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SHAKER HEIGHTS: UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Mud, noise, dirt roads, dust, empty lots with overgrown weeds, and homes in various states of construction were the norm in Shaker Heights from the 1910s through the 1950s. When Shaker Heights Village was founded in 1912, the population was around 200. By 1919, it had risen to 1,700. The completion of the Rapid in 1920 marked the beginning of a decade-long building boom, with an average of 300 new homes built per year. Shaker Heights’ banner year was 1925 when the valuation of home construction was $9,128,530. By 1929, the population had increased 800% to around 17,000.
Imagine how different Shaker Heights of the 1920s looked compared to today. Residents lived with constant construction and the landscape was rapidly changing from rural farm land to a thriving residential community. According to Doris Whitslar Alburn, “I moved to Oxford Road in 1923 or 1924. When we moved here, we could look out the upstairs window and count only 19 houses around us. We watched dad get off the rapid in the evening as there were no trees to block the view.” 1 Marjorie Beck Twichell remembered that, “there were no streets south of the intersection of Lynnfield Road and Moreland Boulevard, except Kinsman Road. We could see
as far east as the Cleveland Workhouse and Tuberculosis Sanitarium buildings.” 2 In spite of the Depression, new home construction continued at a relatively high rate during the 1930s. Although there was a building slump from 1932 through 1934, it began to rebound in 1935. That year, the three major Heights municipalities—Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and University Heights—led the nation in new home construction. 3 In 1937, Shaker Heights issued 263 building permits for new buildings worth $2,862,265. In 1942, building slowed down, largely due to the federal War Production Board (WPB) regulations that strictly curtailed new housing construction. When building resumed after WWII, Shaker Heights’ home building standards had
adapted to the times, taking, “new improvements in construction and design,” into account. 4
The Shaker Heights that stands today—to a large degree—was completed according to the Van Sweringen’s original plan. This happened in spite of changing fortunes, two world wars, and new architectural styles. Many similar planned communities of the time were not as fully realized.
The success of Shaker Heights is due not only to its overall plan and high quality housing stock but also to a good business plan and careful oversight by the Van Sweringen Company and the municipal government. They were flexible enough to adapt to a changing environment while
attracting a steady flow of new residents and retaining control of the original vision.
Notes:
1. Ed. David G. Molyneaux and Sue Sachman, 75 Years. An Informal History of Shaker Heights, Shaker Heights Public Library: Shaker Heights, OH 1987, p. 30
2. ibid. 31. The Cleveland Workhouse at Cooley Farms was a progressive and highly regarded penal facility located along Harvard Road between Green and Richmond Roads.
3. SHS Files, typed article from Heights-Shaker Press, Jan 8, 1937.
4. Van Sweringen Home Building Standards, 1948
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