🏛 The Rise and Fall of Millionaire’s Row: Cleveland’s Forgotten Gilded Age

Once upon a time—before the Browns, before the Flats, before Balloonfest—Cleveland was filthy rich. Like, top-5-richest-cities-in-America rich. And nowhere was that more obvious than along Euclid Avenue, a stretch so glamorous it earned the nickname:
“Millionaire’s Row.”

Gif by madonna on Giphy

From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, Euclid Avenue between Public Square and East 55th was lined with opulent mansions owned by Cleveland’s industrial elite. We’re talking actual oil barons, steel tycoons, and railroad kings.

Think marble foyers, private conservatories, ballrooms, libraries, imported chandeliers, and servants’ quarters with better square footage than your current apartment.

Even John D. Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire (and arguably the most aggressively rich man in history), built his massive estate at Euclid and East 40th. And he wasn’t even the flashiest one on the block.

🔍 Fun fact: Mark Twain once called Euclid Avenue “the most beautiful street in America.”

🤯 Cleveland had more millionaires per capita than NYC during this era.

But like every good rags-to-riches-to-sad-empty-lots story… things took a turn.

💨 Enter: Smoke, Trains, and Change

As Cleveland’s factories boomed, the city's wealth kept growing—but so did the noise, pollution, and congestion. Coal smoke clouded the air, streetcars clanged constantly, and what was once a peaceful tree-lined promenade turned into a loud, dirty artery through the city. Not exactly ideal when you're trying to host a garden party.

So the wealthy did what the wealthy tend to do: they bounced.

By the 1910s and '20s, the cool crowd was moving east—first to University Circle, then to Shaker Heights, where the Van Sweringen brothers were busy building bougie suburban utopias complete with private rail lines into the city.

Back on Euclid Avenue, the mansions were left behind. Many were torn down to make way for office buildings, hospitals, and parking lots.

Some were converted into boarding houses or low-income apartments. Others burned in suspiciously convenient fires (not naming names, but 👀).

By the 1960s, Millionaire’s Row was barely a memory. The elegant homes, sprawling lawns, and opulence had all but vanished—buried under decades of development and neglect.

🏚 So What’s Left?

Not much—but there are a few remnants if you know where to look.

• The Samuel Mather Mansion at 2605 Euclid Ave is one of the last survivors. It’s now owned by Cleveland State University and used for events. You can still visit—and yes, it’s supposedly haunted.
  

• The Wade Memorial Chapel in Lake View Cemetery (built by one of those Euclid Ave families) is a stunning piece of architecture, with Tiffany-designed interiors that’ll make your jaw drop.
  

• And if you squint hard enough while driving down Euclid... you can almost picture the carriages, corsets, and casually-dropped trust funds.
  

🥀 A Glamorous Ghost of Cleveland’s Past

Millionaire’s Row is one of those Cleveland stories that feels half fairy tale, half cautionary tale. It was a symbol of extreme wealth, innovation, and style—but also of how fast a city can change, and how easily history can vanish if we don’t pay attention.

So the next time you're driving down Euclid, past the gas stations and office parks, remember:

This used to be the Beverly Hills of the Midwest. And somewhere beneath all that asphalt and grit? The ghosts of Cleveland’s gilded age are still sipping tea in their garden terraces.

Gif by jjjjjohn on Giphy

Want to see it for yourself? Click below for our take on a walking tour! 😍

‍