West Boulevard Allotment

The West Boulevard Allotment stretched from Madison Avenue to Lorain Avenue and included the houses on W 101th Street. to the east and the houses on the east side of W 103rd Street. The land for the West Boulevard Allotment (appx 80 acres). was originally part of Brooklyn Township, which was annexed to Cleveland in 1873. Prominent Clevelander Leonard Case Sr. (1786-1864) and later his son, Leonard Case Jr. (1820-1880) owned the land. By 1898, the plots had been divided between Margaret E. Gregg and Laura G. Collins, both relatives of the Case family. Two parallel streets—Laura St. and Gregg St.— ran north to south across the plots, roughly marking where West Boulevard and West 101st Street. would be constructed. The area around these plots was subdivided in the 19th-century, while the Gregg and Collins plots remained empty fields.

This open real estate became a natural target for development in Cleveland’s City Beautiful (1893-1930) planning initiatives, especially the Parks & Boulevards System. Like many U.S. cities, Cleveland wanted to rectify urban over-crowding and dirtiness. The City Beautiful Movement (which occurred across America) encouraged city planners to invest in architecture that was both practical and beautiful and to incorporate green space in urban centers. Cleveland’s Park & Boulevards System follows the tradition of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903), the father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted designed New York City’s Central Park. He believed green passageways should connect parks around a city. 

Cleveland formed its own Board of Park Commissioners in 1871. By 1896 the city had assembled 1,200 acres of land to be used for the park system. In 1871, the Board adopted a plan that followed the Olmstedian tradition. The Board allocated money and land to create parks on the outskirts of the city that would be connected by "a broad, smoothly-paved boulevard encircling the city, this with the parks forming a chain of verdure around it."[1] West Boulevard was one of several such thoroughfares that curved around Cleveland. 

The plots with the West Boulevard Allotment were released in 1906. The West Madison Realty Company. handled the sales and aggressively advertised the new subdivision as a perfect place for new homeowners who wanted to enjoy the beauty of a suburb while remaining in the city. Deed restrictions regulated the construction of the houses. Structures had to maintain 35’ setbacks (some of the widest in Cleveland). All houses had to cost at least $3,000 dollars. The plots sold fast. 78.2% of the extant houses facing the boulevard were built between 1910 and 1920; construction peaked in 1915 when 13.3% (16 houses) were built just that year.

Most of the houses in this survey fall into general stylistic categories that were typical for the time period—Colonial Revival, Craftsman, a few modernist styles, and a few other older styles, including Queen Anne and Renaissance Revivals. Many of the houses follow recognizable plans and types, such the American Foursquare or Bungalow. The houses on the boulevard represent a higher standard of architecture than those within the West Boulevard Allotment but on the surrounding streets. The more expensive boulevard lots often attracted buyers who could afford an architect. At least 21 of the boulevard residences were designed by an known Cleveland architect.

West Boulevard has maintained a fairly consistent physical appearance. There is an even split between single-family and two-family homes, many of them are large duplexes. Several houses have kept their clay tile roofs and original wood shingle or clapboard siding. The greatest change to the neighborhood was the construction of I-90, which falls across the boulevard between Western Avenue and Lorain Avenue. However, West Boulevard appears today much as it did in 1920. The designation of the Clifton & West Boulevard Historic District in 2000 will help to preserve the boulevard for generations to come.

[1] Board of Park Commissioners Annual Report (1894) 12-13, as quoted in: Cleveland Landmarks Commission, The City Beautiful Movement in Cleveland, 5.