Places
Developments
Bratenahl's Street Names
Many of Bratenahl’s roadways were named for or by early area settlers.
Coit Road: Daniel Lathrop Coit (1754-1833) made numerous visits to the Western Reserve for the Connecticut Land Company. He acquired 264 acres of land along Lake Erie between Dugway Creek and Nine Mile Creek but did not move his residence from Connecticut to Ohio. Daniel’s son, Colonel Henry H. Coit (1791-1870) operated a large farm near what is today the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Coit Road. He inherited the lake shore property from his father in 1833. With his wife Mary (1795-1856), Henry built an unassuming farmhouse along Shaw Brook north of Lake Shore Boulevard known as the Beeches, immediately to the west of the current intersection of the boulevard and Coit Road. Following Henry’s death, his son, Charles B. Coit (1820-1907) converted a portion of the family’s lake front land into a summer resort hotel called the Coit House. The Coit House, located on the northeast corner of Eddy Road and Lake Shore Boulevard, was one of the best suburban hotels in existence at that time and regarded as a familiar landmark. In the 1890s, the hotel property became the Country Club. Both Charles and his brother William Henry Coit (1823-1899) lived at the Beeches (12003 Lake Shore Boulevard) until they died. Charles never married. William married Harriett Fairfield (1838-1901) in 1856. They raised their three children at the Lake Shore home. William spent years expanding and improving the Beeches for the use and enjoyment of his family. Since Colonel Henry Coit owned farms at both ends of Coit Road, it would be logical to assume that the road was named for him. Yet two stories in The Plain Dealer in the 1930s state that the road was named for William Henry Coit. It might be more accurate to conclude that the road was named for the Coit family.
Eddy Road: In 1809, Caleb Eddy Sr. (1754-1818) built a grist mill, the first in East Cleveland Township, on high ground near Lake View Cemetery. Caleb and his wife Nancy (1761-1838) settled in the southern part of the township alongside a stream which they named Dugway Brook. He was one of the early members of First Presbyterian Church, the first church in Cuyahoga County, located at Euclid and Nela Avenues in East Cleveland. Church lore maintains that many streets on Cleveland’s east side bear the names of early church members including Eddy Road, named for Caleb Eddy.
Corning Road: Corning Road is named for Warren Holmes Corning (1841-1899), who with his wife Mary Helen (1841-1929), developed the luxury campground along Lake Erie west of Dugway Creek called Corning Place.
Burton Avenue: In October 1871, Dr. Erasmus D. Burton (1825-1914) joined with the firm of N. Moses & Brothers to develop a 62-lot development on land previously owned by William Foster just south of the Lake Erie shore in Glenville. Burton was a noted physician, developer, and politician on the east side of Cleveland during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was one of three generations of Burtons practicing medicine in the area for ninety-two years. Active in area politics, Burton served two terms as Mayor of East Cleveland.
Foster Avenue: In 1889, Dr. Burton joined Darius Adams (1810-1896), an early settler, successful contractor, and real estate investment partner, to develop the Adams & Burton development immediately south of the Burton-Moses allotment on land acquired from Robert Foster (1847-1926). Robert acquired much of the land from his father William Foster (1805-1877). Robert and his wife Lillian (1855-1945) lived at 498 East 105th Street, where they raised their five children. Active in area politics, Robert Foster served as Mayor of Glenville and was a member of Cleveland City Council during the administration of Mayor Newton D. Baker.
Brighton Road: James Patton (1850-1934) owned greenhouses and orchards north of the Burton Moses Development and sold products at the Cleveland Central Market. James was born in Alloa, Scotland, and built a home located at 378 East 105th Street in 1857, where he lived for the rest of his life. With his wife Sarah (1840-1932), James sold fruit at a stand on the southwest corner of Doan (Bratenahl Road) and Burton, near their orchards and home. To maximize sales of land in his allotment, Patton laid out Birchton Road (Brighton Road). James was one of the founders of Bratenahl, serving as one of the three trustees of Bratenahl Township in 1904, and as one of Bratenahl’s first councilmembers. On March 28, 1908, James and Sarah Patton sold to the Bratenahl School Board the land on which the Bratenahl School was built.
Garfield Lane: At the time of the Burton and Foster developments, the western end of both Burton and Foster Avenues were connected to St. Clair Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard via Robison Avenue, undoubtedly named for Frank DeHass Robison (1852-1908), organizer of the Cleveland City Cable Railway Company and owner of the Cleveland Spiders baseball team. In more recent years when the roadway was severed by the Lakeland Freeway, the road was named for Abram Garfield (1872-1958), youngest son of President James A. Garfield, noted area architect, member of Bratenahl City Council for 27 years, and owner of 9718 Lake Shore Boulevard located where Garfield Lane joins the boulevard.
Holden Lane: The former Salisbury Avenue, the lane is recognized today as the former access road to Loch Hame, the home of Liberty Holden (1833-1913), the first Mayor of Bratenahl, which was demolished in the 1950s to become part of the federal government’s Nike Missile Site.