STOCKYARDS is a neighborhood and statistical planning area on Cleveland's West Side. It is located between I-71 to the south, roughly Ridge Road to the west, West 44th Street to the east, and just south of I-90 to the north.
The neighborhood derives its name from the CLEVELAND UNION STOCKYARDS CO. which moved to 3200 W. 65th Street in 1893 after a landslide destroyed the original site. The complex covered more than 60 acres and processed some 1.5 million animals in 1923. However it shrank considerably after WORLD WAR II, suffering the same fate as many stockyards located east of the Mississippi River before closing in 1968.
From 1892 to 1963 the Stockyards neighborhood was also home to the PILSENER BREWING CO. Located on West 65th St. (known until 1906 as Gordon St.) near Clark Ave. the brewery derived its name from the Czech city of Pilsen. In 1960 Pilsener employed 300 people and had an annual capacity of 375,000 barrels. Brewing ceased at the location in 1960 after Pilsener was bought by Duquesne Brewing Co. but resumed after Duquesne sold its brand name to C. Schmidt & Sons. Brewing halted under that label in 1984.
By 1923 the Stockyards area was mainly inhabited by HUNGARIANS and Bohemians (CZECHS). Since the 1980s the neighborhood has had a significant Latino (see HISPANIC COMMUNITY) population, which grew from 7 percent of the neighborhood's population in 1980 to just over 27 percent in 2000. AFRICAN AMERICANS, who were virtually absent from the neighborhood until the 1980s, constituted 10 percent of the population in 2000. This influx of Latinos and African Americans helped the neighborhood register its first population gains since World War II. African Americans and Hispanics now (2019) make up roughly half of the area’s population. As of 2012, just under 10,000 people lived in the Stockyards neighborhood. The area’s average cost of living, home values and household income all trail the city of Cleveland as a whole.
Updated by Christopher Roy
Last updated: 1/24/2019
City of Cleveland Ohio. "Cleveland Neighborhood Fact Sheet."