The Flats East Bank - left circa 1987 | Cleveland Public Library, right circa 2019 | George Hahn, idea stream Years ago before the bars, nightclubs, and restaurants Cleveland's most popular and growing area known as the Flats was considered as the hub of industrialization. The area siting between the river and the plateau of [...]
Heavy rains this Summer left much of the Cuyahoga River swollen and many surrounding communities flooded. At least fifteen people were rescued in Kent alone. This led the local fire department to issue a warning to potential kayakers against paddling in high waters. John Kobak is with the Keelhaulers Canoe Club, an organization that teaches [...]
Working on a piece about the history and legacy of Native Americans on and near the Cuyahoga river led me to Native American activist Marie Toledo, and an interesting parallel of our family histories. Toledo’s father moved to Cleveland from the western U.S. as a part of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. The act [...]
At this point, we've heard a lot about the Cuyahoga River's history — how it burned more than a dozen times decades ago, the way it helped fuel an environmental movement and how it went from hazardous to one of the most recreationally used rivers in Ohio. If you're walking along the Portage Hike & [...]
After an extensive campaign, the Cuyahoga River is now a designated water trail. The designation serves as an example of the river's transformation from a polluted waterway to a recreational river. Andrea Irland is with the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program. She spearheaded the campaign to designate the river as a [...]
We all remember being kids in grade school and going on field trips multiple times throughout the school year. Getting to be with all our friends, while still learning in a different way. Suddenly, we all grew up and no longer went on these fun, learning experiences. Luckily for me and other students in my [...]
On November 3, my classmates and I explored Wendy Park and Whiskey Island on the Cuyahoga River. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the river. At Wendy Park, we saw families and their dogs walking along the shoreline. We really appreciated their friendliness and kindness. However, we also saw a litany of trash [...]
The name Cuyahoga means ‘crooked river.’ The Native Americans gave the river this name when they claimed the land in 1000 A.D. Native Americans used the river for trade and transportation. Hopewell Indians arrived in the Cuyahoga Valley first. This group of Indians was known for mound building. They grew crops and lived in very [...]
Last week there were a total of 12 official water trails in the state of Ohio, but now there are 13. On Friday, the Cuyahoga River was named the 13th water trail in the buckeye state. ODNR Director, Mary Mertz, said “This is an amazing trail that goes through the heart of Northeast Ohio.” And [...]
In the mid-1800s, the city of Cleveland began using nonrenewable resources to build businesses and help grow the economy of the local area. John D. Rockefeller was the leader of oil refinement at that time. The different refineries would send pollutants into the air that would cause harm to the Cuyahoga River. At that time [...]
