Cleveland's Iconic Terminal Tower
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ต.ค. 2023
- The Terminal Tower is one of the most recognizable structures in downtown Cleveland. Some even consider it a symbol of the city. But did you know that when it was built, you could once board an intercity passenger train from the terminal? But why did the passenger trains leave the station in the first place?
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Materials used:
Cleveland Public Library Photograph Collection: cpl.org/aboutthelibrary/subje...
Cleveland State University Special Collections: www.clevelandmemory.org/
Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/
Works Cited:
Harwood, Herbert H. Invisible Giants: The Empires of Cleveland’s Van Sweringen Brothers. Indiana UP, 2003.
Cleveland’s Endearing Terminal: 52 Stories of the Terminal Tower.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. Terminal Tower Building, Cleveland Union Terminal, 50 Public Square, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/oh1517/.
Historic American Engineering Record, Creator, Mantis J Van Sweringen, and Oris P Van Sweringen. Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/oh0092/.
Music:
End of the Era by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Danse Macabre - Busy Strings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
#TerminalTower #ClevelandUnionTerminal
Note: I’m well aware I said Huntington Valley instead of Hunting Valley. I don’t know why I wrote that down in my script or why I didn’t catch it sooner. My apologies!
When I was a kid in the 1960's, I thought it was funny that the fancy signs for Hunting Valley said in small letters below "no hunting" 😂
Did you know they are talking about connecting the Cuyahoga valley scenic railroad to tower city center?
It is a good idea so people could commute from cuy uhoga valley to down town cleveland with stops along the way. Money and reight of was would have to be over come@@1718alexnatalie
I hope Amtrak moves back into the terminal. Cleveland is a underrated city that needs some more development.
It sure does.
It would be a huge selling point for Amtrak IMO
But trains would then need to back in and out of the station, which would add time
@@tylerkochman1007rebuilt it as a run thru. Also bring back the former Erie CUT-Youngstown Commuter train.
Pretty sure it would be cost prohibitive. I read an article once where it said that the bridge that would need to be used to cross the valley would have to be replaced as it would not be able to hold the weight of passenger trains.
I'm 90, and I'll never forget taking the train to New York from the Terminal with my 2 brothers, by ourselves, 7,9,11 year olds. We did it more than once, on passenger trains named The Pacemaker, The Empire State and one other.
Born in Cleveland 1944, family moved to the burbs soon after. We went to Cleveland twice a year, Christmas like Ralphie, Higbees, May Co, Halles, Sterling Linder for the huge tree, Mills Cafeteria, Hobby House. Euclid Beach 5 cents day once each summer. Rode the articulated streetcars a few times. College in University Circle, had strips of 14 cent tickets to ride the CTS Rapid and watch trains. Lots of trains to watch back then! At Windemere, there were washrooms and a bake shop inside the ticket barriers, so you could ride all day for 14 cents.
I was born and raised in Cleveland being born in the 80’s this channel is fascinating to me to learn the history of my city. I moved to Michigan in 2000 and miss Cleveland. If u not from here u can’t understand it
Holy amazeballs. This is a top-tier documentary on a property I have seen in passing but knew little about. You should be proud of this production quality on this documentary.
amazeballs? ☠️☠️
Agreed!!!!
I live in downtown Cleveland and love Amtrak, but it’s a shame that the only routes through Cleveland are in the dead middle of the night. I took the Capitol Limited once, but even living so close to the station, there’s no way I could ever walk there at 3:00am for safety reasons. Thanks for this awesome video, I would love to see improved passenger rail timetables and I think your videos do a great job of raising awareness. We had amazing rail networks once and we can do it again! 😊
In 1959 I worked as an elevator operator..in the terminal..Higbee company...after high school graduation....tbey provided our lovely gold suits. I made $33.00 a week......I was born in university hospital in 1939
When I didnt have enough money..to take street car..I would walk across the superior bridge.
Sure was cold..in the winter...it only cost a nickel.but close to payday we were all broke..
Sometimes I would take a train to east Cleveland to visit my aunt..
Oh the good interesting ole days.!!
Some additional context: Amtrak didn’t originally plan to serve Cleveland. When May 1st 1971 came around, there was some political maneuvering in progress, and because of this Amtrak service to CUT started nine days later on May 10th.
Because the Lake Shore service was obligated to end five days into 1972, Amtrak had to leave CUT to avoid Penn Central's $250K rent, which covered a full year of service. (I say Penn Central specifically because the Cleveland Union Terminals Company was formally absorbed by the Penn Central Transportation Company in 1989)
Amtrak moved to a surface stop on the ex-Big Four Route tracks underneath the Detroit-Superior Bridge on New Years Day 1972 and stayed there until January 5th. This particular station site was also adjacent to the old Big Four & Erie Railroad depot. The Lake Shore Limited began in 1975 but the permanent Amtrak station wasn't finished until 1977.
