HISTORY

German immigrants first settled in what would become the Quadrangle district during the early 1800’s.

The population of the area peaked in the 20’s and began to decline as immigration slowed and more prosperous residents moved elsewhere.

Cleveland built the nation’s first planned public housing, Cedar Apartments, in 1937 near St. Vincent Charity Hospital.

Almost twenty years later, the City of Cleveland cleared the "St. Vincent Center" area of all buildings except St. Vincent Charity Hospital and several smaller institutions as part of a new urban renewal plan that turned small residential streets into "super blocks" to encourage large-scale development.

In the 1960’s, Tri-C’s Metro Campus, the Boy Scouts of America, the Salvation Army, and the Child Guidance Center (now Applewood Centers) occupied these super blocks. To the north of St. Vincent’s the newly created Cleveland State University acquired Fenn College and began to erect classroom buildings.

By the 1970’s the area had emerged as one of Ohio’s most important centers for public institutions and as the home to the highest concentration of public housing units in Cleveland.

In 1983, St. Vincent Charity Hospital, CSU and Tri-C formed St. Vincent Quadrangle Inc., a non-profit consortium they funded with grants from The Cleveland Foundation and The George Gund Foundation plus their own seed money investment. They charged the organization with improving the quality of life of those who live, work, visit, and study in the Quadrangle district.

The Quadrangle’s geography changed in mid 1990. Originally, the Quadrangle district ended at Cleveland State University’s northern border. The City of Cleveland extended the northern boundary adding Chinatown and additional light industrial properties to the district.