Browse Exhibits (3 total)

In the late 1800s the Cuyahoga River became a key element of Cleveland’s industrial revolution with the growing of oil refiners, chemical manufacturers, also steel production, lumber companies and other related business which all occupied the banks of the river in the Flats of Cleveland. After the Industrial revolution the environment became ruin because of the pollutants from the companies alongside of the river. Debris, oil, dead fish and many other things floated on top of the river which caused the Cuyahoga to become flammable and a threat to the companies on the bank. The economy depended on the industrial companies that surrounded the river but the river also was a main source for import and export besides the railroads that went into the flats. The exhibit will help you go through the history of the Cuyahoga River including the important fires that occurred throughout the years.

"Anyone who falls in the Cuyahoga, does not drown, ... he decays." (TIME Magazine. Aug. 1, 1969). For dedades pollution on the Cuyahoga River was out of control.  National attention was drawn to the pollution problem with information about the Cuyahoga River fire of June 22, 1969 appearing in the widely publicized TIME issue of the Ted Kennedy scandal of Chappaquiddick. That along with efforts by then mayor Carl Stokes, sparked the interaction of community groups, the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio and the federal government to attack polluted water ways.

This exhibit will develop three important parts of the Cuyahoga River:  the early years, the industrial boom years, and the clean-up.