The image and text are attributed to the author, Trina Goss Galauner, as published in our October December 2015 newsletter. Volume 23 Issue 4.
Cleveland’s Polish “Kantowa” neighborhood was originally settled in the 1840s when Isaac and Thomas Lamson and Samuel Sessions came from New England and established the area’s first factory which produced carriage bolts. The area became known as University Heights when the city’s first college, Cleveland University, was built there in 1850. However, the university closed in 1853 but the area retained street names such as Professor, College, University and Literary.
After the Civil war, the area was renamed Lincoln Heights, since the area hosted two Union Army camps duringthe war. In the late 1870s, the earliest Polish settlers arrived to work on the dock or as laborers in the lumberyards andindustries in the Flats. By the 1890s, the steel industry drew more Poles to the area. By 1897, enough Poles resided in Lincoln Heights for the formation of a Polish Roman Catholic parish, St .John Cantius. Thus, the community of “Kantowa” was formed, named for the local church. The old neighborhood of “Kantowa” is located just west of the Cuyahoga River Valley and south of downtown
Cleveland. The area is currently known as Tremont.
Additional information about St. John Cantius Church and the Tremont neighborhood can be found at the sites below:
stjohncantiuschurch.org/history
https://www.thisiscleveland.com/locations/st-john-cantius-church
My paternal side has deep roots in the Tremont neighborhood. The Socha, Wszolek, Nachman, Kman/Kmon, Hardulak, Stanczyk and Gaba families all resided there.
St. John Cantius was also the location where the Polish Genealogical Society of Greater Cleveland was founded by Edward Mendyka in 1990. The organization met in the church hall for many years before moving to St. Mary PNCC.
Trina did a wonderful job creating maps with Polish heritage. I’ve used them several times, although not this one in particular.