City of Brooklyn, Ohio

When the Original Brooklyn Township was founded in 1818, its boundaries were Lake Erie to the north, Brookpark Road to the south, Cuyahoga River (crooked river) to the east and W 117th to the west. Much of the area was annexed by the City of Cleveland and our little 4 ½ square miles is what was left. It became Brooklyn Village in 1927 and the City of Brooklyn in 1950. The name Brooklyn was chosen for our village because it ‘sounded nice.” One of the names considered was Egypt since there was so much corn grown in this once thriving farming community.

Ridge Road was called the “Shunpike” around the turn of the century. Pearl Road was a toll road and to avoid paying the fee, travelers used Memphis Avenue to reach Ridge Road, which was a wooden plank road without a toll. They were shunning the pike, thus named “Shunpike.”

Brooklyn had two airports. Brooklyn Airport was on the site of the former Tops Supermarket (now Michaels Craft Store) at Ridge Park Square and Mather Airport occupied the grounds where Brookridge School is located.

The original steps from the Brooklyn Town Hall are still in the grass in front of the airplane next to City Hall and have a plaque with pertinent information. The building erected in 1902, served as the official center for Brooklyn government until 1947.