Cleveland's Abandoned 'Subway'

Cleveland had a "subway" of sorts that allowed streetcars to access the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge (Veterans Memorial Bridge) between 1917 and 1954. Except for a few tours every now and then, this unique aspect of Cleveland's history is closed to the public. In this video, we'll not only look at the history of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, but we'll also explore the abandoned streetcar level.

Special thanks to the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works and the County Executive's Office for granting me special access to the streetcar level.

Works Cited:

Toman, James A., et al. When Cleveland Had a Subway. 1999.

Carol Poh Miller, Detroit-Superior High-Level Bridge, Historic American Engineering Record, document OH-6, 1978.

"Favours High Level Bridge. City Engineer Carter Thinks Such a Structure Should Take Place of." Plain Dealer, 25 Apr. 1903, p.12.

"$2,000,000 For A New Bridge? Measure Authorizing Vote on Bond Issue to Come Before Council." Plain Dealer, 6 June 1905, p.2.

"County Approves High Level Bridge Voters Give 35,000 Majority on Proposition to Issue Bonds for." Plain Dealer, 9 Nov. 1910, p. 4.

Footage used:

[RailroadStreet]

Thanks for watching, everyone! Have you ever attended one of the Veterans Memorial Bridge Subway tours held over the years? What topic(s) should I cover for future videos?

[railfan]

I rode the streetcars until their demise. They were replaced by two-wire "Trackless Trollys" which were replaced by busses. I also rode the rapid transit when it first opened in about 1954. I lived down in the West 25th street Projects, went to Wm. H. McGuffey school on W 29th street from K-4. Thanks for taking me back to my youth, and my neighborhood. Jon

[wjatube]

I remember as a child riding the "rapid transit" train you'd pickup in Brookpark near the airport. We would take into downtown to watch our Cleveland Indians. It's amazing to think all these impressive engineering accomplishments occurred 60 years prior.

[NathanDeger]

What have we built that will look like this in 100 years? I don't think anything.

It's so sad we abandoned these amazing projects and didn't maintain them. Cleveland is truly a great city past. Thank you for preserving its memory.

[Ice_Karma]

1:43 Can we just take a second to appreciate the sharpness and clarity of this photograph, taken on a bright, sunny spring day, within an hour or two of solar noon, over a hundred years ago?

[WhiteWolfUSA]

Man I grew up in Cleveland Ohio most of my life. I so wish I could of live and experience those days. Now I live in Missouri. But always Cleveland be in my heart forever.

[davidgrein]

God, I can't believe it, 1954 being the last year and I can remember riding them with my aunt as a child! Boy time flies?

[cascadianrangers]

America used to have so many nice things. It really makes sense to have a second deck on bridges, i hope they open up the other floor to foot traffic, it would make a lovely breezeway

[ingridfong-daley]

The worker giving you a ride really did allow your footage to come across like a genuine recreation of the original ride--what great footage!!

[cubbi]

If you hadn’t posted this, I would have never known that there was a tunnel for a railroad underneath the Superior bridge. Makes me want to go to the museum to check out the trains that would travel there. Thank you for sharing

[jadam]

23 years old and never heard of it until today, even though Ive been crossing this bridge almost every single day for the past 2 years. I love history. Great video!!!! ❤

[dbolt]

Toronto built a bridge in the early 1900 called the Prince Edward Viaduct over the Don Valley. It was built with a street car level that never saw any service for 50 years, but in the 1960 it became the right of way for the Bloor Danforth subway and still see heavy service to this day.

[theresehorvath]

I have lived in Cleveland all my life, and have always been so interested in seeing this, but never went to the tour. The footage in this video is awesome! I grew up in that w.25th and Lorain area and seeing how it used to look is so cool!

[johnchambers]

Thanks for the video. I am from Philadelphia, PA and we still have five trolley lines that server the west and southwest part of the city. They use a trolley subway that runs to downtown and parcels our main east-west heavy subway for part of their run. Like Cleveland when they came out of the subway they run on public streets to the end of their lines. Too bad Cleveland gave up on this system. It still could be useful today if it served the outlying areas and was extended to get to Public square where you could connect with the heavy rail line and the two trolley lines that still serve downtown Cleveland.

[Bird_Nerd_]

Does Cleveland still have the lines in place? That was something that really caught my eye in Dayton. They had busses running off the same electric lines until the 80s and then never bothered to take down the cables. It has to be a million times easier to bring this stuff back if half the infrastructure is still there.

[mcrow]

Cleveland’s incompetence when it came to rapid transit in the early 20th century definitely held them back.

[AsbestosMuffins]

having a subway would be really useful in Cleveland too

[neuralwarp]

I visited Pittsburg once, and discovered the heritage line was about to close. I was the only passenger on it. I got talking to the driver, and he let me drive it a few yards. That same car! Bittersweet memories.

[mattskustomkreations]

Thanks for sharing. My grandfather worked the trolleys and later buses in Cleveland. I had no idea the bridge had a trolley deck.

[chevynova]

I remember riding on the streetcars as a child. I liked the sounds they made.