Over the centuries, Euclid Creek's torrents have drilled through bluestone and shale, carving deep gorges in a gentle landscape. Early Native Americans trekked the gorge rims here, forming an extensive trail network. When Moses Cleaveland came to survey the area in 1796, he and his men became involved in a labor dispute, which Cleaveland settled by granting the men a township straddling "the big crick." They named it Euclid, in honor of the inventor of survey mathematics. Settlers arrived and the named the trails Anderson, Chardon, Dille, Euclid, Glenridge, Green, Highland, and Mayfield.
New modes of transportation defined eras of change in the watershed. Electrified rails brought summer resorts and country estates; automobiles ferried suburbanites to Tudor side streets; and eventually, Interstate highways funneled exurbanites into shopping centers. Two centuries later, the Euclid Creek watershed holds 68,000 residents in 11 municipalities: Beachwood, Euclid, Highland Heights, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Nottingham, Richmond Heights, Pepper Pike, South Euclid, and Willoughby Hills.
Euclid Creek is a unique history of the Great Lake tributary stream and her many different communities. Drawing from numerous archives, the authors surmount municipal boundaries to show the whole history of a nearly forgotten natural landmark.
