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Rockefeller Park Bridges

By Michael Rotman
Wade Park Ave. Bridge A view of the steps leading down from Wade Park Avenue and into Rockefeller Park. The bridge, which the steps are a part of, was erected in 1899. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Date: 1965

Charles Schweinfurth (1856-1919) was one of the premier architects in Cleveland around the turn of the 20th-century. He arrived in Cleveland in 1883 and went on to design a number of structures in and around the city, including a number of the mansions that lined Euclid Avenue's famous "Millionaires' Row."

The four bridges Schweinfurth designed in Rockefeller Park cross over Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at St. Clair Avenue, Wade Park Avenue, Superior Avenue, and the railroad tracks just south of the Shoreway. They were erected between 1897 and 1900 and partially funded through a donation made to the Cleveland Park Board by John D. Rockefeller in 1896. The stone and concrete arched bridges feature winding staircases that lead down into Rockefeller Park. Although their condition declined somewhat over the years, the bridges have benefited from recent restoration work.

Images

Wade Park Ave. Bridge A view of the steps leading down from Wade Park Avenue and into Rockefeller Park. The bridge, which the steps are a part of, was erected in 1899. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Date: 1965
St. Clair Ave. Bridge, 1928 Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections
Wade Park Ave. Bridge, Ca. 1900 This postcard (circa 1900) shows a group enjoying Rockefeller Park, with the recently completed Wade Park Avenue Bridge in the background. Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections
Old Wade Park Ave. Bridge, ca. 1890s This photograph, probably taken in the early 1890s, shows the more primitive Wade Park Avenue bridge over the Doan Brook valley that existed before the bridge designed by Charles Schweinfurth took its place in 1899. Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections
Rockefeller Park Bridge, 1908 Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
Wade Park Ave. Bridge Plan, 1899 This is an 1899 drawing of the plan for the Wade Park Avenue Bridge, designed by Charles Schweinfurth. Image courtesy of Library of Congress
Charles F. Schweinfurth (1856-1919) Undated Photograph of one of Cleveland's most prominent architects. Image courtesy of Cleveland Public Library Digital Photo Gallery

Location

Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Cleveland, OH

Metadata

Related Resources

  1. "Rockefeller Park." Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.

Citation Info

Michael Rotman, “Rockefeller Park Bridges,” Cleveland Historical, accessed October 4, 2023, https://clevelandhistorical.org/index.php/items/show/145.

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