The book "The Best Kept Secrets of Parma" by Robert Horley contains a wealth of interesting information about roads in Parma … how streets were named and who developed them. While we do not have enough room to cover every street, here are some interesting facts about some main Parma roads.
- BROADVIEW ROAD was originally called Town Line Road and then Independence Road. It is called Broadview because, at one point, from the top of the hill you could see Broad Street in Cleveland - Broad view, hence, Broadview. Broadview Hill was once known as Herbst Hill. This road was once a toll road and later, in 1947, it became State Route 176.
- BROOKPARK ROAD was set up for two reasons … one, to open the way for settlers through a wolf-infested wilderness, and two, to open communications between Brooklyn and Berea. The road has been expanded three times since it was opened in 1843 - once in 1896, once in 1912 and again in 1922.
- PEARL ROAD was named after Pearl Street (now West 25th Street) in Cleveland.
- PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD runs through a number of valleys from Broadview Road to York Road and provides many picturesque views … a Pleasant Valley, indeed.
- RIDGE ROAD is Parma’s main street. What is now Denison Avenue was once called Ridge Road. When it changed to Denison, the nearby street of Iona Street became Ridge Road after 1874.
- RIDGEWOOD DRIVE was laid out by H.A. Stahl, the same man who set up the Ridgewood Country Club and Golf Course, which opened in July 1925. Ridgewood Drive was dedicated in July 1926.
- ROCKSIDE ROAD received its name from the quarries in Parma and Independence. The stone from the quarries was used to build the Henninger House, the Lake Erie break wall and Ohio Erie canal locks. It was also shipped to ports around the Great Lakes.
- SNOW ROAD was named after the Clifford Ann Snow family, whose family farm was where State Road and Snow Road now intersect. At the time, Clifford used the route to lead his cows down the path. Snow Road did not exist yet. Because Clifford became known for leading his cows towards what is now West 54 Street, that path became today’s Snow Road.
- STATE ROAD began as a private plank road and later a state-responsible road in 1831. In the early 1900s, part of State Road was called West 35th Street, but that name did not stick. State Road became State Route 94 in 1957, and the Soap Box Derby races were held on State Road Hill in 1960.
- YORK ROAD was named by early settlers from New York State, and dedicated on June 28, 1926.
Areas of Interest
Ukrainian Village and Polish Village
Ukrainian Village is located in the heart of Parma. The village was founded in September 2009. It claims the strip of homes and businesses on State Road between Tuxedo Avenue and Flatwood Drive. Its mission is to preserve, empower and advance Ukrainian Village as a thriving neighborhood by celebrating the culture and heritage of Ukrainian Americans and to collaborate with the City of Parma in creating business and economic development within its boundaries.
Polish Village occupies a commercial corridor in Parma that runs along Ridge Road from Pearl Road to Thornton Avenue. It hosts the Polish Constitution Day parade and festival and is home to Krakow Foods (a Polish deli) and The Little Polish Diner. Despite its name, there is a variety of ethnic restaurants serving Asian, Indian, Italian, Latin and Lebanese food. Every February, Polish Village celebrates these diverse cultural cuisines at Taste of Polish Village.
A Brief History of Parma
The land that would become Parma was settled in 1816 by the Benajah Fay family of New York. It became a village in 1924 and adopted a mayor-council form of government in 1926. On Jan. 1, 1931, Parma became a city when a proposition to annex it to the city of Cleveland was defeated.
Parma is southwest of Cleveland and bounded by Cleveland and Brooklyn on the north; Brooklyn Heights and Seven Hills on the east; North Royalton and Broadview Heights on the south; and Brook Park, Middleburg Heights and Parma Heights on the west. The name was taken from Parma, New York, where it was probably derived from the early 19th century fascination with classical Italy. During the 19th century, Parma remained largely agricultural. In 1912, a portion of the township seceded to form the village of Parma Heights.
Parma's tremendous growth came after World War II when young families began moving from Cleveland into the suburbs. During the Cold War, Nike Site Park, now James Day Park, housed Nike missiles located in underground silos. Between 1950 and 1960, the city population soared from 28,897 to 82,845 (during the 1960s it was the fastest growing city in the country). The population peaked in 1970 at 100,216 before falling to 81,601 in 2010. Parma is the largest suburb of Cleveland and the seventh-largest city in Ohio.
Parma Mayors
- Frank D. Johnson: 1928 - 1933
- Anthony A Fleger: 1934 - 1935
- Roland E Reichert: 1936 - 1942
- Sylvester Augustine: 1942 - 1945
- Roland E. Reichert: 1946 - 1949
- Lawrence Stary: 1950 - 1951
- Stephen A. Zona: 1952 - 1957
- Joseph W. Kader: 1958 - 1959
- Sylvester Augustine: 1960 - 1961
- John A. Bobko: 1961
- James W. Day: 1962 - 1967
- John Petruska: 1967 - 1987
- Michael A. Ries: 1988 - 1994
- Gerald Boldt: 1994 - 2003
- Dean DePiero: 2004 - 2012
- Timothy J. DeGeeter: 2012 - Present
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Related Links
Parma Area Chamber of Commerce
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