Downtown in Cleveland in Cuyahoga County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Gen. Moses Cleaveland
Photographed by Craig Doda, March 8, 2026
1. Gen. Moses Cleaveland Marker
1796
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1796.
Location. 41° 29.95′ N, 81° 41.595′ W. Marker is in Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuyahoga County. It is in Downtown. It is at the intersection of Public Square and Ontario Street, on the right when traveling west on Public Square. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3 Public Square, Cleveland OH 44115, United States of America. Touch for directions.
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: The Valor of Companionship: Daniel Stearns and Harvey's Legacy (here, next to this marker); Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
this page online
Also see . . . Cleaveland, Moses.
Cleaveland, Moses (29 Jan. 1754-16 Nov. 1806), founder of the city of Cleveland, was born in Canterbury, Conn. In 1777, Cleaveland began service in the Revolutionary War in a Connecticut Continental Regiment, and graduated from Yale. Resigning his commission in 1781, he practiced law in Canterbury, and on 2 Mar. 1794 married Esther Champion and had four children. As one of 36 founders of the CONNECTICUT LAND CO. (investing $32,600), and one of 7 directors, in 1796 Cleaveland was sent to survey and map the company's holdings.(Submitted on April 5, 2026.)
When the party arrived at Buffalo Creek, N.Y., Cleaveland met in treatywith Red Jacket, Joseph Brant, Farmer's Brother, and other Iroquois chiefs, and with gifts and persuasion convinced them their land had already been ceded through Gen. Anthony Wayne's Treaty of Greenville. Although they had not signed the treaty, the Indians relinquished their claim to the land to the CUYAHOGA RIVER. At the mouth of Conneaut Creek, the party on 27 June 1796 negotiated with the MASSASAGOES tribe, who challenged their claim to their country. Cleaveland described his agreement with the Six Nations, promised not to disturb their people, and gave them trinkets, wampum, and whiskey in exchange for safety to explore to the Cuyahoga River. Cleaveland arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga on 22 July 1796, and believing that the location, where river, lake, low banks, dense forests, and high bluffs provided both protection and shipping access, was the ideal location for the "capital city" of the Connecticut WESTERN RESERVE, led the surveying of the 9.5-acre, New England-like PUBLIC SQUARE. Importantly the choice of the site recognized the potential of a creating water transportation route from Lake Erie to the Ohio River (that would be realized with the completion of the OHIO AND ERIE CANAL in 1832).Photographed by Craig Doda, March 8, 20262. Gen. Moses Cleaveland Marker
His surveyors plotted a town, naming it Cleaveland. In Oct. 1796, Cleaveland and most of his party returned to Connecticut, where he continued his law practice until his death, never returning to the Western Reserve. A memorial near his grave in Canterbury, Conn., erected 16 Nov. 1906 by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, reads that Cleaveland was "a lawyer, a soldier, a legislator and a leader of men."
Credits. This page was last revised on April 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 9 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 5, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
