History

The site of the Mill Creek housing development has a long history that can be traced by early deed recordings of past owners. What we know about the site is that it was originally owned by Thomas Garfield, the uncle of President James A. Garfield. His farm house sat on the west side of Turney Road and in 1855 he donated 50 acres of his farm (on the east side of the road) to the State of Ohio to build a “lunatic asylum”. Legend in the neighborhood is that he had a daughter who was mentally ill, and that is why he donated the land, but know one really knows. What we do know, is that the State built the Newburgh Lunatic Asylum on Thomas Garfield’s farm shortly thereafter.

Originally known as the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, this was the second of 6 public asylums established in Ohio in the 1850's. In later years it was commonly known as Newburgh State Hospital because it was located in Newburgh Township as recompense for Cleveland having been awarded the location of Cuyahoga County Seat. The main building, containing 100 beds,was completed in 1855 on land in Newburgh donated by the Garfield family. The purpose of the asylum was to provide the mentally ill a quiet place outside the city with a moral environment where healthy living could be learned.

The site expanded from its original fifty acres to 100 acres and included 20 acres of woods, and the Mill Creek tributary of the Cuyahoga River. Over the years buildings were demolished (because of fires) and new ones erected. The hospital name changed to Cleveland State Hospital – also known as “Turney Tech” to the locals. In 1975 it became the Cleveland Developmental Center, a care facility for the mentally retarded. The old main building was demolished in 1977 and then was closed in the late 1980’s.

In 1990, the non-profit local community development corporation Slavic Village Development (SVD), then known as Broadway Area Housing Coalition, began a planning process with a group of residents about what should be developed on the site. Most people had hoped it would be cleared and taken over by Cleveland Metroparks, which was pursued by SVD and the neighborhood committee. Cleveland Metroparks did not want the entire site, but was open to owning and developing a thin strip of land along the creek that could be developed with a trail to link to the Mill Creek Waterfall. Conceptual plans for a trail were developed and presented to the Park Commissioners. They approved the idea and work was begun to develop a final, engineered plan and to raise funds for the park project. Simultaneously, SVD worked with the City of Cleveland (with then-Mayor Michael R. White) to acquire the 100 acres of land from the State of Ohio to develop the park and a new housing development.

Once the land was acquired, SVD selected Nathan Zaremba as its partner to develop a 222 unit housing development on 58 acres of the site. Seven acres were sold to Midwest Crain (and the funds used to develop the Mill Creek Town Square), and the rest of the site was donated to Cleveland Metroparks for development of a park. SVD raised the funds needed to address the demolition of the old hospital buildings, roads and tunnels, and to do the initial clean up and grading of the site for the new park. Many volunteer hours were spent in removing decades of trash and debris, planting trees and planning for the future park. An annual clean up of the site, called River Sweep, was held for many years before the site was fully developed.

The original group of residents that helped plan the park, also helped Zaremba design the site plan for the development and gave approval for the house designs and zoning changes needed for the development to happen. Councilman Earle B. Turner (now Clerk of Courts) was very helpful in facilitating this work.

The site was acquired by SVD in 1994 and demolition began immediately. The construction of roads and homes followed. The first homeowner at Mill Creek was Pam Poveroni. Many wonderful people have moved into the Mill Creek development since then and continue to create their own history on the site.