Walk the Doan Brook gorge from MLK to Ambler Park. Here, we learn the natural base for Cleveland's early suburban development, 1890s-1910s. Comprehend the issues for stream conservation. Supported with a grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, 2014.

1. Doan Brook
Watershed
Partnership
3 pm, Sat, Oct 18, 2014
Roy Larick
Bluestone
Heights
Doan Brook gorge, looking southeast
Doan Brook
Watershed Partnership
USGS LiDAR underlay; Google Earth aerial viewer
for the
RSVP
welling@doanbrookpartnership.org 216-325-7781
Doan Brook
hike
With support from
Suburban Gorge
Meet: Fairhill Partners parking: 12200 Fairhill Road, Cleveland, OH 44120
Cleveland Memory Project

2. During the 1890s, residential development
played out on carriage trails, spring water
and septic tanks. The gorge became a
playground.
By the 1910s, distributed infrastructure
loomed large in the environment. The
gorge became a conduit.
The ‘Suburban Gorge’ hike visits
archaeological vestiges of the earliest
infrastructure transformations.
Doan Brook
Watershed
Partnership
Bluestone
Heights
During the summer and fall of
2014, three Doan Brook gorge
hikes explore fast-changing
natural & cultural features of this
special Cleveland landmark.
Doan Brook
hike
Suburban Gorge
The third hike, of the ‘Suburban
Gorge’, focuses on the events
that transformed the Doan
Brook into the urban
environment we know today.

3. Doan Brook gorge and the Portage Escarpment
Just 23,000 years ago, the last glacial advance bulldozed the Portage Escarpment to create
two terraces, one atop the Berea Sandstone and, just below, atop the Euclid bluestone.
The gorge emerged as Doan Brook cut through these hard rocks and into underlying shale.
Early Suburban Development
In the 1890s, Cleveland’s earliest suburban developers platted streets and lots on Turkey
and Maple Ridges, atop the bluestone terrace. J.D. Rockefeller bought much of the gorge
during the 1880s. The Amblers owned the lower gorge and, in 1894, gave 25 acres to the
City of Cleveland as Ambler Park. By this time, the huge Baldwin Reservoir complex had
obliterated the nature that had drawn the earliest residential development.
Doan Brook Gorge
Vinecliff
Fairhill Village

4. © 2014
Bluestone
Heights
Doan Brook
Gorge
Nathan H. Ambler
A well-known spring
lay on the Vinecliff
property, at the base
of the western
bluestone outcrop.
camera viewpoint
Cleveland Memory Project
CMP
Turkey
Ridge
Maple
Ridge
Ambler
Heights
USGS LiDAR underlay
Google Earth aerial viewer
Vinecliff tower.
In the bluestone
About 1870, dentist and Gold
Rush veteran Nathan H.
Ambler bought land on both
sides of the gulf. The family
lived on Maple Ridge and
developed Ambler Heights on
Turkey Ridge.
Vinecliff (1872)
On the bluestone terrace
Stokes Blvd Old Fairhill/Mapleside
Looking SSE, up Stokes Blvd
Cleveland Memory Project
Cleveland Memory Project
Cleveland Memory Project
Stokes Blvd Stokes Blvd
Cleveland Memory Project
Looking SE fto Vinecliff rom Turkey Ridge, 1874
Vinecliff, the Ambler house,
was built on a narrow
promontory above the
bluestone terrace. Covered
with glacial boulders, the hill
may have been a remnant
of a larger glacial feature.
Ambler built a rustic
stone tower, possibly to
resemble a ruined castle.
Looking NW onto Vinecliff from Old Fairhill
Rd on Maple Ridge
Ambler also developed the Blue
Rock Spring resort at the bottom of
Cedar Hill. Nathan and Martha
Ambler adopted Daniel O. Caswell,
who famously operated the resort.

