The MOSES CLEAVELAND TREES were chosen from throughout Cuyahoga County in 1946 as part of the sesquicentennial of Moses Cleaveland and his party's landing at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on 22 July 1796. Each tree was of such an age as to have been part of the area's forests at the time of the landing. The Cleveland Sesquicentennial Commission appointed the Committee on Moses Cleaveland Trees, whose objective was the discovery and labeling of 150 native trees over the age of 150 years growing in the county. Chair of the committee was ARTHUR B. WILLIAMS, curator of education at the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. The committee received nominations for 242 large trees. Measurements of the trees' diameters were taken at a 4' height, and the trees were critically judged as to the probability of their being 150 years or older. The desirability of each tree's location was also taken into account, as the committee sought to select trees located in places where they could be easily seen and appreciated by the public. Local ceremonies accompanied the labeling of many trees. Each tree bore a 5" x 10" aluminum label which read: "This is a Moses Cleaveland Tree. It was standing here as part of the original forest when Moses Cleaveland landed at the Mouth of the Cuyahoga River, July 22, 1796. Let us preserve it as a living memorial to the first settlers of the Western Reserve."
Williams, Arthur. Final Report of the Sesquicentennial Commission's Committee on Moses Cleaveland Trees (1946).