Description: Caption reads: "River Traffic. Ore boat being towed up river from Superior Ave. bridge looking south. District #4, Cleveland, Ohio. Neg. File #215. Project Photographer: Frank Jaffa, 1940." Signs visible in this photograph include Huron Cement, Central National Bank (800 Superior Ave), Fries & Schuele, and Lederer Terminal. The CLEVELAND & BUFFALO TRANSIT CO. (C&B), a popular steamship line and later a trucking firm, was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892, with Bradley as president. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the "State of Ohio" and the "State of New York," leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the "City of Buffalo" was added. The "City of Erie" replaced the "State of Ohio" in 1898, providing night service from Cleveland to Toledo. In 1914 Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay were added to the C&B route. As passenger service became increasingly popular, the luxurious "SEEANDBEE," a costly sidewheel passenger steamer, began regular trips between Cleveland and Buffalo in 1913. At that time, the C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for property at the foot of 9th St. for $55,000. There the two companies built the E. 9th St. Pier and a new lake terminal, dedicated in 1915; in exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th St. railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th St. approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.The destruction of the steamship "City of Buffalo" by fire in 1938, along with the Depression and increasing competition from trucks and railroads, caused the bankruptcy and liquidation of Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. in 1939. Their E. 9th St. Pier was transferred to the Lederer Terminal Warehouse Co., and both the "Goodtime" and the "City of Erie" steamers were sold for salvage. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F08_25_01
Subjects: Cleveland(Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cuyahoga River (Ohio); Central National Bank; Steamships
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors of all of history. Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. As a child, he lived in Milan and Port Huron, Michigan. The home in Milan where Edison was born was built in 1842, sold by Edison’s parents in 1854, repurchased by his his sister Marian Edison Page in 1894, and bought by Thomas Edison in 1906. Edison invented the carbon transmitter, which greatly improved the telephone. He also invented quadruplex telegraphy and the phonograph. His invention of the incandescent light bulb led Edison to create elaborate generation plants for electricity, helping make electricity available in many people's homes. He invented the kinetoscope -- the precursor to the film projector -- in 1891. During World War I, Edison helped develop new weapons for the United States military. By the time of his death on October 18, 1931, Edison had received over one thousand patents. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F02_026_1
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931--Birth; Milan (Ohio)--History; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931--Archives--Catalogs
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: caption: "Steamer S.T. Crapo passing Toledo Skyline on Maumee River". Visible on vessel: "Huron Portland Cement Company. Alpena, Mich. Visible signs in background: "United States Goodyear Goodrich..[?]" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F12_009_001
Subjects: Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project--industry--steamboats--Coal--Works Progress Administration
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Edison family moved to Canada at the end of the American Revolution with others who had taken the side of the British king rather than the American colonists. In the 1830s, the family was forced to flee Canada due to Edison's father Samuel's participation in the unsuccessful Papineau-MacKenzie Rebellion against the Canadian government. Samuel and Nancy Elliot Edison and their children settled first in Milan, Ohio and then in Port Huron, Michigan. Edison was born February 11, 1847. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F01A_020_1
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Architecture, Domestic--Ohio--Pictorial works.
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads "Opening in back porch of house, located at 408 East Sixth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, where slaves are said to have been stored awaiting shipment during slavery days. Photo by Writers' Projects. District #2. 11-12-36." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere outside of the United States. White and African-American "conductors" served as guides from place to place for runaway slaves. It remains unclear when the Underground Railroad began, but members of the Society of Friends, who were also known as the Quakers, were actively assisting runaway slaves as early as the 1780s. Some people living in Ohio began to help runaways by the 1810s. Several prominent abolitionists were from Ohio and they played a vital role in the Underground Railroad. Beginning in the late 1840s, Levi Coffin, a resident of Cincinnati, helped more than three thousand slaves escape from their masters and gain their freedom in Canada. Coffin's work caused his fellow abolitionists to nickname him the "president of the Underground Railroad." In Ripley, Presbyterian minister John Rankin served as a conductor and opened his home to African Americans seeking freedom. His home stood on a three hundred-foot high hill that overlooked the Ohio River. Rankin would signal runaway slaves in Kentucky with a lantern and let them know when it was safe for them to cross the Ohio River. He provided the runaways with shelter and kept them hidden until it was safe to travel further north. John Parker, Rankin's neighbor, brought hundreds of runaway slaves across the Ohio River in a boat. These men and many other people risked their lives to assist African Americans in their flight to freedom. Once they arrived in Ohio, some runaway slaves who decided to remain in the state. They usually settled in neighborhoods with other African Americans. Many runaway slaves continued on to Canada. At least eight cities, including Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain, and Conneaut, along Lake Erie served as starting points to transport the former slaves to freedom in Canada. Historian Wilbur Siebert believes approximately three thousand miles of Underground Railroad trails existed in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F05_020_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cincinnati (Ohio)--History; Underground Railroad--Ohio
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 8.5" by 11" (21.59 by 27.94 cm) image depicts Thomas Alva Edison visiting his birthplace in Milan, Ohio on August 11, 1923. The Edison family moved to Canada at the end of the American Revolution with others who had taken the side of the British king rather than the American colonists. In the 1830s, the family was forced to flee Canada due to Edison's father Samuel's participation in the unsuccessful Papineau-MacKenzie Rebellion against the Canadian government. Samuel and Nancy Elliot Edison and their children settled first in Milan, Ohio and then in Port Huron, Michigan. Edison (1847-1931) gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. As a boy, Edison was boxed in the ears by an angry train conductor after he destroyed a box car when his science experiments exploded. Edison pointed to the incident as the cause of his loss of hearing, which worsened throughout his life. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1495_1160563_001