Great video!
WOW...FANTASTIC video! The amount of research and interviews that went into this is incredible! I'm blown away. Thank you for this!
You're quite welcome, Lee! Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm delighted to see that people are enjoying this video.
When train TH-cam and CitySkylines TH-cam combine!
Thanks for this interesting part of Cleveland history. Although an Ohio native the more I learn about Cleveland, I get a better appreciation for the city’s story.
Top quality! May I suggest a history of the breakwall from E 72 str to edgewater and how White City Beach and Wildwood marina may have played a part.
The Wildwood harbor was built to shelter construction barges for the sewage outfall from the sewage plant there. I believe the outfall pipes go out through the harbor entrance. We had a sailboat in the Wildwood Yacht club for 8 years in the 1980s. The piece of breakwall across in front of the entrance was built later, waves used to be wild in the dock area.
Thanks
For a period of time in the late 60's, my family lived on the West Side as I was growing up. I would take the Shaker Rapid home from school, hopping on a CTS bus to the West Side (the bus stop was just up Euclid Ave from the Terminal complex).
My friends and I would use the Shaker Rapid to get to downtown to see the Tribe play. We'd park at Warrensville Rd and hop on the Rapid there, incredibly convenient.
As a kid, I always kept an eye out to see what was parked where, as the Rapid got into the Terminal complex. There were old street cars sitting in the shadows. I tried to imagine what the Terminal Tower was like back in its heyday. I'm really glad to hear that heavy rail traffic (AMTRAK) might be headed back under the Tower...life as it should be.
P.S. Didn't the Van Sweringen brothers live out in Hunting Valley, not Huntington Valley?
They did, mistake on my part. I meant Hunting Valley.
I did not grasp how Cleveland dominated back when, I did however see the flats before everything was demolished.
@@RailroadStreet❤❤ great video. I was born in Cleveland in 1957. Grandparents lived on w100 st. Loved the railroads in the flats, wish I could have seen in the 1920s and 1930s.
J D Rockefeller and Standard Oil were here in Cleveland. SOHIO was the Local name used once he had to break his little Oil company up into 24 separate Oil Companies due to anti trust laws. Look Up Millionaires Row Euclid Avenue. Many Large companies were here. White-Westinghouse, General Electric, Richman Brothers, and many Steele Company's and Foundry's built America. @@tonyromano6220
You make fellow Clevelanders like me proud. Our rail history is 100% Cleveland in of itself. Thank you Railroad Street. God bless you.
I was born in Cleveland, but in my early life, my family moved to the Michiana area. We came back twice a year to visit my grandmothers and other relatives. The Terminal Tower was always a subject and point of interest to me. I always looked for it on certain roads when headed towards downtown. One of my most iconic views of the downtown skyline happened right after I-480 was built and my sister and I on a Christmas morning were driving on the freeway to Parma to deliver some gifts to my Aunt's house for her and my cousins. It was a sunny day, and Lake Erie had these low clouds sitting on top of it, shining white as a backdrop to downtown Cleveland. It was as if the artist of the Nancy cartoon from the Sunday newspaper had drawn the Cleveland Skyline with the Terminal Tower looming prominently placed there for the world to see as we drove along the southern edge of the city.
Fascinating and very informative. Greetings from Port Saint Lucie, Florida ! Here's hoping trains return to that station.
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent still -motion photography pictures. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing. Special thanks to guest speakers sharing personal information. Making this presentation more authentic and possible -!!!😉. Viewing this presentation from the comfort zone of my computer room. Along the " Space Coast "🚀 of Florida 🐊🐊. Wishing viewers a safe/healthy/prosperous ( 2024 )🌈🎉😉.
Thank you for this great documentary- brought back a lot of memories as my previous company had their headquarters up in the CUT. I had the chance to stay once at the hotel also. A couple of years later the headquarters moved across the square to Key Tower. Coming from Europe I always wondered why everything was in a quite desolate state, now thanks to you I learned the story!
Well done! I authored a book about our local station and I’m jealous at the amount of material you were able to find!
My paternal grandfather had his carpet store in the Terminal. I’m a proud Clevelander born and bred.
Many times I've ridden the rapid transit from the east suburbs into the Terminal Tower for the day of shopping and lunch. I had no idea about the history of it!
That librarian's fabulous voice!
