the second statues

Tom Johnson, Mayor of Cleveland,  1901-09. Herman Matzen. 1915. 

“Johnson is the best mayor of the best governed city in America.” —  Lincoln Steffens

see previous post [click]. Johnson was the Democratic mayor of a Republican town for four terms. Marcus Hanna was the string puller for the Republican Party, until he died. Hanna made Canton's McKinley president, but Johnson outlasted Hanna. Hanna's cohorts and minions got a beer baron, soon to be forgotten, to defeat Johnson in 1909. 

Moses Cleaveland. James C. Hamilton. 1888. 

“While I was in New Connecticut I laid out a town on the bank of Lake Erie, which was called by my name, and I believe the child is now born that may live to see that place as large as Old Windham.”

These two statues, supra, look out at each other. Behind both of them is Ontario Avenue, which bisects the public square laid out by Cleaveland in 1796. These are the statues, which people think of and computer search engines find, of Johnson and Cleaveland; but they are not the only ones.

There is another statue of Tom Johnson. William McVey. 1986. Western Reserve Historical Society.

Moses Cleaveland is about to leave the building

Moses Cleaveland is carrying a surveyor's tool in his left arm, and holding a staff in his right hand, just as the earlier statue. What was built as the Cleveland Club beginning in 1929 found Hoover's Depression, a hard time. It started as a private men's club, and opened in January 1930. The building had a swimming pool, Al Capone had a second one built for his private use. Capone also had a mile and a half tunnel created to reach Little Italy.

 

It became a hotel in 1939, Tudor Arms. Its Empress Room was often used as a Jazz club. It then became university housing, beginning in 1960 by the separate schools:  Case, and Western Reserve. The merged university leased it to Cleveland Jobs Corps, and sold it in 2007. It opened as a hotel again in 2011.

 

The year stone reads: CC 1929. It sits at ground level below Cleaveland. Many people drive by the corner without noticing the stone (which is partially covered by a potted shrub), and the statue.