A Corner of the Square for Public Pride

Often overlooked on Downtown Cleveland's Public Square is a small little memorial at the base of a large monument dedicated to those from the city who fought in the Civil War.  The Soldier's and Sailor's Monument occupies one of the four plotted greenspaces on the square, but few wander into the base to view the full memorial.

The 9.5 acres that encompass Public Square was laid out in the late 1850's.  As the Civil War broke out, city planners had dedicated a small monument to Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.  Perry's Monument has been well-traveled, having been moved on the square, then later to two other locations before being re-cast in bronze and placed near the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

Public Square in the early 1900s

Perry's Monument was moved in the 1870s to make way for a grand Civil War memorial on one of the four quadrants.  The other sections of the square included a statue to founder Moses Cleaveland and Tom L. Johnson, a former Congressman and Cleveland Mayor.  Electric street lighting was debuted on Cleveland's Public Square in 1879.  By the end of the first World War in 1917, Public Square had seen its heyday.

As the City's Skyline grew throughout the 1900s, Public Square became more of a transportation center than public park.  The Terminal Tower, built in 1928, stood atop the rail connections for the city and anchored the square.  For 25 years it stood as the tallest building outside of New York City. It remained Cleveland's tallest structure, despite a competing high-rise built in the 1980s as the BP (Oil) Building (which in 2012 is the Huntington Building). 

As Ohio's economy stumbled along through the second half of the 20th Century, several retail attractions failed to turn the square into anything more than a mass of people catching busses for the two sections of the city.  The May Company operated a store attached to the Terminal complex until the 1990s and for a brief time in the 1990s, Tower City Center was one of the niche urban-renewal upscale shopping experiences that quickly faded.

The Cuyahoga River, splitting the city, also splits the demographics of the metropolitan area.  East Siders and West Siders primarily live and shop within their respective sides of the city.  The near west side was a melting pot of Slavic, Italian and Polish immigrants while the east side saw growth of primarily African-American families.  Public Square was the gathering place for those who came into the city for business or recreation, looking to catch their bus back home.

Economic development eclipsed the Terminal Tower in 1991 when then-Society Bank built a structure to the north of Public Square that today stands as the Key Tower and the tallest structure in Cleveland.  It is these three grand structures that surround the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public Square.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was renovated in the 1980s but still sees scant foot traffic and remains a bypassed attraction.  The base of the monument is a 100-square foot sandstone structure topped by a 125-foot granite shaft with a 15-foot sculpture at the top.  The base is surrounded in the cardinal directions by groupings of bronze sculptures that depict each of the branches of the Union Army: Navy, Cavalry, Infantry and Artillery.  The entire monument was designed by Cleveland architect Levi Schofield, whose bust can be seen atop the entrance as you exit the memorial.

The interior of the building is small and a self-guided tour of the monument can be done in minutes.  A series of marble tablets list 9,000 Civil War veterans that served with Cuyahoga County regiments or were from the county. Also inside the base are four bronze relief sculptures depicting the women in the Soldiers' Aid Society, Lincoln (with rifle and busted chains) emancipating the slaves, and the beginning and ending of the War in Ohio.  Also found atop the interior by stained glass half-round windows are the busts of Col. James Barnett, Scofield, and several Ohio officers who were killed in action during the war.



There are grand plans for turning Public Square back into a true public open space.  Ideas were put on the table in 2009 and 2011 to alter traffic patterns with the hopes of created a newly purpose, and potentially, greener venue. 


Ohio voters in the late first decade of the 2000's approved for Casinos in the state and Cleveland will debut one in 2012 in the former Higbee's Department store that is just off Public Square. With the increased interest in the Downtown area it remains to be seen if Public Square and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, will factor in that development.

- J.