Nurturing Our Legacy

Where others came before us

Indigenous peoples

Although this area is named for its Irish settlers, we know they weren’t the first to reside on the hillside. Indigenous peoples have a centuries-long history along the Cuyahoga River and in Cleveland, including the area of Irishtown Bend Park.

Irish immigrants

Irishtown Bend Park derives its name from Irish immigrants who settled in the area — then known as “the Angle”— in 1825. By the 1830s, the growing Cleveland economy drew more Irish to the area, doubling the enclave. Many residents were working-class dockworkers; poverty and disease were common. Even though most Irish settlers were gone by 1900, freighter crews navigating the river continued to call this area Irishtown Bend — a name that has been used for 200 years. A portion of the site, known as the Irishtown Bend Archeological District, is on the National Register of Historic Places, based on excavations by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Cleveland State’s Urban Archaeology program. The design of Irishtown Bend Park will showcase foundations and household objects to commemorate the neighborhood’s past.

Riverview Tower residents

Since 1964, more than 500 residents at Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Riverview Tower atop Irishtown Bend have been able to see, but not touch, the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. This Park represents a unique opportunity for these residents — many of whom played a significant role in shaping its vision — to create an amenity that celebrates their past, present, and looks toward a new future on the hillside.

Where industry shaped us

Irishtown Bend and the Cuyahoga River played a significant role in establishing Cleveland as an industrial center of national prominence, as evidenced by the buried warehouse and coal dock foundations, as well as the still-active Cuyahoga River shipping channel.

Two tunnels from the former Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, a mid-19th-century short line connecting Cleveland to the coal fields of east central Ohio, pay tribute to the city’s industrial history while providing unique features for this Park and its trails. Irishtown Bend Park is adjacent to the Cleveland Foundation’s Centennial Lake Link Trail, which repurposed an abandoned rail line into a multipurpose trail that leads to Lake Erie.

The Park will be built on the site where pioneering female photojournalist Margaret BourkeWhite captured her iconic 1928 photo of the Terminal Tower rising through industrial smoke and clouds. The photo helps tell Cleveland’s story, from pre-settlement to present.

The Cuyahoga River, with its rich, 200-year history as a major industrial asset for the region —  will be this Park’s most notable feature.

Where we make history

When complete, Irishtown Bend Park will make history as one of the first U.S. waterfront parks directly connected to public housing.

Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) — the first chartered public housing authority in the U.S. — owns and manages Riverview Tower, a gateway into Irishtown Bend Park. Residents from the Riverview Tower and nearby Lakeview Terrace, another CMHA property, significantly contributed to the design of the Park through the Committee of Champions.

Long-term economic and community benefits

The Mandel Foundation remains committed to urban engagement and the neighborhoods of Cleveland. The empowerment of community members to champion and lead efforts in park planning ensures the sustainability of the Irishtown Bend Park project and the long-term economic and community benefits for Cleveland’s near west side.

— Stephen H. Hoffman Mandel Foundation Board Chair