Erie Street Cemetery is a historic

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. It is the city's oldest existing cemetery.

History

The cemetery was established in 1826 at what was then the edge of the city, taking its name from East 9th Street's original name. It was the city's first permanent cemetery, replacing a community burial ground just south of

Public Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

. Many of Cleveland's earliest pioneers and leaders are buried there, including Lorenzo Carter, the city's first permanent white settler; and John W. Willey, the city's first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. The cemetery was open to members of all faiths. During the administration of Mayor

Tom L. Johnson Tom Loftin Johnson (July 18, 1854 – April 10, 1911) was an American industrialist, Georgist politician, and important figure of the Progressive Era and a pioneer in urban political and social reform. He was a U.S. Representative from 1891 to ...

in the early 20th century, bodies were moved from the cemetery to the municipally-owned Highland Park Cemetery, and parts of the cemetery were vacated for city streets. The Pioneers' Memorial Association was formed in 1915 to advocate for the cemetery. In 1925, its future was secured when City Manager William R. Hopkins decided to build the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge around, rather than through, the cemetery. Improvements and maintenance have been performed by groups including the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

and the Cleveland Grays. It was designated as an official Ohio historical site in October 2009, and it is a Cleveland City Landmark.

Honors student An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their coursework at school. United States In the United States, honors students may refer to: # Students recognized for their academic achieve ...

s at

Cuyahoga Community College Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Founded in 1963, it is the oldest and largest public community college within the state. Not unti ...

have conducted research about people buried in the cemetery. On September 16, 2024, the Erie Street Cemetery Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Notable interments

Among the cemetery's more than 17,000 interments are veterans who participated in conflicts from the Revolutionary War through the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. Notable burials at Erie Street Cemetery include: * John W. Allen (1802–1887), lawyer and politician,

Mayor of Cleveland The mayor of Cleveland is the head of the executive branch of Local government in the United States, government of the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. As the chief executive in Cleveland's Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government fo ...

from 1841 to 1843 * Lorenzo Carter (1767–1814), Cleveland's first permanent white settler, community leader * Leonard Case Jr. (1820–1880), philanthropist, namesake of the

Case Institute of Technology Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

(remains later removed to

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a Private property, privately owned, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Rural cemetery, garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland, Ohio, East Cleveland ...

, Cleveland, Ohio, but headstone remains at Erie Street Cemetery) * David Eldridge, first person of European descent to die in the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. Warren, Ohio was the Historic Capital in Trumbull County. T ...

* Jabez W. Fitch (1823–1884), politician,

Lieutenant Governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes Governor of Ohio, governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed via impeachment conviction. Before 1852, the president of the Oh ...

from 1878 to 1880. * Josiah A. Harris (1808–1876), Mayor of Cleveland in 1847 * George Hoadley (1781–1857), Mayor of Cleveland in 1846 (remains later removed to Highland Park Cemetery, Highland Hills, Ohio) * Joc-O-Sot (1810–1844),

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

chief * Lorenzo A. Kelsey (1803–1890), Mayor of Cleveland in 1848 (remains later removed to

, Cleveland, Ohio) * Joshua Mills (1797–1843), physician and politician, Mayor of Cleveland from 1838 to 1839 and in 1842 * John W. Willey (1797–1841), politician, the first mayor of Cleveland, from 1836 to 1837 (remains later removed to

, Cleveland, Ohio, but headstone remains at Erie Street Cemetery)

References

{{Authority control Cemeteries in Cleveland Downtown Cleveland 1826 establishments in Ohio Cemeteries established in the 1820s National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio

History

Notable interments

See also

References