page_title: Union–Miles Park
section_title: Early history: White settlement prior to the establishment of Newburgh Township
hierarchical_section_title: Union–Miles Park / Early history / Early history: White settlement prior to the establishment of Newburgh Township
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a map showing Connecticut land claims outside present day Connecticut from the colonial era.
context_page_description: Union–Miles Park is a city planning area on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. The neighborhood draws its name from Union Avenue, and Miles Park in its far southwest corner.
  Union–Miles Park was originally part of Newburgh Township, which was organized in 1814. Settled by whites as an area of farms and orchards, Union–Miles Park became one of two centers in the Cleveland steelmaking industry beginning in 1856. The steel mills drew Irish, Scottish, and Welsh immigrants to the area, with the intersection of E. 93rd Street and Union Avenue becoming known as "Irishtown". After an 1882 strike at the steel mill was broken using Polish and Slovak strikebreakers, the large Irish and Welsh communities were displaced by these two new immigrant groups. Railroads cut through many areas of Union–Miles Park, defining the area. The steel industry in Union–Miles Park collapsed during the Great Depression. White flight from the area in the 1960s, and a strong influx of African Americans eager to take advantage of inexpensive housing, radically changed the demographic nature of the neighborhood.
context_section_description: In 1662, Charles II of England, ignoring existing Native American claims to the area, granted to the Connecticut Colony all lands west of the colony between the 41st and 42nd parallels of north latitude. These rights began at the western border of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and extended to the Pacific Ocean, although they did not include lands already ceded to the Province of New York or the Province of Pennsylvania. Charles and other English monarchs had also pledged these same lands to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New York, Plymouth Colony, and the Colony of Virginia. In 1786, Connecticut ceded all its land claims to the government of the United States in exchange for cancellation of its American Revolutionary War debts. Connecticut retained only those lands known as the Connecticut Western Reserve, an area bounded by Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania on the east, and the 41st parallel of north latitude on the south.  The Western Reserve extended for exactly 120 miles (190 km) to the west, and came to an abrupt halt. On August 3, 1795, the state of Connecticut sold the Western Reserve to the Connecticut Land Company for $1.2 million ($18,100,000 in 2019 dollars). Sales to potential settlers began immediately.
  The first settlers in what would be Newburgh Township were David Bryant and his son, Whitman, who arrived in June 1797. East of the Portage Escarpment, they found dense forests of American sycamore, beech, black walnut, eastern hemlock, eastern redcedar, northern red oak, Ohio buckeye, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, and white oak. West of the escarpment were American elm, ash, beech, and black cherry. In some places, settlers would have seen artificial meadows, created by Native Americans using controlled fire. On the flats which formed the valley of the Cuyahoga River bluegrass, white clover, and wild rye grew in profusion. American bison, eastern elk, and the extremely plentiful white-tailed deer were the most common game animals inhabiting the area. Canada geese, ducks, grouse, passenger pigeon, quail, and wild turkey were the most common game fowl.
  In November 1799, Wheeler W. Williams and Ezra Wyatt constructed a gristmill at what is now Mill Creek Falls. In 1800, a sawmill was erected alongside the grist mill. Anticipating great growth in the area, in 1800 the 10 families which lived in Newburgh established the first burying ground in the township, the Axtell Street Cemetery, on 8 acres (32,000 m²) at what is now E. 78th Street and Krueger Avenue (adjacent to the neighborhood's western boundary). Many of Newburgh's pioneer families were buried in there, including the Ames, Burk, Edwards, Gaylord, Hamilton, Holly, Hubble, Jewett, Miles, Morgan, Hamilton, Quayle, and Wiggins families. Their faith in the township's grown proved correct. Although the mouth of the Cuyahoga River initially drew the most settlers, a great many of these families moved into the highlands of Newburgh Township after finding their original homesteads prone to malaria. Among the area's settlers was Charles Miles, Sr., who moved to Newburgh from Hudson, Ohio, in 1805. The Miles family later became one of the most important in the township. The first educational opportunities for youth in Newburgh Township were private classes, which began to be offered about 1800. The first school open to the public (upon payment of tuition) was founded in 1802 near the intersection of Woodhill (now E. 93rd Street) and Kinsman Roads. A second school followed at the intersection of Woodhill Road and Union Avenue a few years later.
  A significant amount of road building occurred in the area just prior to and after the township's organization. By 1806, Newburgh Street (today's Woodhill Road and E. 93rd Street) had opened on the ridge between the grist mill and Doan's Corners. This area was now well-settled, with numerous farms and orchards alongside both sides of the road. The Newburgh Road (today's Broadway Avenue below E. 34th Street; not to be confused with Newburgh Street) and Pittsburgh Street (today's Broad
caption: The Connecticut Western Reserve
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