Cleveland: Moonlight Arrival in the Cuyahoga River c. 1876

Due to its burgeoning steel industry which began with the first small iron foundry in 1828, Cleveland became, in the late nineteenth century, the greatest shipbuilding center in the world outside the yards of Scotland’s Clyde River. By the late century, twenty five or so foundries and mills had become the nucleus of Republic Steel. The supply line for all this industry was the narrow Cuyahoga River which twists and turns for some three miles of navigable waterway. This view, from under the Superior St. bridge, looking North towards lake Erie, shows the ore boat Republic unloading her cargo at Globe Iron Works as the newly arrived barkentine Golden Age is assisted to her berth beside the Commercial Grain Elevator.

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