1854.  It was an affluent neighborhood and was for a short time (1851 - 1853) the site of the defunct Cleveland University.  Some of the street names (Professor Avenue, Literary Avenue) are a reminder of that era.  As Cleveland became a major industrial city, immigrants from Europe settled in Tremont because of its proximity to the factories in the valley.  With the decline of manufacturing jobs, the neighborhood also went into decline.  The poverty rate and crime rate were high.  Beginning in the 1980s a gradual process of gentrification began as artists and young professional were attracted to the low rents.  Today Tremont is home to art galleries, restaurants, cafes and trendy bars. 

I parked my car in a public parking lot on the north edge of the neighborhood and explored on foot.  My first stop was across the street from the parking lot.  Here you will find one of the "Cleveland script signs" that have been put up in number of locations in the city.  (You saw a picture of another one of these signs in the entry I wrote about Edgewater Park.)  

The backdrop for the sign is the skyline of downtown Cleveland on the other side of the river valley.

Cleveland's tallest buildings include the iconic Terminal Tower.  The 52 story building was completed in 1928, and at that time it was the second tallest building in the world.  Just behind it is the Key Tower, which surpassed the Terminal Tower in 1991.  It is the tallest building in Ohio.  The third tallest building in the city is 200 Public Square, the former BP Tower.

From a different angle you can see (just above the end of the bridge) Progressive Field, the home of our baseball team, the Cleveland Indians.  Below is the Cuyahoga River.  It was once so polluted that it "caught fire" numerous times.  It is now clean enough to support 44 species of fish.

The many immigrant groups that settled in Tremont brought with them their different faiths.  Within an area of one square mile there are 26 churches, the highest concentration of historic churches in the country.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church was established in 1919.

St. John Cantius Catholic Church was built in 1925 by Polish immigrants.

St. George Syrian Orthodox Church was built in 1935 to serve Christians, largely Lebanese, from the Middle East.

Pilgrim Congregational Church was built to serve the neighborhood's Protestant elite, mainly families who had originally moved to Ohio from New England.  It dates back to 1893, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Some churches have been "repurposed" over the years.

What was originally a Polish National Church built in 1916, is now St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church.

Emmanuel Evangelical Church which was built by German immigrants is now Iglesia El Calvario, a Pentecostal church serving the Hispanic community.

German immigrants also built Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church which is now Zion United Church of Christ.

The most famous and striking of all of Tremont's churches is St Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral.  It has thirteen onion shaped domes representing Jesus and the twelve apostles.  It is said that when the church was built in 1913, money for its construction was donated by Czar Nicholas II of Russia.  The church was featured in the 1978 movie "The Deer Hunter".

There are many fine,19th century houses in Tremont.  Some now are businesses and others are still private residences that have been restored.

As the neighborhood continues to gentrify, there are also new homes and townhouses.

Several luxury condominium buildings with views of the Cleveland skyline are under construction.

The Lincoln Park Baths were built by the city in 1904 when many poor immigrant families did not have bathtubs in their homes.  Today the historic structure contains private condominiums.

Lemko Hall was a social club and ballroom built in 1911.  It served the Lemko community, a Slavic group from what is now southeastern Poland.  It too was featured in the motion picture "The Deer Hunter".   Today it also contains condominiums and ground floor commercial spaces.

This old building, which was once a drug store, is now a trendy coffee shop.  After walking around the neighborhood for a couple of hours I stopped to have a snack here at one of the outdoor tables.

Tremont, rich in history and architecture, is a delightful Cleveland neighborhood to explore!