The Euclid Heights Allotment: A Palimpsest of the Nineteenth Century Search for Real Estate Value in Cleveland\u27s East End

Abstract

The Euclid Heights Allotment was a late nineteenth century predecessor to the Van Sweringen brothers\u27 Shaker Heights development, anticipating many of the themes of its more famous successor. Located on the heights overlooking Case Western Reserve University, Euclid Heights was the first elite subdivision to marry new electric streetcar technology with the romantic appeal of Cleveland\u27s heights and provide a sheltered, restricted residential community for the wealthy citizens gradually moving out Euclid Avenue to the University Circle area. This allotment, in its various phases, was not the first use of the site, either for land speculation or allotments. Borrowing the notion of a palimpsest, this paper examines the various attempts to create real estate value, ending with the Euclid Heights Allotment, and their relationship to the wider economy of Cleveland and Doan\u27s Corners and to the spreading urban infrastructure of utilities, parks and transportation