Hough Neighborhood Guide – Cleveland
The Hough neighborhood has undergone many changes since its settlement in 1799. In the late 19th century two electric streetcar routes ran along Hough and Euclid avenues. Once known as “Little Hollywood,” the Hough neighborhood has a history of glamour and forward movement. Today, its families celebrate its grand past by continuing the tradition of economic and community development. Beautiful homes line the streets of the Hough neighborhood as the result of initiatives the residents have taken to develop a healthy and vibrant community. Hough has undergone a rebirth with stunning new single-family homes and the addition of church Square shopping center.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens, a series of ornamental displays honoring ethnic communities in the United States, are located in Hough, a historic district. The Baseball Heritage Museum houses sports memorabilia as well as the restored League Park baseball field, which was once home to the Cleveland Indians, and the Dunham Tavern Museum depicts the lives of early Ohio settlers. Classical performances and lectures are held at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.
Rainey Institute
Rainey Institute is where ats change lives. Rainey has been providing arts-education programs for children in Cleveland at its facility at East 55th Street and Superior Avenue since 1904. Its programs in music, dance, drama and visual arts are delivered to children through an after-school program, Saturday classes and summer camp. Rainey also provides after-school programs in several of the Cleveland Schools. The institute currently serves 650 children per year and keeps children ages 3-18 engaged in positive, enriching activities.
In the Community
Mansfield Frazier maintains an apple tree across from his house on Chester Avenue in the Hough neighborhood so it will bear better fruit. It’s just one tree, but he hopes that many more will dot the area’s landscape some day. For this to happen, Frazier says other people need t help. He wants more people to prune trees in Cleveland. In fact, he’d like to see inner-city farms sprouting up across the city where there are now vacant lands.
“We could grow apples, tomatoes and bell peppers,” he says “It would be ideal if we could start an orphan tree program. There are orphan tree throughout the city that, if properly pruned and sprayed would produce fruit.”
He knows the soil isn’t perfect, but Frazier’s resolved that, too. He wants to start an urban winery with local grapes. This neighborhood venture could work well and involve many residents in an industry that needs no introduction in Ohio.
Frazier plans to sell the fruit, too, at a traveling farmers market that delivers Cleveland-grown produce to the elderly and the underserved. And he’d train inner-city youth about food service at the Smart Healthy Eating Institute, a dream him and his wife share.
It’s a part of his vision. “I want to plant the seeds of change,” he says. And he is –– one tree at a time.
Local Resident
“The revival of new-home construction in Hough is a story that is waiting to be told nationally. Our neighborhood has seen a significant number of upscale homes built over the last two decades. The magnitude of this rebirth has not been replaced anywhere else.”
– Ken Lumpkin, resident and former city councilman
“Our new facility, with a beautiful theater, large classrooms for dance, music and visual arts, smaller classrooms for drama, sewing and ensemble work, and rooms for private music instruction, will enable Rainey to double the number of children we serve. Our new facility will enable Rainey to continue to be a neighborhood gem for another 106 years.”
– Lee Lazar, executive director, Rainey Institute