CLEVELAND

NAME: Cleveland
COUNTY: Lucas
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 5
CLIMATE: Snow and ice in the winter - hot in the summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Autumn when the leaves provide color 		COMMENTS: There are 3 families that presently live at the old town site. There are two houses that depict the miners homes of that era . One of the houses is presently being used as storage and the other is vacant and rapidly becoming a thing of the pastIf you were not told about this town there is nothing that make you think there once was a thriving mining town along about 1880 - 1908 with schools, Company Store and only 1 rather unsucessful tavern. There is nothing much to look at now except the rapidly deterating railroad bedand the colorful trees in the fall or hoary frost on the trees in the winter times.
REMAINS: Two houses - one used as a storage shed, the other vacant and falling down

Cleveland was a mining town complete with school, company store and all the businesses to make it a sucess. The Post Office was closed in 1908 when the mines in the area were closed.I was told it had a two story school and is recognized as the Birth Place of John L. Lewis, the leader of the Miner's Union for many years.It is said to have had no laws against taverns, but that the only one that existed in the town did not stay very long. This was unusual as the town of Lucas that adjoined Cleveland on the west was said to have had 14 taverns. Submitted by: Grandma Fern

Update: I grew up on the outskirts of Lucas, Iowa, next to Cleveland... My dad (who is still living and 71 years old) has been in that area all his life. At one time he was made the mayor of Cleveland, he condemned the cities streets so he could officially close the town and purchase the land to make into farm ground. John L. Lewis's house foundation is on his property; old cement steps are all that is left to date. My grandfather was the Sheriff back in them days, mainly in Lucas, however, his territory covered Cleveland. When my father closed the streets of Cleveland, he moved his address to Lucas. Actually I am stating, his eighty acres and three bedroom house is part of the original City of Cleveland. I remember as a youngster going out with grandparents, uncles, and cousins with metal detectors looking for things of value, especially after flooding. -Martin Chandler

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