This is an independent endeavor.  It is not a commercial site and is not affiliated with any neighborhood organization such as the West Park Historical Society.

We do not accept
advertising.
 


Michael Koryta's
mystery novels
set in West Park

 

Email
 The West Park History Website


Created by:
Gary Swilik
and
 Charles C. Chaney

Updated:
16 November 2014

 
Cuyahoga Co.Weather

 

Number of visitors:  

 

 

Charles Chaney's Index Page

History of the West Park Neighborhood

(Not associated with the West Park Historical Society)


Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
The purpose of this site is to provide an informal site concerning the history of the area and to share personal memories of the neighborhood.  The West Park community, as considered here, consists of four neighborhoods located west of West 117th Street including the Jefferson, Kamm's Corners, Riverside and Puritas-Longmead areas.  This approximates the original composition of the neighborhood.

The name was derived from a wooded park with a lake that John West operated on his property at Lorain Avenue roughly between West 138th and 140th Streets.  It was known as "West's Park" but evolved into "West Park" for the short-lived town that developed in the area. 

This site is not intended to serve as a neighborhood directory nor as a totally complete listing but to be simply a place to share some of its history, images and memories.

If you have memories and photos of your experiences in the West Park neighborhood that you would like to share please feel free to Email this West Park History website. ("Click" the name link to send an email to this website.)  If you have a website which you think would be relevant please feel free to let us know about it so we can provide a link to it on this site.

NEW ARTICLES & FEATURES 

Hough Bakeries in West Park by Gary Swilik

Sweeney's Pasture by Gary Swilik

Gilchrist Record Shop by Gary Swilik

West 130th Recreation - Memories of the Hosta/Straka Families

The King of French Fries by Gary Swilik

The Castle House by Dar McGeady

The Baskerville Hounds with Doug McCutcheon

The Oldest Bars & Taverns in West Park by Ross E. Bassett

The Code Family of St. Patrick’s Cemetery by Peggy Calvey Patton

West Park's Jazz Age Speakeasy:  Rainbow Gardens

History Comes to Life: Mr. Kamm Returns to West Park

Rexall Drug. 14701 Puritas. By Jim Baechle

Local Man Unearths Rare Piece of West Park History

Hogan's Corners

At Home on Lena Avenue.  By Carol Nichols Henninger

Photo Gallery of George Washington Elementary School Teachers - 1955

Photo Gallery of Newton D. Baker Junior High School Teachers - 1956
 

Click West Park Historical Society  to learn about it.
We existed before the historical society was formed but do not consider ourselves to be in competition but, hopefully, complementary.
     


Visit the    
Kamm's Corners Development Corporation
 website for information on the present neighborhood that includes much of the western part of the original West Park area.

A book about the history of West Park
FROM ROCKPORT TO WEST PARK, by Ralph A. Pfingsten.
This is a long overdue source of information about the area.  It will certainly be used to help develop this website.  Hats off to Mr. Pfingsten and the John Marshal Alumni Association that published it.  For more information logon the to the Kamm's Corners Development Corporation at http://www.kammscorners.com/historybook.html or go to The John Marshall High School Alumni Association
(Note that the above organizations are not affiliated with this site.)


Email The West Park History website

This website was created and maintained by the following:

Gary Swilik who lives in West Park and does most of the active research.
Charles C. Chaney who maintains this site.

Unless stated otherwise, most photographs have been supplied by the Gary Swilik Collection.

Some images on this site have invisible watermarks.
Please request permission to use any of them.