Note 172 — Chapter XXXII · PASSAGE OF THE OHIO CANAL AND LAKE ERIE TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA, FROM THE 21ST TO THE 30TH OF JUNE

Cleveland, the metropolis of the Western Reserve, was first surveyed in 1796, when the original log-cabin was built, and the site named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, agent for the Connecticut Land Company, then engaged in exploiting the reserve. During the early years, its growth was extremely slow, the total population in 1800 being but seven. After the War of 1812-15, settlers began to arrive with more frequency, the village being incorporated in 1814. The era of prosperity opened in Cleveland with the period of canal transportation. The inauguration of the Erie Canal (1825) gave impetus to the place, which increased with rapidity when made the terminus of the Erie and Ohio Canal. Cleveland was incorporated as a city in 1836; in 1900 it was the largest borough in Ohio, and the seventh city in size in the United States.—Ed.