Stumbling Across History

Those of you who follow along with this blog already know I hold a special place in my heart for the history of our nation. I stare at what has to be a 200-year-old tree in my neighborhood and wonder what events it's possibly seen. With Oberlin's rich history as an antislavery town and devoted to helping those traveling on the Underground Railroad, any number of things could have taken place near the tree. Was it a gathering place for townspeople to express their opposition to slavery? Did it at one time hide escaping slaves under its branches? These are the things I ponder as I take my afternoon walks.

My brother was in town this past week, for a conference in downtown Cleveland. When we picked him up at the end of the meetings, he said we needed to make one more stop before we headed back to the west side suburbs. His profession is a city planner and he really gets into sustainable and repurposing of things. I don't care for grocery shopping on my best day, but he insisted we go to the downtown Heinen's.

What a surprise!






Located on the corner of East 9th and Euclid Avenue, Heinen's is housed in what had at one time been a bank building. The Cleveland Trust Rotunda Building has been converted, quite beautifully, into an upscale grocery. This example of early 20th century architecture provides a glimpse of Cleveland in its heyday. Designed by George B. Post, renowned architect, this building was, and still is, one of the most iconic buildings in Cleveland. A painstaking renovation was undertaken by Heinen's, one of the oldest Cleveland grocery stores, and is now a creative use of repurposing a building while retaining much of its original charm.

Which proves that history awaits you around every corner, if you know where to look. And sometimes, when you don't.