Little Italy in Cleveland in Cuyahoga County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Sculptors of Guardians
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Scultori Dei Guardiani
Photographed by Grant & Mary Ann Fish, April 13, 2025
1. Sculptors of Guardians side of marker
Sculptors of Guardians. “Guardians of Traffic,” four double-sided figural pylons towering over 40-feet above either end of the Hope Memorial Bridge, have connected Cleveland’s east and west side since 1932. They were designed by architect Frank R. Walker and lead sculptor Henry Hering. More than 20 immigrant stonemasons — many from the Italian village of Oratino — carved the figures at Ohio Cut Stone Company on Random Road from sandstone quarried in nearby Berea. The Italian sculptors lived or worshipped in Cleveland’s Little Italy. Each hand-carved Guardian holds a different vehicle, meant to portray the history of ground transportation. Voted “an outstanding architectural triumph” by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1936, the bridge and its iconic Guardians were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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Erected 2023 by William G. Pomeroy Foundation, Unione e Fratellanza Oratinese, Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation, Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 154-18.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Bridges & Viaducts • Immigration. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1932.
Location. 41° 30.417′ N, 81° 35.99′ W. Marker is in Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuyahoga County. It is in Little Italy. It is on Random Road 0.1 miles south of Paul Avenue
Photographed by Grant & Mary Ann Fish, April 13, 2025
2. Scultori Dei Guardiani side of marker
Regionally, this marker is on Ohio’s Lake Erie Shore and in the Western Reserve. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A Bench by the Road (approx. 0.2 miles away); To Risk (approx. 0.2 miles away); To Stand Up (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Cozad-Bates House Interpretive Center (approx. 0.2 miles away); To Decide (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Cozad-Bates House / Anti-Slavery and Abolition (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cozad-Bates House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Frances Payne Bolton (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cleveland.
Photographed by Grant & Mary Ann Fish, April 13, 2025
3. Marker in front of the now-empty Cut Stone Company building
Credits. This page was last revised on May 19, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 19, 2025, by Grant & Mary Ann Fish of Galloway, Ohio. This page has been viewed 206 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 19, 2025, by Grant & Mary Ann Fish of Galloway, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
