Hidden History of Cleveland

Hidden History

by Christopher Busta-Peck

Discover the rich past and local landmarks of this uniquely American city—includes numerous photos.   Too often, we think of history as something that happens elsewhere. In reality, it surrounds us—in our hometowns and everywhere we travel. In this book, local history preservationist Christopher Busta-Peck unearths fascinating and forgotten aspects of Cleveland, Ohio’s past.   Take a trip down East 100th Street to the home where Jesse Owens lived when he shocked the world at the 1936 Olympics. Ascend the stairs to Langston Hughes’s attic apartment on East 86th, where the influential writer lived alone during his formative sophomore and junior years of high school. From the massive Brown Hoist Building and the Hulett ore unloaders to some of the oldest surviving structures in Cleveland, Busta-Peck, of the wildly popular Cleveland Area History blog, has Clevelanders and visitors rediscovering the city’s compelling past.

Genres: Nonfiction

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2011

Reviews

[Chad Malkamaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting addition to Cleveland history. While you can see that it is a series of blog entries turned into a book, the way this book should be utilized, is the way and means, the tools that are at the hands of a researcher. Busta-Peck's goal was utilizing records that are accessible through the public library system, this could be reimagined with more research using local historical societies and other primary documents, and a little more editing in regards to lengthening some of the articles and rearranging the sections.

Busta-Peck's past time and passion is finding old buildings and homes, documenting what is left from the 19th century in Cleveland. He started this work, by teaching the stories of the community where his library is located. This passion is well documented through his book.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can only give this book 3 stars because the blog is so much better--containing many more pictures with the same textual information in the book. While I understand this was probably due to the peculiarities and cost of publishing, the blog is thus much more useful for putting these landmarks in context.

I have to say that reading this book just makes me angry that so many amazing structures and important parts of our history are being lost at an alarming rate. I even tried to convince Steve to think about moving back downtown and restoring a house mentioned on the blog a while back, but with the state of the public schools (and no money to send kids to private schools), this just isn't an option for us.

I'm particularly incensed (and have been for quite some time) at the Cleveland Clinic for gobbling up many of these remaining structures. While I love what the hospital is doing to modernize and revitalize our city, they need to take more care to preserve the history that allowed them to become so great in the first place.

The last entry in this book is the first blog I read at www.clevelandareahistory.com. It is the Foster Mansion built by Walker and Weeks (who build Severance Hall) and located in Cleveland Heights. It was torn down by a Cleveland Clinic exec and his wife, who wanted to build a "greener" structure. As the author points out, it is always much "greener" to save a structure that is existing and try to update some of the things that make a building less efficient. I can't imagine tearing such a structure down, and I have to wonder why this couple couldn't have bought other land without the same historical significance for their "green" house. It just seems selfish and arrogant to me.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise from a summer program and ongoing blog to trace histories of buildings or building styles in the Cleveland area. Busta-Peck is dedicated to letting people know about significant architectural treasures whether they are simple homes from the early days of settlers to huge business buildings.

In many cases he does house detective work to get the answers, in other cases we're just left to mourn a picture marked "Demolished". The book reads like you should be looking at it during a lecture, "Here we see the original windows." "Click" "Here we see the original foundation. It would work well as a class with nothing but field trips.

That said, I'm now anxious to see what I can find out about the people who've owned my house built in 1924 before it became mine.

[Calvin]

One of the best books on Local History Ive read in a long time. Well written, interesting and passionate. Well researched as well.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book discusses the history of some historical homes and businesses in Cleveland, Ohio. I found it very interesting.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of research into historic homes in Cleveland. Excellent reminder about the many research resources at Cleveland Public Library.