Category: Exploration and Early Settlement

The ASTOR HOUSE was for many years considered to be Cleveland's oldest structure. Although its authenticity was never established, the hand-cut, chestnut-timbered Astor House was generally believed to have been built in the 1780s as a trading post by the Northwestern Fur Co., a venture associated with John Jacob Astor. The Astor House as it appeared in the early 1900s. WRHS.

BRADSTREET'S DISASTER, which occurred 1.7 miles west of Rocky River on October 18 and 19, 1764, is one of the most notable events in the presettlement history of Cleveland. In late summer 1764, British Colonel John Bradstreet, renowned as the hero of Fort Frontenac, proceeded from Fort Niagara to Fort Detroit with 2,300 British regulars, American provincials, and Indians.

CITY PLANNING. Like most American cities, Cleveland began as a speculative venture in real estate. Conceived as the capital of New Connecticut, the city was laid out in 1796 by surveyors with the original Moses Cleaveland expedition. The plat, a faithful reproduction of a New England town, with its characteristic commons, failed to treat either river or lakefront as a public amenity.

The CLEVELAND HALL OF FAME consists of deceased individuals from the Greater Cleveland area who received national or international acclaim.

The CONNECTICUT LAND CO. (1795-1809) was an investment group that obtained title from the State of Connecticut to a major portion of the WESTERN RESERVE lands for resale to settlers. On 3 Aug.

CUYAHOGA COUNTY GOVERNMENT. On 16 July 1810, the General Assembly of Ohio approved an act calling for the organization of the county of Cuyahoga. The state constitution had established that the general assembly would provide, by general law, for the government of all Ohio counties according to the same organization.

The DUNHAM TAVERN, one of Cleveland's oldest buildings and a representative Colonial farmhouse of pioneer days, is still standing in its original location at 6709 Euclid Ave. Believed to be the first building constructed on Euclid east of E. 55th St., the tavern was originally the home of Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham, a young couple who came to Cleveland between 1819-23 from Mansfield, MA.

The EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION OF THE WESTERN RESERVE is a voluntary organization of people who are interested in studying, preserving and commemorating the history of the Connecticut WESTERN RESERVE and early Cleveland.

The ELLICOTT LINE, the western border of Pennsylvania and its border with Ohio, is a famous demarcation between older colonial land grants and the newer land allotments following the Revolution.

The ERIE INDIANS, or the CAT NATION, were first noted in 1624 when the Huron told Fr. Gabriel Sagard about Eriehronon, or Eriquehronon, living across the lake. Sagard's 1639 Huron Dictionary translated this term as "Cat People," possibly referring to raccoons rather than any feline animal.

EXPLORATIONS. The map Amerique Septentrionale, published by Nicholas Sanson in 1650, not only was the first to adequately show Lake Erie but also charted the southern shore with an accuracy unmatched for more than a century. Earlier French maps, from 1612-42, not only were vague and inaccurate but also were admittedly based on reports from Indians living farther north or east.

THE FIRST MAP OF CLEVELAND or “The Spafford Map,” is a manuscript map created on the townsite being surveyed by MOSES CLEAVELAND’s party in September of 1796.