The steel steamer Western Reserve, which sank in 1892 , was recently discovered in Lake Superior by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, using side-scan sonar technology. Cleveland Masterworks writer Tom Matowitz shared the story of the ill-fated Western Reserve and its sister ship the W. H. Gilcher in 2023.

FreshWater Cleveland thought we’d remind our readers of the 1917 colonial revival home and 100-acre estate of Frances Payne Bolton—known as Franchester—which has become a source for much speculation in recent years, as portions of the original property have been sold, demolished, or put on the market. Tom Matowitz wrote about Bolton in his March 2022 Masterworks article “Frances Payne Bolton: Nursing advocate, Congresswoman, Franchester Estate owner,” and we think it deserves another look.

The Cleveland Restoration Society is offering its members an exclusive Snoop! Tour to preview the new Fidelity Hotel, on East 6th Street. The historic building, first named the Fidelity Building and later the Baker Building, is rich in history and architectural features. Led by historic preservation consultants Naylor Wellman, LLC, members can explore the adaptive reuse transformation from 1919 office building to a modern hotel.

Cleveland Masterworks: Cleveland city manager William R. Hopkins' 1927 vision of an airport on the shores of Lake Erie was set in motion at the 1936 Great Lakes Expo. In 1947 the vision became reality with the opening of a dirt runway at Burke Lakefront Airport.

Cleveland Masterworks: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, organized by Cleveland's Slovak immigrant community in 1903, constructed two churches in its 90 years as a thriving congregation. Abandoned in 1992, the decayed symbol of better times was demolished last week.

Cleveland Masterworks: Earl John Andrews came to Cleveland as a 23-year-old in 1905 to open his architecture practice and went on to design more than 100 homes in University Circle and the eastern suburbs—including a mansion for machine tool tycoon Albert W. Henn.

Cleveland Masterworks: Louisville-based architect William Arrasmith established himself in the 1930s and 1940s by designing Greyhound Bus Stations across the country in a Art Deco Streamline Moderne design—using long, horizontal lines and curving forms with a somewhat nautical look to create a sleek, almost futuristic architectural style that was the hot trend for the time. The Cleveland Greyhound station is one of his most celebrated of the 60 Greyhound stations Arrasmith designed and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cleveland Masterworks: Public Hall was the fourth building constructed as part of the 1903 Group Plan—a downtown design that included the Mall and seven Beaux Arts Neoclassical buildings. The 1922 building has hosted political conventions, exhibitions of all kinds, both classical and rock musicians, and other events for more than 100 years.

Cleveland Masterworks: In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, the railroad industry was booming, for both freight transport and passenger rail. The abandoned Cleveland Terminal & Valley Railway depot in the Flats is a living relic of those past times.

Cleveland Masterworks: Hungarian-born architect Henry Hradilek came to Cleveland in the early 1900s and wasted no time designing industrial buildings, apartments, and homes, including the building that is today's Don’s Lighthouse. His remarkable Beaux Arts design of the Weizer Building in Buckeye will soon be Providence House's new east side location.

Cleveland Masterworks: TRW began in Cleveland as a small manufacturing company and evolved into a worldwide leader in the automotive, aviation, and aerospace industries. The 480,000-square-foot headquarters TRW built in 1985 on Frances Payne Bolton's estate in Lyndhurst is now being demolished.

Cleveland Masterworks: In the late 1800s, Alexander Brown used his civil engineering degree to develop the Brown Hoist—an automated crane system for unloading ships' cargo that reduced costs and turnaround times. His successful business was housed in the J. Milton Dyer-designed Brownhoist Building in MidTown. Today the building is a gathering space for creatives, small businesses, and collaborators who want to give back to the St. Clair-Superior and MidTown neighborhoods.

Cleveland Masterworks: The 1894 Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Tremont is just one of many churches, buildings, and homes designed by Cleveland architect Sidney Rose Badgley. Tremont History Project will give free tours of Pilgrim this weekend.

Cleveland Masterworks: The 1927 Ohio Bell Telephone Building on Huron Road was briefly the tallest building in the city—until the Terminal Tower overshadowed it in 1928. Designed by Hubbell and Bennes, the building was the site for technological leaps in long-distance phone calls in the 1940s and 1970s.

Cleveland Masterworks: The former Warner & Swasey building—originally built in the late 1880s, then rebuilt between 1904 and 1910, has sat abandoned for nearly 40 years. Today it has a chance at a new life with a development initiative led by MidTown Cleveland and Philadelphia developer Penrose.

Cleveland Masterworks: The 1826 Erie Street Cemetery is Cleveland's oldest burial ground and is the final resting place of the original settlers and changemakers.

Cleveland Masterworks: The 1938 Bradford Cinder Path, deemed a Cleveland Heights historic landmark, and the Oakwood Drive Historic District—named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021—both received markers last week.

Cleveland Masterworks: Carlos L. Jones and his wife dedicated their lives to the Jones Home for Friendless Children—caring for foster children and children up for adoption in a brick Georgian Revival designed by Sidney R. Badgley, which still operates today as Jones Home of Applewood Centers.

Cleveland Masterworks: In 1798, Connecticut native Nathaniel Doan and his family settled on a rural corner of Euclid Avenue and developed it to the point that by the early 20th Century it was known as Doan's Corners, or 'Cleveland's Second Downtown.'

In 1907 the daughters of railroad magnate and philanthropist Amasa Stone commissioned New England architect Henry Vaughan to design a chapel as a tribute to their late father. CWRU's Amasa Stone Chapel—an example of Gothic revival architecture.