Subjects: Science and Technology; Daily Life; Architecture; Inventors; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Houses
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of the sidewheel steamer City of Cleveland III was taken off the coast of Cleveland in the 1940s. City of Cleveland III was built for the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company by the Detroit Ship Building Company. It was launched as the City of Cleveland in 1908 and renamed City of Cleveland III in 1912. The ship primarily carried passengers between Detroit and Cleveland. The photograph measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). While on an excursion with the Benton Harbor, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the City of Cleveland III was struck by the Norwegian freighter Ravnefjell off Harbor Beach Lake Huron, on June 25, 1950. Five passengers were killed. The City of Cleveland III was dry-docked and later dismantled following the accident. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3182_4418073_001
Subjects: Transportation; Ships; Steamboats; Photography--Ohio
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "River View of Terminal; The Terminal Tower group from the Cuyahoga River; District #4, Cleveland, Ohio; Credit Line: C. W. Ackerman". View of Terminal Tower from the Cuyahoga River. The Terminal Tower is located at 230 W. Huron Road in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Built for $179 million by the Van Sweringen brothers, the tower was to serve as an office building atop the city's new rail station, Union Terminal. Originally planned to be 14 stories, the structure was expanded to 52-floors with a height of 708 ft and rests on 280 foot caissons. Designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the tower was modeled after the Beaux-Arts New York Municipal Building by McKim, Mead, and White. The Terminal Tower opened in 1928, two years before the entire Union Terminal complex was complete, and would remain the tallest building in the world outside of New York City until the completion of the main building of Moscow State University in Moscow in 1953. The Terminal Tower would continue as the tallest building in North America outside of New York City until the Prudential Center in Boston, Massachusetts was completed in 1964. A Nicholson Transit Co. ore boat is pictured in the Cuyahoga River. The Nicholson Transit Company was started by William Nicholson in 1928. The Great Lakes shipping company was one of a number of enterprises run by Nicholson and his family. Between the businesses owned by the Nicholson family, they handled cargo throughout the Great Lakes from the time of loading in one port, through transit to a second port, to unloading in the port of arrival. The Nicholson Transit Company was forced out of business in the 1960s as a result of the government subsidized railroad competition. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F11_17_01
Subjects: Terminal Tower Complex (Cleveland, Ohio); Cuyahoga River; Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Steamships
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio);
 

Description: Caption reads: "Huron and Euclid. Huron Road near Euclid Avenue - street scene. District #4, Cleveland. John Steinke, 1940." This photograph shows a section of Euclid Avenue, facing East towards the intersection of East Fourteenth (14th) Street and Playhouse Square. Signs and buildings visible in the photograph include: RKO Vaudville (atop Playhouse Square - taken down in 1945) , Chandler Rudd, Rice Business Furniture, Engel & Fetzer, Nanking, Hotel Morrison. The Palace Theatre opened November 1922 in the Keith Building, which at the time was the tallest in Cleveland. Designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, the Palace was a regional flagship of the Keith-Albee chain of vaudeville theaters. The Keith Building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F10_06_01
Subjects: Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cleveland Palace Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio); Rapp & Rapp; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows an exterior view of the house where inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. The house has window shutters and an open porch with an assembly of chairs, a bench, and a small table. The Edison birthplace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a child, Edison lived in Milan and in Port Huron, Michigan. Although Edison received only three months of formal schooling, he became one of the greatest inventors of all time. Edison's inventions forever changed people's lives. Electric lights allowed people to remain active at night, whether it be reading, dancing, or listening to Edison's phonograph. Previously, with only candles or fireplaces to light homes, most people simply went to sleep once nightfall arrived. Factories also began to use electricity and electric lights. Now factories could remain open twenty-four hours per day, and soon the workday became divided into three eight-hour shifts. His improvements to the telegraph and telephone also helped make communication easier around the entire world. This image of Edison’s birthplace is among the photographs produced by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1943. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06394
Subjects: Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Milan (Ohio); Historic houses; National Register of Historic Places; United States. Work Progress Administration
Places: Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows busy Madison Avenue at its intersection with Erie Street in downtown Toledo, 1935-1943. Parked cars line both sides of Madison Avenue, and vehicles are traveling in both directions. Pedestrians also are visible. The building with the distinctive cupola and tower is the Nasby Building (1891), located at the corner of Madison Avenue and Huron Street. The shorter structure to the right of the Nasby Building is the Wayne Building (1924). The Nasby's tower was removed in 1934. Later the Nasby and the Wayne structures were combined under a single facade that was renamed the "Madson Building." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06201
Subjects: Toledo (Ohio); Buildings; Architecture--Ohio; Automobiles
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Map of the Western Reserve including the Fire Lands in Ohio, published by William Sumner in Nelson, Ohio, September 1826. Counties included on the map are Huron, Lorain, Medina, Cuyahoga, Portage, Geauga, Astabula (Ashtabula) and Trumbull. Also marked on the map are courthouses, meeting houses, colleges, mills, lighthouses, villages, county lines and roads. A brief history on the bottom portion of the map reads, "The Western Reserve is situated in the north east corner of the State between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania East &c. It extends 120 miles from East to West and upon an average 52 from north to south. The area is just 3,000,000 of acres, a body of 500,000 of acres is stricken off from the west end of the tract and granted by the state of of Connecticut as a donation to certain sufferers by fire occasioned by the English during the Revolutionary War, the manner by which the state of Connecticut became possessed of the land in question was the following. King Charles II of View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MAPVFM_0323_2
Subjects: Western Reserve; Firelands; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood; Maps
Places: Ohio