This NEO City Was Once More Important Than Cleveland
Formerly operating as a pet store called “Puppy Kingdom” in the 1960s, this property goes even further back than that. While puppies are adorable, and should really take importance over most things, I do think that aside from that, this seemingly small building holds some great history to be shared. In addition to that, there are some other very interesting things about the history of the area surrounding it. The now demolished property that once stood at the intersection of Miles Park Avenue and Broadway Avenue can be traced back to the 1800s, when the small town of Newburgh actually almost took Cleveland’s place in the race for “big city.”
The Union-Miles Park area was originally part of Newburgh Township in 1814. By 1856, this area had become one of two centers for the Cleveland steel industry, and was the fifth-most populous incorporated are in Cuyahoga County with residents totaling 1,542. Though the area may not seem like it today, in its early days, between 1814-1826, it rivaled Cleveland both in size and importance. It was more common in the early 1800s to refer to things in relation to their distance from Newburgh rather than from Cleveland. This importance began to fall greatly in 1826, when Cleveland won in number of votes for location of the U.S. federal courthouse in Cuyahoga County. This of course led to Cleveland’s growth, quickly beating out Newburgh in political and cultural importance. Cleveland was starting to become the “big city,” but Newburgh continued forward with strong economic growth. Newburgh held more agriculture and some very important industry into the early 1900s.
In 1830 the Newburgh Road was extended to Bedford, and South Highway (Kinsman Avenue) was extended into the center of Cleveland, which gave the town direct access to downtown. This road held great importance for bringing further economic growth to Newburgh, leading to a large boost in the town’s population. Several churches had been constructed, and businesses had begun popping up one after another. By 1840, Newburgh had a carding mill, quarry, wagon maker, sawmill and two taverns all within the area close to the intersection of Broadway and Miles Avenue, where this building once stood.
In 1858, the building had operated as the E. Miles Dry Goods & Grocery Store, according to an old map of Cuyahoga County. Numerous expansions and other adjustments were made to the building throughout the rest of the 1800s.
Newburgh would see further growth with the addition of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad (C&MV) after they had laid their tracks through the township in 1853. Later in 1857, Henry and Lemuel Pratt opened the Ohio Chair Factory at the corner of Broadway and Walker Avenues. The company had only operated in this factory until 1872, but the building had remained for years after. When the C&MV railroad was finally finished in 1856, the iron and steel industry took off in Newburgh. Throughout the rest of the 1800s, the area would also see the inclusion of blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, hotel, a physician, shingle manufacturer, and more.
By the 1860s, steel had become Cleveland and Newburgh Township’s biggest industry. In the 1870s and 1880s, Cleveland was the second-largest producer of iron in the United States, only surpassed by Pennsylvania. This also boosted Cleveland’s population, which had grown so much by 1890 that Cleveland had become the tenth-largest city in the nation. One of the most notable steel-making centers in Cleveland, The Cleveland Rolling Mill, was located directly along the Union-Miles Park area in Newburgh Township. This mill had become Cleveland’s most important manufacturer by 1879, and by 1885 was the largest iron and steel manufacturer in Cleveland, and one of the five largest west of Pennsylvania.
It’s likely between the end of the 1800s and throughout the early 1900s that the structure had continued to operate as a dry goods grocer. As the 1920s rolled around, additions were made to the building, and it was expanded out to the design seen in these photos, which I took in 2012.
In 1928, the area had become known as the Village of Newburgh. A town hall was built at 9213 Miles Park Avenue, and served as a township meeting hall, church and school. Many people grew up in this neighborhood during its early days, and it had become quite the place to be.
I have not yet been able to do more digging, which I will probably go to the library for to find more information from probably 1900 to 1960. Best I could find was a map from 1927, which shows the building as it stood in 2012, and it was marked as brick construction.
From the 1920s through the 1950s, the building would see numerous different uses, including a drug store and upholstery store, offering units for rent in the upstairs as apartments. During the 1960s, the building once again saw new life, this time as a pet shop. The shop mentioned earlier, known as “Puppy Kingdom” was owned by Jerry Phillips.
After its life as a pet shop, the building was later purchased in 1975 by James B McNamee, and his brother Charles J McNamee. They had operated an auto supply and auto body shop here for a handful of years together before the property was transferred over to James and his wife, Anna Mae (Veverka) McNamee in 1981. While Newburgh was struggling at this time economically, full of crime and vacant homes, the shop remained a fairly popular place and kept business going well into the 90s.
After James’ death, Anna took ownership of the property in 1994, and continued to operate it under the name Miles Park Auto Supply. Five years later, she would close the shop, and sell the property to Steven J. Zsigrai for $20,000 in 1999.
The property then sat abandoned for a number of years before being forfeited to the state of Ohio in 2014 with years of unpaid taxes piled up. Parcelnomics, LLC purchased the property from the state, and demolished the building in 2015. As of 2020, $187,152.28 is due in taxes on the property, leaving almost no possibility of anyone wanting to make use of the empty lot.
Additional interesting information about Newburgh:
In the 1850s, there was an insane asylum right across the street from where this building once stood! The structure sat right along Mill Creek. Wild, right? That old asylum built in the 1850s eventually became Cleveland state hospital by 1912. It was originally known as the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, and was the second of 6 public asylums established in the entire state of Ohio at that time. Being that it was located in Newburgh Township, it later became known as Newburgh State Hospital. The structure was built on land donated by President James A. Garfield before he had become president. Due to overcrowding and repeated abuse scandals, the hospital finally closed in 1975, and was later demolished in the fall of 1994.
Another interesting old structure in the area, which actually still stands as of 2020 is the Newburgh Masonic Temple.
In 1916, construction of the temple had begun directly next door to the former Miles Park Auto Supply building. The temple was designed by architect William J. Carter, and was completed in 1917. The cost of construction was $65,000, which at the time was quite a lot. That $65,000 would translate to roughly about $1.5 million in 2020. The very first meeting of the Ashlar Lodge was held on May 31, 1917. The Ashlar Lodge would use the structure to conduct meetings over the next 50 years, until finally selling the building in 1969. The decision to sell the building was made due to rapidly increasing maintenance costs and lack of parking in the area.
The building had served some other uses between this and its final time of abandonment, though it’s unclear exactly what for, or by whom. The temple was abandoned for good in 1984. Remnants still remain from its time of abandonment, including checks and calendars strewn about the rotting floors of each level.
CLICK HERE to see photos of the old temple.
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