History of Cleveland - Cleveland During The Gilded Age: 1865-1900

Cleveland During The Gilded Age: 1865-1900

The Civil War vaulted Cleveland into the first rank of American manufacturing cities and fueled unprecedented growth. By 1870, the city's population had shot up to 92,829, more than doubling its 1860 population of 43,417. Many mansions were built along the city's more prominent streets, such as the Southworth House along Prospect Avenue, and those on Millionaire's Row, on Euclid Avenue. Yet the population growth also fostered the need for efficient police and fire protection, decent housing, public education, health services, transportation, and better roads and streets.

After the Civil War, political power shifted from Democrats to Republicans. The main architect of this conversion was industrialist Mark Hanna, who entered politics when he was elected to the Cleveland Board of Education around 1869 and became a political kingmaker.

Hanna was eventually challenged by Republican Robert E. McKisson, who became mayor in 1895 and launched the construction of a new city water and sewer system. Vehemently anti-Hanna, McKisson created a powerful political machine to vie for control of the local Republican party. He padded the payroll with his political cronies, expanded the activities of government, and called for city ownership of all utilities. After serving two terms, he was soundly defeated by an alliance of Democrats and Hanna Republicans. It was clear that the city's government needed reform.

In 1897, Eliza Bryant founded the Cleveland Home of Aged Colored People (now Eliza Bryant Village), the oldest non-religious black institution in Ohio.