Cleveland lakefront photograph

During the late nineteenth century, Cleveland became an important industrial city. Located along numerous transportation routes as well as near large deposits of coal and iron ore, the city prospered. John D. Rockefeller and his partners began the Standard Oil Company in Cleveland during the 1860s. At the same time, Samuel Mather began steel production and enhanced Cleveland's economic importance. In 1880, twenty-eight percent of Cleveland's workforce found work in the steel mills. Cleveland emerged as an important industrial center, but its citizens sometimes suffered. During the Great Depression, both the steel and oil companies endured difficult financial times. To stay afloat, many businesses laid off workers. By 1933, roughly one-third of Cleveland's workers were unemployed during the third full year of the Great Depression. Reverse reads: "Cleveland Lakefront. Taken from Terminal Tower. Notice coal dock near freighter and railroad freight cars drawn up around it. Project photographer Frank Jaffa, 1940.