The Final Extensions

So far, we have seen Cleveland Heights beginning to develop along the lines of its trolleys: the initial line up Mayfield Hill to the cemetery and which eventually reached Lee Rd, the line to and eventually up Cedar Glen, the line from the top of the Glen along Euclid Heights Blvd, and the line that left the Euclid Heights line at the top of the Glen to run along Cedar Rd and then along the alignment, where Fairmont Blvd. now runs, to Lee. But there was still more to come.

A significant additional line concerned Cleveland Heights only indirectly. This was the Cleveland & Eastern interurban line to Gates Mills and Chardon, built by the Everett-Moore syndicate. Chartered in 1899, it continued east from Lee Rd. along Mayfield. In 1916, city cars began operating over the route as far as Center Rd. (now Warrensville Center) and took it over completely when the interurban was abandoned in 1925. In 1906, the line on Mayfield Heights Blvd was extended east to Coventry, north to Mayfield, and then east, becoming the new Mayfield line and tracks up Mayfield Hill were abandoned. In 1916, the Fairmont line was continued to Canterbury and eventually reached Hampstead. In 1918, the line on Cedar Rd became a separate line, continuing east beyond Fairmont to Coventry, to Lee in 1922 and to Taylor in 1930.

Thus, we see that the development of Cleveland Heights as a “trolley suburb” was a fairly extended and complex process.

Pictures: 1) Euclid Hts. Blvd. nr Derbyshire, 1948, 2) Mayfair & Coventry, 1940, both Columbus Metropolitan Library. 3) Cedar Glen @ Ambleside, 1930, Cleveland Memory Project, Cleveland State University Library. Compare with out Jan. 11th post.