0:05 Moses Cleaveland... the guy that invented Cleveland
Great video. It took me a solid 1.5 hours to watch, as I kept on pausing it to look at pictures of the old city and tried to recognize the old buildings that are still standing. Suggestions for video content would be Case Western Warner and Swasey Observatory. It is abandoned and still standing on the east side. Case Western Reserve Historical Society should have tons of history on it. Another would be the old Cleveland Aquarium, turned into the Cleveland Police K9 training center. The building is abandoned, but the K9 obstacle course is still maintained. I work near there and I regularly see off duty K9 Police playing with the dogs and running them through the course.
Fantastic video about Cleveland Union Terminal, so many twists and turns. Need to watch again.
This was a fantastic video essay. I love downtown Cleveland and want it to be better. There’s so much history in that little town.
Another fantastic video, Matt! I'm glad to see you went out of your way to find the high-res versions of a lot of these images that only existed as low res online previously, as well as bringing some new ones for us all to see! Keep up the great work and research!
Thanks Keith! Documentaries using low-resolution images is one of my biggest pet peeves. I try my hardest to always use high-resolution copies of images, but sometimes that isn't always possible.
Hey, you certainly do a great job. Its always a great day when i see one of your videos in my feed. @@RailroadStreet
My Dad is a RTA Rail Department retiree. I spent much of my formative years riding the Blue Line down to Tower City for Cavs, Indians, and Browns games. I am glad my favorite building is getting the attention and love it deserves. Also glad the RTA rail stock is finally getting replaced. Both the heavy and light rail stock are in sad shape.
I had to use the Red Line on Wednesday and the cars were swaying side to side way more than I remember in the past. hope they get replaced soon
@@dindog22 The Red LIne is first up for replacement in 2026. The Blue & Green will be replaced by 2030. The trains will be able to serve both high and low platform stations. Theoretically, RTA could run service from Van Aken to the Airport without having riders transfer.
@@CoachHoffmanOL that's interesting that the trains can work on both sets of tracks. are the current trains going to last for 2 more years though? thanks for the update
@@dindog22 they will have to. The rolling stock is being cannibalized to ensure there is service. There is also a pretty good machining crew producing parts for the trains that aren't in mass production any longer.
An excellent production! Informative, factual and entertaining! Bravo!
Great documentary. Fascinating railroad history. Thanks for sharing it.
I got to stay in the Renaissance Hotel in this wonderful building for a conference that my school attended. That was the most beautiful hotel that I ever got to stay in. Glad that this terminal got to see a future when so many didnt.
Cuyahoga valley scenic railroad is hoping to extend the line to Tower city center using CSX tracks
Great vid! I’m somewhat new (2 years) to Cleveland and see so much potential in the city, especially when it comes to transit. New RTA trainsets on the way, potential expansion of Amtrak.. I wish I could’ve seen the streetcar days but the RTA bus system is not shabby! (especially compared to many places in the US)
I'm proud to have almost been born in Cleveland 😅... parents and grandparents left in '64 for New Orleans. Grandparents didn't take to New Orleans and moved back to Cleve after a couple of years. I visited in '85 to see after a sick aunt. My first "experience" with Cleveland was the Windermere rapid station at 0100am 😮... The sweet lady train driver wouldn't leave me by myself. NO taxi would come get me, so she had to get the CPD to come give me a ride. A few days later we went downtown and it was like stepping back in time.
Kudos from Vermont. This history buff has never been to Cleveland but am encouraged to do so after viewing your excellent documentary.
Another fantastic overview, thanks for posting!
Great video! Being a born and raised Clevelander, I appreciate your homage to one of Cleveland’s most iconic structures. Just one small comment - Daisy Hill is located in Hunting Valley… not Huntington Valley.
As a child I took the bus from Seven Hills all the way downtown to the May Company to shop and eat lunch. I was 12 ! I cannot imagine letting children do that in this day and age.
Awesome video, as always. I've only passed through Cleveland as a kid but I love detailed local history regardless of the location. One piece of information that confused me was the statement by your guest Ken Prendergast at about 9:55 that the excavation for the terminal was greater than that for the Panama Canal. I'm not sure if I'm taking this out of context but I don't see how that could be possible.
It was the largest excavation project since the panama canal and second to it in terms of tonnage moved.
That was absolutly phenomenal. Thanks for covering the topic so well.
I grew up in Cleveland and rode the rapid transit from West 58th to Terminal Tower. I use to shop at Mays, Higbees, and Halles. Used to love going downtown.
I would be very happy if Amtrak moved into Tower City. I really want to do an Amtrak trip across the country but I DO NOT want to go to Cleveland's sketchy station in the middle of the night. I'd sooner do a cheap Southwest flight to Chicago, but if they moved into Tower City would be more comfortable leaving from Cleveland
Hope springs eternal. I am impressed. Nice documentary. Thank you.
Wow thank you for this. What an excellent video. I always knew Cleveland had an extensive railroad background but this show me things I never knew.
Would be wonderful to take a train again from the Terminal Tower as I did in the 60's! And the 3 C train across the state is a great Idea to save time and air polution! Make it safe, fast and eco friendly!
Great documentary.
Nice job on this. Extremely interesting.
Thanks for a well done awesome video!!!!
Thank you for this video! It was so interesting.
For a short time GTW mikado 4070 was stored under the building before being moved for restoration
Impressive work!
I remember taking The Rapid all the way from Green Rd. to the Terminal Tower & back every weekday in the summer of '87(?).
Magnificent video!
Hey, thanks, Drayton! That means a lot coming from you!
@@RailroadStreet It was a great video. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Beautiful building.
Very interesting video. I have experience riding pre-A,trak trains in and out of the terminal. have been to the observation part of the tower and once stayed in the Cleveland Hotel. Thanks for the historical presentation.
Great video!
Awesome video, as a Clevelander and foamer - I appreciate this so much
Very nice! As I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, I was very familiar with the Terminal Tower in the literal sense, as the end of the line for trains from the suburbs.
Babe wake up Railroad Street just posted
🤣
I have very fond memories of taking the Rapid from Shaker Heights into the terminal tower in the early 60's when I was in high school. It was a wonderland of corridors and shops and we were able to wander and explore. It's sad to hear of the changes over time. Somehow train service in Europe has become much more profitable and effective than rail service in this country. I would love to see the Terminal Tower utilized and preserved for the future!
Awesome video!
Very Cool, You did a very good job !
Nice work! Thanks!
Great documentary! Clevelander here and didn’t know a few things you shared.
Excellent video
I used to take the train from Erie, PA to Cleveland in the morning returning in the late afternoon. This was in 1968 & 1969.
Excellent video but one correction: Pennsylvania's passenger cars were identical to New York Central's, (built by the same mfrs) so size was not a factor in PRR not using CUT.
The P-motors pulled trains from Collinwood, through CUT, to Linndale and reverse. The road engine took the mail cars down the lakefront from Collinwood to the big post office near the Stadium, then went down the Big 4 down through the Flats, and met the train again at Linndale. One of the 22 P-motors was totaled when it pulled out in front of the Century at Collinwood, so only 21 went to NY. It was during the war, so it was hushed up. The Century bypassed CUT, down the lakefront and Big 4. The P-motors were never turned, based out of "P1a" shop at Collinwood.
Thanks!
Forgot about the late 2000s exterior restoration, the tower and its scaffolding even made an appearance in Spider Man 3.
Inspirational !
If Amtrak would expand use of the lake front station I hope that a larger and user friendly building and covered platforms are built . What is there now looks like an after thought .
It would be awesome if they could re-open the use of the TT for Amtrak. Not living in CLE anymore, but do go back "home" a few times a year. Have many fond memories of the pre-tower city mall as a kid in the '80s either riding down and going to baseball games, or more likely visit Santa and Mr. Jing-a-ling at Higbee's. That would be awesome! I would definitely find a way to catch a train to ride in at least once.
Well done and interesting. Hello from across the lake.... eh!
Hello Canadian friend
I filled in some details, but this is a fantastically good historical document. Seriously looking at a C&B shirt, my mother rode the Seeandbee.
NMRA convention was in Cleveland 1961, rode the excursion on Erie RR from CUT to Greenville PA B+LE roundhouse. Rare diesel, think it was a Lima.
Excellent video. Back to the CUT
I've been there many many times (I live in Cleveland) and I wish it was still a major station
For Christmas shopping my mother used to take the train to the Terminal Tower and do her shopping downtown. She used to drag me there with her. Then she started using the bus which was horrible.
Nice video with interesting historical film clips!
During my first visit to Cleveland, in 1980, I went to the Terminal Tower. At that time, the observation deck, mentioned at the end of the video, was open to the public. Does anyone know if the observation deck will be reopened?
It’s been reopened to the public since 2010. Several skyline clips featured in this video were taken from the observation deck. It’s only open on weekends at the moment. To buy tickets and for more information, visit this link: www.eventbrite.com/e/terminal-tower-observation-deck-self-guided-tour-tickets-33127241471?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=
@@RailroadStreetSince 2010? Wow! I've been to Cleveland two or three times since 2010 and had no idea that the observation deck was reopened! I will not be able to go this weekend as I will be in Buffalo (I have a thing for Great Lakes cities!), but I will keep that in mind for future visits to Cleveland. Thank you, kindly, for replying to my inquiry and providing the link for buying tickets!
