National Register reference number.74001448- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1901 to 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19011994
The ground it stands on
23,212 words
The chapter on Cleveland City in History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870 names Cleveland. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
At the Erie Conference M. EK. Church, in the fall of 1838, resolutions were passed dis approving any expression by the churches on the question of American slavery. This action was received with disfavor by a portion of the members of the church in Cleveland. On September 1, 1839, an organization was effected, consisting of about sixty members, who withdrew from the First Methodist Episcopal Church for that purpose. This new church stood alone until May, 1843. when it sent delegates to a convention held at Utica, New York, and there went into the organization which has ever since been known as the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America.
John W. Allen was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1802. He resided in Chenango county, New York, from 1820 to 1825, when he removed to Cleveland, where he has ever since lived. He was admitted to the bar the next year, and for several succeeding years was engaged in the active practice of his profession.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 2,730 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Old Federal Building and Post Office between 1849 and 1975: 2,317 Animalia, 216 Fungi, 118 Plantae, 73 Protozoa, 5 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. D. Selby, A. G. Newhall and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
19 workings within 5 miles of Old Federal Building and Post Office: 10 unknowns, 6 producers, 2 past producers, 1 plant.
7 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Zirconium, Silica, Halite. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Cleveland, the town this property stands in, in 95 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 51 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 11 flash flood, 3 lightning.
The reports record 3 deaths and 6 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
During a sailboat race on Lake Erie, two people who were not wearing life preservers, were swept overboard by high waves and drowned. A total of four boats capsized and twelve people were swept overboard.
Thunderstorm wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph blew down two large tents on the west side of Cleveland. Three people inside were injured when the tents collapsed. One person was hospitalized. A peak wind gust of 36 mph was measured at nearby Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
During the afternoon hours of the 2nd, a severe thunderstorms moved over downtown Cleveland. This thunderstorm remained nearly stationary over the downtown area for around an hour, and dropped as much as four and a half inches of rain. Several rainfall reports of 3.0 to 4.5 inches were received from downtown Cleveland. This rain fell in less than 90 minutes. Local streets and highways throughout the downtown area quickly filled with water. Many roads, including Interstate 90 were impassable by flood waters as much as four feet deep. Many vehicles became stranded in the flood waters. Once the rain ended, the high water receded quickly. This was a very local event in Cuyahoga County as the southern part of the county remained mainly dry. In fact, Cleveland Hopkins Airport did not receive any rainfall from this thunderstorm.
Heavy thunderstorm rain caused widespread flooding of roads and low lying areas in Cleveland and surrounding suburbs. In Newburgh Heights, Interstate 77 was flooded with three to four feet of water and an elderly couple had to be rescued from their floating car. Over five inches of rain was measured in some southern and eastern sections as storms repeatedly crossed the area for several hours.
Thunderstorms dumped up to three inches of rain on downtown Cleveland during the late afternoon hours. A television station located just east of downtown recorded 2.75 inches of rain in only 48 minutes. Major street flooding occurred and dozens of cars became stuck in water up to four feet deep. Several motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles.
Broadcast media posted a photo on social media of a large tree that fell on a house on the west side of Cleveland. The time was radar estimated. The media also reported 25,000 residents within the metropolitan Cleveland area lost power. One Giant Eagle grocery store had to throw out all of their refrigerated items after losing power. Tree limbs were also reported down on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Rainfall amounts of 2 to 3.5 inches fell over Cleveland during a span of 60-90 minutes. Citywide flooding resulted as storm water systems were overwhelmed. Many roads including I 480 were flooded and closed for a brief period.
The Big Creek in Cuyahoga County (drainage basin 35.3 square miles) cuts through parts of Brooklyn and Cleveland before draining into the Cuyahoga River. On the morning of the 7th radar estimated rainfall amounts between 1.5 and 1.75 inches over the Big Creek basin. Some roads adjacent to the creek were closed. Most notably, the Cleveland Metropark Zoo was closed as water flooded their parking lots and threatened the veterinary clinic and other buildings.
16 papers published in this town,
digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be
looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
The Old Federal Building constitutes one of Cleveland's great monumental public buildings. Located on the N. E. frontage of the Public Square, the building also fronts onto the Mall. Occupying a full block, its other two facades face Superior building carry out the grand scheme of the Mall Plan of Daniel Burnham, originally The Old Federal Building was designed by Arnold W. Brunner of New York City. Its exterior wall surfaces and ornamentation are of gray granite. The street level from the facade) are characterized by a motif of semi-detached corinthian columns on the north and south sides, and similarly expressed pilasters on the east and west.
Pavilions at each corner close the colonnade effect which embrace bronze Of note are two large stone sculptural groups in front of the Superior elevation of the building. Executed by Daniel Chester French, these massive pieces, named and plaster. Only part of the original bronze grille work (elevators, cages and and west (the Superior and Mall elevations) and one hundred eighty five feet north the top of roof is one hundred eleven feet and six inches. NOV 9 1973 CONDITION NATIONAL REGISTER Moved Fair fine hardwood furnishings and trim. buildings carried out in classical revival architectural dress.
having sculptured keystones.The upper three floors (the fifth floor being recessed Large murals adorn these rooms and others as does exotic stone detailing and windows in the spaces between columns. The concept is terminated by a strong balustrade and cornice concealing the top story. and south (the Public Square and East 3rd St.elevations).The building height to with the District Court Rooms of the Third Floor are particularly outstanding.
The Old Federal Building is a central feature of the two adjacent public spaces, As the only building fronting on both of these public spaces, the Old Federal Building is appropriately expressed in strong, monumental terms of classical character, at once a major example of the popular civic architecture of its day and a major example of the talent of the well-regarded Arnold W. Brunner As Cleveland's main downtown post office from 1911 until 1937, and as the con- tinuing locale for federal offices and courts, the building, has figured largely in Its, interiors are particularly striking in view of the elaboration of detail. and wide use of excellent materials, fine stone and hardwoods.
This is especially so in, the two third floor Courtrooms, two of the most richly executed interiors in: Additionally, the building exhibits, in sculpture and mural work, a considerable demonstration of the best of the fine arts available at the time of its construction. NOV 9 losophy Engineering Aboriginal NATIONAL REGISTER Science the-century. the region. Education Agriculture Music Theater Religion/Phi- both comprising Cleveland's most significant downtown planned areas:The RECEIVED Invention who designed numerous structures for the federal government at the turn-of- terms of events and personages in the Cleveland scene. Public Square and the Mall. itarian
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 74001448, 10 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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