105th and Euclid
Encyclopedia
East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue is the most famous intersection in the city of Cleveland, Ohio
. The legendary commercial junction consists of several blocks from East to West between 107th Street and 105th Street. With a storied history dating as far back as the 19th Century, the introduction of streetcars and trolleys brought hordes of Clevelanders to the corner block for shopping and entertainment. From nearby areas, banks, apartment houses, theaters, hotels, and commercial buildings also brought even more traffic to the site, which, in addition to appearances of legendary performers from the Vaudeville heyday, substantiated 105th and Euclid’s landmark status. Today, in spite of decades of resistance from property owners, the site has been overtaken by the continuing expansion of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
and other notable Vaudeville
acts into the upper echelons of show business. These acts included comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, freak shows, jugglers, high divers, and escape artists. But this frequently celebrated chapter in Cleveland history was followed later by another equally colorful era.
During the turbulent, riot-torn '60s, in one of the most racially polarized cities in the country, this same parcel witnessed the creation and rise of an urban paradise; imagined, engineered, owned and operated by a young African-American entrepreneur, Winston E. Willis
. Shortly after the infamous Glenville Shootout
and subsequent widespread riots, white business owners began fleeing the area in record numbers. Stunned and shaken by the eruption of racial violence, boarded-up storefronts and abandoned buildings signaled the mass exodus toward the safety of more ethnic controlled neighborhoods. Having been under the notion that the election of a black mayor, Carl B. Stokes
, would be their insurance against such violent uprisings, and fearing an all-out race war, previously successful white business owners left the inner-city in droves and never looked back.
Shortly thereafter, seizing the moment and purchasing commercial properties one after another, Winston E. Willis
set about cleaning up the financially devastated corner block. He took the blighted area of town and revitalized it with brightly lit colorful buildings, well-run stores, and 24-hour security, and created an inner-city Disneyland. Movie theaters, penny arcades, restaurants, bars, adult book stores, office suites, clothing stores, and beauty and barber shops transformed the deserted corner block and brought renewed prosperity to the black community. The new 105th and Euclid, sometimes known colloquially as "The Block", or “The Five” became the most "happening" place in the city, offering something for everyone. The popular New Orleans Restaurant offered free meals on Saturdays, the Scrumpy-Dump Cinema
offered family entertainment at affordable prices, and a State liquor store was open until midnight.
(UCPD Inc.), businesses fronting on Euclid Avenue from East 107th Street to East 105th Street included:
UCPD, Inc. Headquarters, The Stone Building Office Suites • PlayLand Fascination Arcade • Performing Arts Theater • Scrumpy-Dump Cinema • New Orleans Restaurant • The Boon Docks Seafood Restaurant • The Bedroom Lounge • Mr. John’s Haberdashery • Unbelievable Cinematics •The Record Den • Wig Wholesalers • Cold-Blooded Menswear • Martial Arts Academy • The Brave New World Night Club • Money Exchange • Bosa Nova Lounge • Cool Dad's Beverage and Market • Winston’s Place Fine Dining • Quick-Pick Food & Beverage • Adult Book Store • Pussycat Cinex • Quarter Movie Arcade • WinJam Studios • Circus Maximus • UCPD Commissary • and a State Liquor Store.
, hosting outrageously popular exhibitions of Blaxploitation features such as Shaft, Foxy Brown, Across 110th Street, Blacula, Cleopatra Jones, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and The Mack. In the summer of 1972, the Scrumpy-Dump, Cleveland’s first and only black-owned movie theater, hosted the spectacular first-run opening of the major theatrical motion picture release of Super Fly. With Curtis Mayfield
’s soundtrack wafting out onto Euclid Avenue, black Clevelanders by the thousands lined up for the inner-city version of a Hollywood red carpet event. Many similar openings occurred subsequently at the popular neighborhood theater as the movie genre grew in popularity.