The biggest problem with amtrak going into the tower is getting through all the crap Norfolk Southern deal out for right of way usage.
I was stationed at the Nike-Hercules Headquarters Battery from November 29, 1968 until October 1, 1969. The U.S. Army had four sites around Cleveland, 3 that contained Nike missiles, designed as an air defense system. (A Battery in Painesville, D Battery at Bratnahl and one other of which I don't remember). Our headquarters was on Richmond Road, Warrensville Center, now occupied by the huge Eaton Building. One could catch a ride from Shaker Heights, which was close to Warrensville Center, all the way to Cleveland-Hopkins Airport for a nominal ticket price. I clearly remember seeing the "backside" of Jones and Laughlin Steel, along with other sites that certainly weren't the most eye-appealing!!! But, the interurban was certainly handy to get to downtown or to Cleveland Hopkins. The sites were deactivated by 1972, two years after I left military service!
Nike park in Parma.
@@Mike_Greentea I think I visited there, once. When I was moved to 28th Artillery Group, Selfridge, I flew back to Cleveland on a helicopter. I believe we landed at the Parma site. Digging out memories of 54 years ago!
The Bratenahl site had an open house that we went to. After closing, much of it became the Navy Finance Center. I knew a guy that was high level there.
Now we have one of the shabbiest international airports in this country to offer up as the first impression visitors to Cleveland get.
Some things never change.
It’s a shame what happened to Hopkins once United and Continental merged and United pretty much pulled the plug. Flew into CLE in the late ‘80’s and it was BUSY. Southwest had just started service there from Baltimore as well (one of their first routes out of Baltimore.) Fast forward 30 years and had to connect through there and was just disheartened how empty it was. Sad indeed.
@@rixxroxxk1620 The mayor and council dropped the ball. There is an empty disconnected concourse south of the terminal building that was built for the planned hub, near the Cell Phone lot.
@@SteamCranepoliticians usually do screw things up once they get their paws in the mix. I loved Cleveland. Nice people, hard working and I’ve never had a problem there. Even when I did tell them I was from Baltimore. The jabs about the Ravens were inserted (even though I’m not a supporter of the Ravens,) but it was all in good fun and I bought the next round. Always a great time with great people.
All these speakers have so much in common.
Very impressive! May the grandeur of the terminal be fully restored to reflect the vision of its original promoters. 2023/11/26. Ontario, Canada.
I used to ride the "Rapid" from downtown to Shaker on my way to John Carroll.
Ahhh, now I know how we ended up with the Amshack.
that station should be for intercity again!
Very nice video. The Ed Tobin photo at 7:06 showing the NYC train passing the B&O depot - where were you able to find the collection?
Great video. Exciting to take the train from Terminal Tower to NYC as a kid. I took multiple rapid lines for work and shopped in the Terminal when I worked in the Midland Building. I take Amtrak as often as possible. The station and long term parking are relatively safe (not sketchy) and free. Parking at Terminal Tower would probably cost at least $25 a day, with questionable security. And per one commenter-Cleveland is a terrible city??? I strongly disagree.
Rode the Shaker Rapid many times. Football, baseball, concerts. Memories...men smoking pipes and cigars going to the game. Questionable people in the rest rooms in The Towers' Public Restrooms. The walk to the stadium to see Jimmy Brown play football. Also rode the Rapid to see Jimmy Hendrix. They don't make public transportation like they used to!
I used to work ao Colonial Flower Shoppe in the Terminal!
There are now so many ads breaking this feed….. it gets to a point where the ads stop it from continuing. And I enjoy this documentary and watch it a lot. The ads just keep increasing.
It was really overbuilt for Cleveland. It would have been great in Chicago or NY.
glorious 🍸
I'm surprised you didn't mention the fact that the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and other entities want to bring the CVSR's trains to CUT so as to eliminate the need for Clevelanders to use an automobile to get the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Trains Magazine made an article talking about it in January of 2023.
I would post the link to the article, put TubeYou won't let a comment with the link in it be posted, which is schtewpid.
You should read about Teresa Jackson and the liens
American train stations used to be envy of the World
OMG !
Thank you for this as I never new about the R R & T T .
Wife was born in C and she never told me about it.
I enjoy seeing your videos.
factoid: the street named after the great lake Michigan was eliminated by the terminal
Great information, too bad there is a phasing issue during Mr. Prendergast's audio.