Immigration History in Cleveland

Immigration in Cleveland 7

​

Immigration in Cleveland, Ohio

Timothianne Matsko

University of Southern California-School of Social Work

Alyson Mischel

May 24, 2013

Immigration in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland’s Immigration History

​Cleveland, Ohio is well known for its diverse ethnic and race populations. Around the early-mid 1800’s is when immigration started to take a rise in Cleveland Ohio. If it had not been for Cleveland’s large immigrant population, Cleveland would not be the unique multi-cultured city that it is today, nor would it have had the successful industrial economy. It was those early immigrants that labored and had big ideas that molded Cleveland’s industries. Immigration in Cleveland Ohio is the perfect example of the relocation of immigrants for new and greater opportunities. To this day, there are still strong ethnic communities that remain in Cleveland. There are also Ethnic communities that have thinned out and dispersed into other communities, but you can still see the marks of their strong culture.

​The expansions of railroads and completion of the Ohio and Erie Canals made Cleveland a desired destination for the Scots, Irish, British and Germans. The Scots gravitated towards Collinwood and worked the steel mills. The Irish moved into Whiskey Island and along the Cuyahoga River were the land was low lying and not very desirable. The Irish homes in that area were poorly built and infested with Malaria. As the Irish prospered they left that area for Ohio City. The British moved into Euclid, Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland.

​The end of the American Civil War is when Cleveland began to see the rise of immigrating Italians, Hungarians and Russians. The Italians moved into the strong ethnic enclave known as Little Italy. Hungarians and Russians moved to Ohio City and Tremont.

​The Jewish people who immigrated to Cleveland gravitated to Kinsman, Glenville and Mount Pleasant.

​In the 1870’s another steep...