Stories by: Tom Matowitz
Recently retired after a 37-year career teaching public speaking, Tom Matowitz has had a lifelong interest in local and regional history. Working as a freelance author for the past 20 years he has written a number of books and articles about Cleveland’s past. He has a particular interest in the area’s rich architectural history.
Cleveland Masterworks: Robert P. Madison has created his own legacy—from his designs for buildings like Park Place Apartments or Fatima Family Center in Hough, to his work on the Rock Hall and Browns stadium—but he has also accomplished a lot of firsts in his almost 99 years on this planet.
Cleveland Masterworks: Cleveland native Frances Payne Bolton dedicated her life to nursing, education, and advocating for others. The first Ohio Congresswoman lived on a Lyndhurst estate that today makes up the grounds of Legacy Village, the former TRW headquarters, and her historic 1917 mansion.
Cleveland Masterworks: After President James A. Garfield was assassinated in 1881, plans to build a grand mausoleum at Lake View Cemetery soon got underway. In the meantime, the president's body lay for 10 years in the mausoleum Cleveland architect Levi Scofield had designed for this own family.
Cleveland Masterworks: Northeast Ohio began to draw a large Ukrainian population in the 1880s, and World War I prompted them to settle here. The history of the Ukraine and its people is well documented in the Ukraine Garden at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.
Cleveland Masterworks: Cleveland native Robert Gaede was a military veteran, architect, and expert in the historic preservation of Cleveland buildings of all types.
Cleveland Masterworks: Margaret Bourke-White launched her career as a photojournalist in Cleveland and went on to be the first woman photographer authorized to shoot in combat zones during World War II.
Cleveland Masterworks: After amassing his fortune with Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller then secured 235 acres spanning East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights in what would house his summer home and, ultimately, a sprawling city park.
Cleveland Masterworks: At the turn of the 20th Century, William Knox and John Elliot designed several unique commercial buildings in downtown Cleveland, as well as a Fairfax church.
Cleveland Masterworks: St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral ranks as one of the most memorable religious sites in Cleveland—inspired by a Russian cathedral and thought to have been funded through Russian Tsar Nicholas II.
Cleveland Masterworks: Northeast Ohio native and self-taught architect Arthur N. Oviatt made his mark in the region with his stunning Lake County summer homes, designed for the wealthy entrepreneurs building the interurban railway.
Cleveland Masterworks: The Cleveland Mounted Police Unit, one of the oldest in the country, has a rich history that started in 1910 when Cleveland Police Sergeant George J. Matowitz (Tom Matowitz' grandfather) first started the unit.
Cleveland Masterworks: The only remnant of St. Agnes Church in the Hough neighborhood is the bell tower on a grassy plot of land, but the church's history is remarkable 100 years later.
Cleveland Masterworks: Many Clevelanders wax nostalgic when they think of the downtown departments stores during the holiday season. Those stores are now gone, with the images of lavish holiday decoration and shopping left to memories.
Cleveland Masterworks: Impressed with the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, Dudley Blossom led the effort to create the 1936-37 Great Lakes Exposition on Cleveland's lakefront—hoping the event would serve as a diversion from the Great Depression and a celebration the city's centennial.
The beloved Rockefeller Park has been one of the city's most prized outdoor spaces for a century. How the 20-acre park came to be is a story of several benefactors—William Gordon, John D. Rockefeller, and Jeptha Wade—and park designer Ernest W. Bowditch.
Cleveland Masterworks: James J. Husband’s output in Cleveland was small—he designed just four known buildings. But as a native southerner living in Cleveland in the 1800s, he was quickly chased from town after controversial comments about President Lincoln's assassination.
Cleveland Masterworks: The thought of Cleveland Municipal Stadium often brings nostalgic smiles to Clevelanders' faces, conjuring up memories of bitterly frigid Browns games, rock concerts, and even Super Bowl and World Series wins. Take a step back in time and reminisce.
Cleveland Masterworks: At the turn of the 20th Century, some of Cleveland's wealthy icons had a vision to create a new art museum. That vision led to the creation of the Cleveland Museum of Art—“for the benefit of all people, forever.”
Cleveland Masterworks: Wilbur J. Watson set the standard for bridge construction throughout the United States. But in Northeast Ohio, his legacy is in the beauty of the bridges he built.
Cleveland Masterworks: Frederic William Striebinger was a native Clevelander who left his mark on a few of Northeast Ohio's picturesque mansions.