5. © 2014
Bluestone
Heights
Doan Brook
Gorge
Baldwin Reservoir
About 1870, Nathan
Ambler bought land on
both sides of the gulf.
The family lived on
Maple Ridge and
developed Ambler
Heigts on Turkey Ridge.
CMP
Turkey
Ridge
Maple
Ridge
North
Ambler
Heights
USGS LiDAR underlay
Google Earth aerial viewer
stone
culvert
sandstone
quarry
CedarHeights
Cle Water Dept
Cleveland Memory Project
Built 1912-1925 to store treated
water from the filtration plant.
The reservoir lies in a pit 1,000' long, 500' wide,
and 35' deep, dug into the Euclid bluestone and
Cleveland Shale.
To dispose of the rubble, a railroad was built in 1915 from the excavation site
to the Doan Brook gorge. Rubble was dumped along the south rim and on the
north rim, including at old quarries in the Roxboro area.
The reservoir holds 135 million gallons. It is
roofed by a thin groin-vaulted concrete slab
supported by 1,196 columns, which are 30" in
diameter and spaced 18' apart.
Cleveland Memory Project
The roof is covered with soil, making a
park-like lawn adjacent to the filtration
plant.
The filtration plant is a symmetrical
Palladian structure 750' long, which
dominates the commanding site at the
summit of Fairhill Rd.
camera viewpoint

6. Doan Brook
Gorge
infrastructure
Cleveland Memory ProjectCleveland Memory Project
Cleveland Memory Project
Cleveland Memory Project
Looking northeast across Doan Brook along old Ambleside to current Ambleside (at cliff base). Looking south-southeast from East Blvd (MLK), up Doan Brook to Fairhill (Stokes Blvd).
Looking north-northwest down Doan Brook from Fairhill (Stokes
Blvd) to East Blvd (MLK).
Looking south-southeast from NKP tracks across East Blvd (MLK) to
the Baldwin Reservoir. Doan Brook culvert construction in foreground.
In 1929, construction of the Cleveland
Union Terminal Railroad was fully
documented with photographs.
CSU Special Collections now owns the
set which are online as part of the
Cleveland Memory Project.
Here are four of many that show CUT
RR work around “East Boulevard.”

7. Looking SSE, up Doan Brook, Mar 1929
Cleveland Memory Project
Gulf north wall, above North Park. Bluestone level near top.
Chestnut Hills Dr lies behind the left tree line.
camera viewpoint
Doan Brook
Gorge
Ambler Park
Cleveland Memory Project
Cleveland Memory Project
In 1894, Martha Ambler and Daniel O.
Caswell donated 25 acres for the
construction of Ambler Park.
At its lower end, the Ambler Park was
bordered by East Boulevard. Area
landscaping was of high quality.
Looking SSE, up Doan Brook, Mar 1929
Looking SSE, up Doan Brook, Google Earth

8. Doan Brook
Gorge
Fairhill Village
Fairhill Village house interior
Fairhill Village was laid out upon a
rugged Berea sandstone promontory.
Landscape architect A. Donald Gray developed the settlement
in conjunction with architect Antonio DiNardo and, later, H.O.
Fullerton. Seven structures were built between 1929 and
1933. An eighth structure was erected in 1971.
The Tudor Revival style encompasses the massive
chimneys, arched entrances, gables, recesses and
projections. Groupings of diamond paned windows
also contribute as does exterior sheathing in
sandstone, slate and stucco. 12309-12511 Fairhill Rd, Cleveland
Cervin Robinson, clevelandart.org
Fairhill Village exterior
R. larick
NRHP application, 1990

9. Doan Brook
Watershed
Partnership
3 pm, Sat, Oct 18, 2014
Roy Larick
Bluestone
Heights
Doan Brook gorge, looking southeast
Doan Brook
Watershed Partnership
USGS LiDAR underlay; Google Earth aerial viewer
for the
RSVP
welling@doanbrookpartnership.org 216-325-7781
Doan Brook
hike
With support from
Suburban Gorge
Meet: Fairhill Partners parking: 12200 Fairhill Road, Cleveland, OH 44120
Cleveland Memory Project