Through oral histories and interviews, the Fairfax Neighborhood History Project captures some of the history of the Fairfax neighborhood on Cleveland’s east side. Roughly the area bounded by E. 55th Street, E. 105th Street, Euclid Avenue and Woodland Avenue in the city of Cleveland, Fairfax was developed from the late 19th century to the early 20th century as a middle-class white neighborhood. 

In the late 19th century, Blacks largely resided in the Central neighborhood to the west. During the Great Migration, however, as Black families came north seeking opportunity, they moved into Fairfax, Hough, Glenville and other east side neighborhoods looking for less crowded housing, better schools, and other amenities. Throughout this time, many whites left the Fairfax neighborhood for new suburbs such as Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and University Heights, and Fairfax became a majority African-American neighborhood. 

Once home to nearly 40,000 residents at its peak in 1940, today Fairfax has just shy of 6,000 residents and much of its history has been demolished. Nonetheless, the history of this proud community lives on in its current and past residents, the African American families who came to Cleveland for work in factories, settled in and helped integrate communities like Fairfax, and fought for equal rights during the Civil Rights movement. The Fairfax Neighborhood History Project provides 10 interviews and oral histories with past and present neighborhood residents and business owners. 

More information about the history of the Fairfax neighborhood can be found in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and Cleveland Historical.