One of the most valuable maps in this respect is the 1858 Hopkins map of Cuyahoga County. The city of Cleveland was much smaller than it is today. Outside the city limits, it shows land ownership and the locations of houses.
The landscape has changed so much in the past 150 years that it can be hard to see the relationships between the roads illustrated on Hopkins' map and the roads that exist today. To that end, I've spent some time playing around with Google Maps. This map shows the streets in East Cleveland township in 1858, according to the Hopkins map published that year.
View 1858 East Cleveland Township Roads in a larger map
There are some roads that are popularly known to be older: Euclid; Superior; and St. Claire. There are others that one might suspect, because they are major roads: East 55th and East 105th Streets. The problem with looking for extant historical fabric on these streets is that they have remained major streets. They have fostered commercial growth, and with commercial growth has come the loss of residential structures.
The streets worth really looking at are those that one might not have realized were older streets: Addison; Crawford; Ansel; Lakeview; Eddy; and Coit. I haven't been able to find much along Crawford and Ansel, due primarily to redevelopment, much of it at the turn of the century.
The Banks-Baldwin Law Publishing Co. headquarters was originally located at 757 Ansel Rd, before it was moved.
On and near Addison, just north of Superior, there are two Greek Revival farm houses, one that I've written quite a bit about, and the other, shown here, which hides back a bit from the road and remains a private residence.
These other streets are worth checking out - take a look at these maps, and at the older streets in your neighborhood, and see what you find. There are surely at least a few interesting buildings on Coit, Eddy, and Lakeview, and perhaps on the streets just off them as well. I know that there are more hidden gems out there. Let me know what you find.