area. The visible infiltration of such large numbers of blacks into their community was viewed as “an eyesore”. As reported in the local press, the City of Cleveland’s and Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s joint plans for creating a sprawling, mega-billion-dollar medical educational metropolis connecting Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, and the Clinic were well underway. Having formed this alliance to become one of the most dominant medical facilities in the country, these powerful entities also joined forces in seizing strategically located parcels situated in the middle of their planned massive expansion.. In spite of years of legal battles and courtroom confrontations, the adversaries proved to be too powerful.. Finally, in 1982, with its millionaire owner incarcerated on a bogus bad check charge and isolated in solitary confinement in a penal facility 190 miles away, the entire block was seized, cordoned off and demolished “to make way for redevelopment” and further expansion of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. According to the City of Cleveland's official version of the land takings, and as recorded in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
Although scores of other African-American property owners were driven out of the 105th and Euclid area and defeated under dubious land-grab tactics, one man, Winston E. Willis
, has continued his decades-long struggle to defend his property rights.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. The legendary commercial junction consists of several blocks from East to West between 107th Street and 105th Street. With a storied history dating as far back as the 19th Century, the introduction of streetcars and trolleys brought hordes of Clevelanders to the corner block for shopping and entertainment. From nearby areas, banks, apartment houses, theaters, hotels, and commercial buildings also brought even more traffic to the site, which, in addition to appearances of legendary performers from the Vaudeville heyday, substantiated 105th and Euclid’s landmark status. Today, in spite of decades of resistance from property owners, the site has been overtaken by the continuing expansion of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
History
Then known as Doan’s Corners. The East-side landmark, which featured a tavern, a general store and a baking soda factory, was initially established by the local frontiersman and early settler, Nathaniel Doan, for whom it was named. In addition to his other business enterprises, there was Doan’s Corner Cemetery, which was adjacent to the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church when it was located on the lot. Sometime in 1867 the church moved several blocks West to its new location on the corner of Euclid Avenue and 96th Street. In later years, the most popular attraction on the site facing Euclid Avenue was the opulent 3,000 plush velvet seat Keith’s 105th Street Theater, which launched comedian and Cleveland resident, Bob HopeBob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and other notable Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
acts into the upper echelons of show business. These acts included comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, freak shows, jugglers, high divers, and escape artists. But this frequently celebrated chapter in Cleveland history was followed later by another equally colorful era.
During the turbulent, riot-torn '60s, in one of the most racially polarized cities in the country, this same parcel witnessed the creation and rise of an urban paradise; imagined, engineered, owned and operated by a young African-American entrepreneur, Winston E. Willis
Winston E. Willis
Winston Earl Willis is a formerly successful American real estate developer who first came to local prominence in Cleveland, Ohio during the early 1960s. At the time, one of the most successful business owner/operators in the country, he created and controlled a corporation, University Circle...
. Shortly after the infamous Glenville Shootout
Glenville Shootout
The Glenville Shootout was a series of events of violent acts that occurred in the Glenville section of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, from the dates of July 23–28, 1968...
and subsequent widespread riots, white business owners began fleeing the area in record numbers. Stunned and shaken by the eruption of racial violence, boarded-up storefronts and abandoned buildings signaled the mass exodus toward the safety of more ethnic controlled neighborhoods. Having been under the notion that the election of a black mayor, Carl B. Stokes
Carl B. Stokes
Carl Burton Stokes was an American politician of the Democratic party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, but took office on Jan 1, 1968, he was the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city. Fellow Ohioan Robert C. Henry was the first African...
, would be their insurance against such violent uprisings, and fearing an all-out race war, previously successful white business owners left the inner-city in droves and never looked back.
Shortly thereafter, seizing the moment and purchasing commercial properties one after another, Winston E. Willis
Winston E. Willis
Winston Earl Willis is a formerly successful American real estate developer who first came to local prominence in Cleveland, Ohio during the early 1960s. At the time, one of the most successful business owner/operators in the country, he created and controlled a corporation, University Circle...
set about cleaning up the financially devastated corner block. He took the blighted area of town and revitalized it with brightly lit colorful buildings, well-run stores, and 24-hour security, and created an inner-city Disneyland. Movie theaters, penny arcades, restaurants, bars, adult book stores, office suites, clothing stores, and beauty and barber shops transformed the deserted corner block and brought renewed prosperity to the black community. The new 105th and Euclid, sometimes known colloquially as "The Block", or “The Five” became the most "happening" place in the city, offering something for everyone. The popular New Orleans Restaurant offered free meals on Saturdays, the Scrumpy-Dump Cinema
Scrumpy-Dump Cinema
The Scrumpy-Dump Cinema was a popular single-screen neighborhood movie theater located at 10606 Euclid Avenue in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated under the auspices of University Circle Properties Development, Inc., the popular neighborhood family theater was the...
offered family entertainment at affordable prices, and a State liquor store was open until midnight.
Buildings
Under the umbrella organization, University Circle Properties Development, Inc.University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
University Circle Properties Development, Inc. was a commercial property development corporation established in 1968 in Cleveland Ohio. Located in the University Circle area at the famous intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, the area came to be known colloquially during the '60s...
(UCPD Inc.), businesses fronting on Euclid Avenue from East 107th Street to East 105th Street included:
UCPD, Inc. Headquarters, The Stone Building Office Suites • PlayLand Fascination Arcade • Performing Arts Theater • Scrumpy-Dump Cinema • New Orleans Restaurant • The Boon Docks Seafood Restaurant • The Bedroom Lounge • Mr. John’s Haberdashery • Unbelievable Cinematics •The Record Den • Wig Wholesalers • Cold-Blooded Menswear • Martial Arts Academy • The Brave New World Night Club • Money Exchange • Bosa Nova Lounge • Cool Dad's Beverage and Market • Winston’s Place Fine Dining • Quick-Pick Food & Beverage • Adult Book Store • Pussycat Cinex • Quarter Movie Arcade • WinJam Studios • Circus Maximus • UCPD Commissary • and a State Liquor Store.
Blaxploitation Era
During the early ‘70s, after extensive remodeling and refurbishing, Performing Arts Theater became the Scrumpy-Dump CinemaScrumpy-Dump Cinema
The Scrumpy-Dump Cinema was a popular single-screen neighborhood movie theater located at 10606 Euclid Avenue in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated under the auspices of University Circle Properties Development, Inc., the popular neighborhood family theater was the...
, hosting outrageously popular exhibitions of Blaxploitation features such as Shaft, Foxy Brown, Across 110th Street, Blacula, Cleopatra Jones, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and The Mack. In the summer of 1972, the Scrumpy-Dump, Cleveland’s first and only black-owned movie theater, hosted the spectacular first-run opening of the major theatrical motion picture release of Super Fly. With Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
’s soundtrack wafting out onto Euclid Avenue, black Clevelanders by the thousands lined up for the inner-city version of a Hollywood red carpet event. Many similar openings occurred subsequently at the popular neighborhood theater as the movie genre grew in popularity.
Redevelopment
The transformation of the 105th and Euclid intersection and wild successes of the 23 businesses was not welcomed by the powerful establishment elite and other institutional neighbors in the previously racially-restricted University CircleUniversity Circle
University Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
area. The visible infiltration of such large numbers of blacks into their community was viewed as “an eyesore”. As reported in the local press, the City of Cleveland’s and Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s joint plans for creating a sprawling, mega-billion-dollar medical educational metropolis connecting Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, and the Clinic were well underway. Having formed this alliance to become one of the most dominant medical facilities in the country, these powerful entities also joined forces in seizing strategically located parcels situated in the middle of their planned massive expansion.. In spite of years of legal battles and courtroom confrontations, the adversaries proved to be too powerful.. Finally, in 1982, with its millionaire owner incarcerated on a bogus bad check charge and isolated in solitary confinement in a penal facility 190 miles away, the entire block was seized, cordoned off and demolished “to make way for redevelopment” and further expansion of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. According to the City of Cleveland's official version of the land takings, and as recorded in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
Although scores of other African-American property owners were driven out of the 105th and Euclid area and defeated under dubious land-grab tactics, one man, Winston E. Willis
Winston E. Willis
Winston Earl Willis is a formerly successful American real estate developer who first came to local prominence in Cleveland, Ohio during the early 1960s. At the time, one of the most successful business owner/operators in the country, he created and controlled a corporation, University Circle...
, has continued his decades-long struggle to defend his property rights.