HIGHLAND HILLS was created out of WARRENSVILLE TWP.. in 1990 as a result of a plan by FIGGIE INTL. to move its headquarters to northeastern Ohio. The township was established in 1816. The 2 sq. mi. village is located southeast of Cleveland and bounded on the north by BEACHWOOD, on the west by SHAKER HTS., on the east by ORANGE, and on the southwest by WARRENSVILLE HTS. The original Warrensville Twp. covered 25 sq. mi., and included portions of the present Shaker Hts., UNIV. HTS., and Warrensville Hts. and all of Beachwood. Warrensville was named for settler DANIEL WARREN, who arrived in 1810. Throughout the 19th century, it was a rural agricultural community (see AGRICULTURE). Between 1904-15 progressive city and county institutions located in the present township: the County Infirmary (1904, now part of Highland View Hospital); the county tuberculosis sanatorium at Cooley Farms (1906, later the Sunny Acres Sanatorium, see CUYAHOGA COUNTY HOSPITAL SYSTEM); and the CLEVELAND WORKHOUSE and House of Correction (1912). The township contained the Highland Park Cemetery, the Highland Park Golf Course, and the Eastern Campus of CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
Highland Hills operated under a mayor-council form of government and was served by the Warrensville Hts. City School District. The population of Highland Hills in 2000 was 1,618, and in 2010 it was 1,130. Approximately 75% of village residents were African American. The village had the distinction (as of 2019) as the only Cuyahoga County municipality with an African American mayor for the entirety of its history. Its first mayor, Robert Nash, governed from 1990 until his death in 2018 and was succeeded by Michael L. Booker. By 2018, the village population had declined to under 1,000.
Updated by Mark Souther
Last updated: 10/21/2019
See also SUBURBS.