A block away from the abandoned headquarters of Warner & Swasey Company lies the crumbling industrial compound built by The Cleveland Railway Co.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, street railways were a popular form of transportation along Cleveland's main avenues.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, street railways were a popular form of transportation along Cleveland's main avenues.
In 1888, when electric railways were beginning to replace horse and mule-powered streetcars, East Cleveland Railroad Company built a power plant for its rail network.
The facility housed enormous steam-powered No. 16 Edison generators, some of the largest of their day.
In 1890 and 1892 additions were constructed to accommodate more generators to satisfy the growing need.
The handful of companies that operated the city's various rail lines underwent a series of consolidations around the turn of the century. In 1910 a final merger made The Cleveland Railway Co sole operator of Cleveland's transit lines.
In 1917 it was determined that the existing plant could not generate enough power to meet the demands of the rail network. Upgrading the facility proved too expensive, so energy production was outsourced to the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company.
In 1933, Westinghouse Electric closed the facility and moved to Edgewater Park.
Thompson Products, a producer of automobile and aircraft engine valves, purchased several of the buildings in 1936. The business flourished during WWII when it received massive orders for aircraft parts.
Virden Manufacturing Company, a producer of lighting equipment, began to utilize TRW's old facilities in 1963. Before that time, Virdeen had operated out of a factory that once stood on the west side of Ashland Road alongside the Cleveland Railway Co substation.
Historic map of the industrial compound courtesy of http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=5759 |
There do not seem to be any plans for reuse of the structures. The buildings are in very rough shape.
The nightmarish basements are pitch black and crumbling like old catacombs.
It seems unlikely that the compound will ever know industry again.
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Be sure to check out my next article Toxic and Abandoned: Accurate Plating Company Superfund Site
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Thank you!
very awesome
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan!
DeleteLots of history here--this is one of those complexes that everyone wants to see. It's one of the places that I tend to hit if other explores fail while I'm in the Cleveland area. One time while recovering from surgery I had my nephew drive me here and we explored the basement, finding Virden Co. paychecks. As you may know, this is also the place where a scene from The Avengers was filmed--a Black Widow fight scene that can be found on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteIt is such an amazing place. Way more history than I could cram into this article. So neat that you found old paychecks there. I love finding old documents, especially those that have dates on them.
DeleteSad to see grafitti everywhere
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I don't mind the artistic stuff as much as the mindless tagging and scribbling.
DeleteI've poked around this site. Question: Do you know what became of the Edison generators? That building was closed up tight.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what happened to the generators. I believe they were sold off and moved, but I can't be sure.
DeleteWho owns the property now
DeleteFrom the Air!
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/Ow4ATfQFarA
literally fell through that building
ReplyDeleteI've been here back when I was a young restless college kid. When I went that front room still had a roof (that top-down aerial footage of the rubble)! I had to stop going when they started posting security out front which in retrospect most likely has to do with the filming of the Avengers. A word of caution for those planning to waltz around here like it's Disneyland. Encounters are not uncommon and people have found used shell casings on the ground.
ReplyDelete