The City Sights Network


Little Italy

     A part of University Circle , Little Italy is a compact neighborhood located along Mayfield Road from 
E. 119^th and E. 125^th streets and on Murray Hill road. Tightly bounded by the hills of Lakeview Cemetery on the east and north, the former Nickel Plate Railroad --now the Regional Transit Authority's Windermere--Airport Rapid Transit line-- on the west and Case Western Reserve University on the south, Little Italy is a quaint and charming neighborhood.

     One of the five major Italian settlements in Cleveland , the neighborhood was established in 1885. The area north of Mayfield Road was densely developed with modest wood-frame houses by 1895. The area south of Mayfield was developed later between 1905 and 1915. Many Italian stonecutters were attracted to this neighborhood as the nearby marble works offered them jobs. By the late 1890s, many Italian immigrants had settled in the Mayfield-Murray Hill area. In 1906, the neighborhood witnessed the invention of the macaroni machine. In 1911, an estimated 96% of the inhabitants were Italian-born, when 2% were of Italian parents. The other trades in which many of the immigrants worked were lacework, garment making, and embroidery. The largest groups of immigrants came from the Abruzzi region.

     Thanks to the generous contributions of John D. Rockefeller, the Alta house was built to host a recreation center, a nursery and later other services to the Italian community of Little Italy. Nowadays, the Alta house and library is still a very active neighborhood recreation center. It is not rare to see a game of bocce ball started on the field just in front of it. Italian music plays on the sidewalk and Italian food in the making smells so good. Many restaurants and bakeries attract numerous gourmets and even more so during the annual festivities. It is definitely a favorite spot for people watchers, an area to see and where to be seen.

     Numerous descendants of the Italian immigrants who settled in Little Italy progressively left the neighborhood. Nowadays, students at the neighboring university are numerous to populate the area though the descendants of the Italian settlers retain ownership in many cases. Italian families rarely miss an opportunity to come back and gather in this neighborhood around yearly cultural celebrations, such as a Taste of Italy, a showcase of Italian food and culture. The four-day annual celebration, the Feast of Assumption, sponsored by the Holy Rosary Church , attracts crowds of up to 100,000 people in a single night. There are also art galleries and art walks in Little Italy, one of the city neighborhoods attracting thousands of suburban shoppers. To travel throughout the history of the neighborhood, do not miss a visit at the free Little Italy Heritage Museum.

     Aside from its deep and authentic roots still being celebrated, Little Italy has become a trendy and upscale center for art, featuring numerous artists’ studios and shops. Art in the street is a concept that exists in the neighborhood with the fresco on the walls.