Whatever Happened to the “ Paper Rex” Man?

And Other Stories of Cleveland's Near West Side

by The May Dugan Center

  • Format: Softcover, 108 pages, 8.5 x 11 inches
  • Illustrations: 37 black-and-white photographs
  • ISBN: 978-0-9630760-1-4
  • Price: $15.95
Description

Do you remember the “ broken cookie store?” Free dish night at the Marval Theater? Saturdays at the Rollercade? Crusin' on Lorain Avenue? Riding the interurban? The smell of fresh bread coming from the neighborhood bakery?

If so, this is the book for you. Inside are 72 stories about life on Cleveland's Near West Side in the first half of the 20th Century, including . . . Summer afternoons at Perkins Beach . . . Playing “ cops and robbers” in the alley . . . Hanging out at Heck's . . . Visits from the “ umbrella man” . . . and lots more!

Book Excerpt:
REALLY— WHERE IS THE “ NEAR WEST SIDE?”

The Lords and Barbers were part of a group of early settlers who bought the right to own land in the Western Reserve, which was then owned by the state of Connecticut. The Western Reserve stretched from the Pennsylvania border 120 miles west to the area near Sandusky between Lake Erie on the north and the area just south of Akron and Youngstown.

Together, this group of investors put up over one million dollars— a huge amount of money back then. Each investor was given the chance to obtain plots of the land through a drawing in April, 1807. The Lords and Barbers pulled the largest parcel, which stretched from the Cuyahoga River to W. 117th and from Lake Erie to Brookpark Road, naming it Brooklyn Township.

These pioneers had the land surveyed, and in 1836 further incorporated an area from the Cuyahoga River to W. 58th Street, from Lake Erie to Walworth Run, near the present day Rapid tracks. They called this area the City of Ohio. The center of the City of Ohio was called Market Square, and it extended from W. 25th to W. 38th Street. The turnpike (what we now refer to as Pearl Road or W. 25th Street) was the main road in the area.

Until 1854, the City of Cleveland and the City of Ohio were totally separate. In June . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews
This book is a 'must read' for anyone who enjoys taking a walk down memory lane. The delightful little vignettes put a human face on many area institutions and shed a new light on many parts of our city we overlook or take for granted. — Sun Newspapers
The authors have poured a lot of themselves, and Cleveland's rich neighborhood history, into these delightful vignettes about the Near West Side. Where else can you browse through one book and discover the paaaaper-rex man, the tinker, Perkins Beach or the Fairyland Theater? You won't find John D. Rockefeller or Marcus Hanna in these pages. But you might recognize a long-lost neighbor from 1950. — The Plain Dealer
About The May Dugan Center
The May Dugan Center

The May Dugan Center is a not-for-profit social services agency serving Cleveland's near west side. More About The May Dugan Center

Contains References to:

1950s, Abbey Market, Broken Cookie Store, Cleveland Nostalgia, Cleveland West Side, Coming of Age, Edgewater Park, Ethnic Communities, Gordon Neighborhood, James Ford Rhodes, John Patrick Kilbane, May Dugan Center, Milk man, Old Cudell Arts and Crafts House, Old Movie Theaters, Penny Candy, Rollercade, St. Ignatius High School, West Side Market, Whiskey Island

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