St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church and Cleveland's Lower Buckeye Road Area
- The Church Site
- Industry and Immigrants
- The Retail District
- Changing Population
- Planning for Change
- St. Elizabeth today
Description
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church has played a central role in the development of Cleveland's Lower Buckeye Road area since the founding of the Church's parish in 1892. While the neighborhood surrounding the Church has seen dramatic change over the course of the last 117 years, St. Elizabeth has stood at the corner of East 90th Street and Buckeye Road as a beacon of constancy and a symbol of the contributions of Cleveland's Hungarian-American community to the growth and industrialization of Cleveland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Credits
James Dubelko
Sections
The Church Site
The founding and growth of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in the Lower Buckeye Road area of Cleveland.Industry and Immigrants
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church was built in order to provide for the spiritual needs of Roman Catholic Hungarian immigrants who came to Cleveland's Lower Buckeye Road area seeking jobs at the many ironworks factories and foundries located there.
The Retail District
At the turn of the 20th century, as St. Elizabeth Church and the Lower Buckeye residential area grew, Buckeye Road developed into a retail corridor for the neighborhood residents who worked in the nearby ironworks factories.
Changing Population
Beginning in the third decade of the 20th century, African-Americans seeking better housing began to move into the Upper and Lower Buckeye Road areas of Cleveland.
Planning for Change
In the 1960s and 1970s, historic Buckeye Road industries began to leave the area. The City of Cleveland since 1949 had passed zoning laws and adopted city plans that were designed to re-industrialize, rather than de-industrialize, Lower Buckeye Road.
St. Elizabeth today
Despite all of the change occurring around it, including a cluster plan that could have forced it to close its doors to the next generation of Hungarian Roman Catholics, St. Elizabeth of Hungary continues to minister to the spriritual needs of the Hungarian-American Roman Catholic population of Cleveland.