History
Then & Now: Photos
Places now gone
Memories/Comments
The 1953 Tornado
Puritas Springs Park
Spotlights: Items of Interest
Almost West Park
Sources
Feedback
Contents
New Items

History of the West Park Neighborhood

Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Links of interest

Residents may wish to consider participation in the
West Park Historical Society
Visit their website  at
www.westparkhistory.org

For further details contact:
Christine M. Rafalke
Membership Chairperson
cmr@neighborhoodprogress.org
or
Peggy Cecora, President
Phone 216-941-9730
wphsmember@sbcglobal

This page is designed for the "medium" setting as set under "View"/"Text Size" in the IE browser.

Created by:
Charles C. Chaney
and
Gary Swilik

Updated: 21 June 2008

Cuyahoga Co.Weather

Number of visitors:  

Charles Chaney's Index Page

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.

 

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 some of its history, images and memories.  Please remember that this site predates and is completely independent of the West Park Historical Society. Please visit their webpage at West Park History.org and consider giving the West Park Historical Society your support.

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 Charles Chaney and Gary Swilik. ("Click" the names to send an email.)  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.

THANKS to the SUN NEWS for running an article that appeared in various local Sun newspapers concerning a section on this website.  The 12 June 2008 edition carried a front page article about the 1953 tornado that struck the area and an associated item concerning memories of that 1953 tornado.  A statement in the article gives the impression that the West Park History website was created "to document the devastation on the Internet with old black-and-white photos and personal narratives."  This is incorrect because the website was created as "an informal site concerning the history of the area and to share personal memories of the neighborhood."  The material on the tornado is a  later addition and never was the impetus for the site which focuses on the overall history of the West Park area not just the tornado.
                                                                                             ---------  Charles C. Chaney

RECENT ADDITIONS

NEW>  Linndale Roundhouse (just beyond the West Park area, it was well known by many)
NEW>  Virginia Herrington Mohr, great-great-great-granddaughter of Elijah and Sarah Herrington
NEW>  Mystery Man Who Died in WW I is Remembered on Memorial Day
NEW>  Bono's Barber Shop
NEW>  Possible Toll House
NEW>  West Park Theatre photos (two additions)

Puritas Springs Park Page
Some memories of the park.  Including NEW material about Jungle Larry and Captain Penny
    A brief history of Puritas Springs Park.
Memories of Puritas Springs Park Roller Rink. By Robert E. Baus
 

General Index to Contents
(partial)

Visit the
Kamm's Corners Development Corporation
web site 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.)

---

Charles C. Chaney, webmaster, and Gary Swilik who lives in West Park and does most of the active research.
Unless stated otherwise, most photographs were supplied by Gary Swilik.