Cleveland Heights dates to 1901, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #289 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
21 places in town are on the National Register, among them ten historic districts with 3,976 buildings between them. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cleveland Heights’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cleveland Heights is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #289 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cleveland Heights’ overall grade.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cleveland Heights’ 896 sits above most of its state (99% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 3,989 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1901.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Cleveland Heights’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fairmount
1883–1912
Bluestone
1884–1910
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ambler HeightsBluestoneEuclid HeightsFairmount
Gone or out of use
Bluestone Post Officepost officeCleveland Heights Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchFairmount Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchFairmount Post Officepost officeFirst English Lutheran ChurchchurchSuperior Street SchoolschoolTaylor Academyschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cleveland Heights
MayfieldPresident Garfield Tomb and Memorial
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The area that is now the city of Cleveland Heights lies atop the Portage Escarpment. Until the late 1800s, the area remained largely timber and farmland, with a few orchards, quarries, and vineyards. The first road through the city, Mayfield Road, was not built until 1828. The initial road took 2 years to build. Some of the land was divided into farms, but it also had quarries in the 19th century. One of the early quarries was established by Duncan McFarland who mined bluestone. This led to the settlement that grew up around the quarry for the workers to live in to be referred to as Bluestone. There is still a road of this name in that area.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cleveland Heights. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Euclid sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cleveland Heights.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewGlimpses of Greater Cleveland and Some Old-Time Views (Souvenir Pamphlets of Cleveland, Ohio) - DPLA - b52dd4cbb8537b79…, 1906
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cleveland Heights’ page.
In 1901, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cleveland Heights’ post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1910 counted 2,955 people here.
How does Cleveland Heights rank for history?
Cleveland Heights is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #289 of 993 in Ohio. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Cleveland Heights?
21 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Tremaine-Gallagher Residence (listed 1973, the first), and 12 historic districts with 3,976 contributing buildings. 3,989 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cleveland Heights?
59% of Cleveland Heights’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1938.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (21), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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c. 1930
2015
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