Collinwood

Collinwood is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio annexed by the city in 1910. Originally part of Euclid Township, Collinwood grew around the rail yards of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. It was named for Charles Collins, chief engineer of the railroad. Collins committed suicide in the wake of the Ashtabula Rail Disaster of 1876, when an iron bridge over the Ashtabula River failed and a passenger train fell into the gorge.

In 1908, Collinwood was the site of an event known as the Collinwood School Fire, one of the most deadly school fires in American history. 172 children and two young teachers died inside Lake View School after being trapped in stairwell vestibules because doors to the school opened inward. While some of the children died from burns and smoke inhalation, most were either crushed or suffocated in the frantic attempt to escape the building. As a result of the fire, national building standards were changed requiring that doors in public buildings open outward. Those killed in the fire who could not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Cleveland's Lakeview Cemetery.

Collinwood became the home of several European ethnic groups along with Southern Appalachians. Laterin the 1960's an influx of African American also formed a community in Collinwood. South Collinwood was known as "Italian Village" with a population of Italian descendants greater than that of Cleveland's Murray Hill Little Italy neighborhood. Central Collinwood was mostly Slovenian, Croatian, German, Polish and some Russians. West Collinwood was mostly Southern Appalachians. North Collinwood was a mixed of all groups including Catholic Irish.

South Collinwood was well known for the Italian Feast of the Assumption, held every August at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. Many of the Italians in this area of Cleveland can trace their roots back to Campobasso, Molise, Italy. Molise was part of Abruzzi e Molise until 1964 when it became a separate Provence. Many of the Slovenians in Collinwood can trace their roots back to Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Slovenian Polka King Franky Yankovich was from the Collinwood neighborhood and played live Polka in many of the taverns and dance halls in the area.

Southerns mostly from Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky who came to work in the many factories that supported mostly the auto industry, had a vibrant and festive culture, especially along the E. 140th section, with many "Honky Tonk" bars that featured live country music and Southern food.

Collinwood took national center stage in the 1970's during the Cleveland "Mafia" wars when the Genovese related Cleveland Mafia, centered in Collinwood and Murray Hill neighborhoods, fought a territorial war with infamous Irish Gangster, Danny Green. The eventual bombing death of Green brought the Federal organized crime task force to Cleveland which after many trials, is said to have crippled the Mafia in Cleveland and nationwide.

Today, the only vestiges of Italian culture that can be found in the Collinwood neighborhood are at the Messina Bakery and Mirabile's Italian Restaurant and Lounge, both on Ivanhoe Rd. Also, the Slovenian Home is still active on Holmes Ave.

See also

• Euclid Beach Park

External links

• Northeast Shores Development Corporation
• Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry