Public Square, Cleveland
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Cleveland Public Square
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The Old Stone Church, Society for Savings Building, and Key Tower border Public Square, representing three eras of Cleveland history.
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| Location | Superior Avenue and Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44106 |
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| Coordinates | 41°29′59″N 81°41′38″W / 41.49972°N 81.69389°WCoordinates: 41°29′59″N 81°41′38″W / 41.49972°N 81.69389°W |
| Built | 1857 -1861 |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001361 |
| Added to NRHP | December 18, 1975 |
Public Square is the four-block central plaza of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Based on an 18th-century New England model, it was part of the original 1796 town plat overseen by Moses Cleaveland, and remains today as an integral part of the city's center. The 10-acre (4.0 ha) square is centered on the former intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Street. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square. Other Public Square landmarks include the 1855 Old Stone Church and the former Higbee's department store made famous in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, which reopened as the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland on May 14, 2012. The square was redeveloped in 2016 by the city into a more pedestrian-friendly environment with green space on the north half of the square, a hard surface on the south half of the square, and transit/bike lanes on a newly constructed Superior Avenue (which is closed to bus and motorist traffic.)
A 125-foot-tall (38 m) monument to Civil War soldiers and sailors occupies the southeast section of the square. City founder Moses Cleaveland and reformist mayor Tom L. Johnson each have statues on the square.
Public Square was part of the Connecticut Land Company's original plan for the city, which were overseen by Moses Cleaveland in the 1790s. The square is signature of the layout for early New England towns, which Cleveland was modeled after. While it initially served as a common pasture for settlers' animals, less than a century later Public Square was the height of modernity, when in 1879 it became the first street in the world to be lit with electric street lights, arc lamps designed by Cleveland native Charles F. Brush. The square was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1975.
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