Lakewood in the early 1800's was "a great forest fringing Lake Erie." At the beginning of the 1800's there was no way to go west except over the Indian trail or by lake, so a road was cut through the forest from Cleveland to the mouth of the Huron River. By 1812 Cleveland was on its way to becoming a town at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River and a considerable settlement was established at the mouth of Rocky River. Until that date no settler was attracted to the land between. At the age of 20, James Nicholson, Lakewood's first permanent settler, came west from Connecticut on foot. By 1818 he had acquired over 300 acres from Madison Avenue to the Lake. In 1835 he erected a white colonial house on the old Indian trail going west, now known as Detroit Avenue. The building is considered to be one of the best examples of New England architecture in this area today and is listed in the National Register. James Nicholson was an earnest, energetic man, vitally interested in the civic and educational development of the community.
And develop Lakewood did. In the 1830's and 40's log cabins along Detroit Road were replaced by stone houses because stone was plentiful in the area. The museum in Lakewood Park is the only stone house remaining from the past. It contains household goods, implements, and furniture that were common in pioneer dwellings in the early 19th century.
By the mid-19th century, East Rockport was still agricultural and its orchards and vineyards were famed for the quality of their fruit. About the only businessmen were tavern-keepers. After the Civil War, the area began a transformation that reflected the growing wealth and rapid industrialization that was taking place in the United States. Simple farm-houses gave way to large mansions along Detroit Avenue. Churches were built, schools founded, and the community grew and prospered.
In the 1850's the valley of Rocky River was, as it continues to be today, a favorite playspot in the county and did more than anything else to develop transportation. It inspired the building of the Plank Toll Road over the Detroit Ridge around Civil War times. The old Rocky River Railroad, nicknamed "The Dummy," was built in 1869 to bring Clevelanders to Clifton Park, a popular summer resort. The Dummy Railroad and the Plank Toll Road contributed greatly to the settlement of Lakewood.
The subdivision of the Clifton Park Allotment started in the 1870's. Clifton Park, with its winding streets and stately homes, was an enclave of Cleveland's great industrial families. Clifton Park was designated a landmark in 1975 as a "unique and worthy area" because of its beautiful homes.
The Rockport School District comprised a large number of subdistricts, each with their own one room schoolhouse. In 1871 three of these subdistricts voted to organize into a separate school district. Thus was formed what is now Lakewood, but was called East Rockport until 1885. In 1879 it was voted to build a new four room building in the middle of the district. This buiding still stands on Warren Road and is Lakewood's Recreation office. Over the entrance can be seen the name "East Rockport Central School 1879." This was the beginning of what became one of the finest school systems in the state. The Lakewood Public Schools date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the exception of Grant School, which was built in the late 1960s. Many of the older school buildings reflect unique architectural designs.
Toward the end of the 19th Century a great increase in population came about as a result of developments in transportation. The Plank Toll Toad was taken over and tolls were abolished. Madison, Clifton and Lake Road had been cut through and cross streets were opened. Many of the cross streets were named after Lakewood's early settlers, James Nicholson, Mars Wagar, John Hall and others. In the 1890s, streetcar lines and railroads extended service to Lakewood. The population grew from about 450 in 1890 to more than 15,000 by 1910. The orchards and vineyards gradually disappeared as newcomers built homes on the cross streets. Later, the automobile would complete the transformation of Lakewood from a farming community to a full-fledged city. In 1911 Lakewood became a city.
At the turn of the century through the 1920's homes began to spring up all over the city to keep pace with the rapidly growing population. These homes were built to last and make Lakewood the interesting, well-established community it is today. A drive through the tree-lined streets reveals a vast range of housing types, from small well-kept bungalows to spacious elegant estates.
Although known as a "City of Homes," Lakewood also became the site of numerous apartment buildings that reflect the architecture of changing times, from gracious English Tudor to the post-World War II high-rises of the Gold Coast. During the '20s and '30s, scores of plain two- and three-story brick buildings with storefronts at the street level and apartments above were built along Madison and Detroit Avenues.
At the eastern end of the city, a unique neighborhood with the flavor of Eastern Europe grew up as thousands of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe arrived to work in the factories and industries in eastern Lakewood and west Cleveland. It was nicknamed Birdtown because of street names such as Plover, Quail and Dove.
Lakewood Hospital, the city's largest employer, opened in 1907 in a wooden house at Belle and Detroit Avenues with a staff of three doctors and one nurse. In 1917, the house gave way to a large brick building on Detroit which several building programs have expanded to the present facility of over 400 beds and numerous specialized services.
Today the city's population stands at almost 60,000. While changing as society as a whole evolves, Lakewood remains a stable, welcoming community with a rich past, vital present and promising future.