East Cleveland District 9 School
Also known as: Superior School
Why it's listed
Built in 1882 as the District 9 school of East Cleveland Township, this small schoolhouse on Superior Road in Cleveland Heights is made of sandstone ashlar on the lower story. A frame second story with narrow lap siding was added in 1915, and a small square belfry with a pyramidal roof sits on top. It was the third school building on the site. Classes were held there until 1925, and in the late 1940s and 1950s it housed classes for slow-learning children. It was listed because it is the only sandstone schoolhouse in Cuyahoga County, and its stone-and-frame arrangement is considered unique in northern Ohio. It survived as a country school on a city lot while an upper middle-class neighborhood grew around it, since continued use kept it standing. The city of Cleveland Heights now uses it for storage, and local residents regard it as one of the community's few links to the nineteenth century.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it a rare surviving nineteenth century rural schoolhouse of very substantial construction in a metropolitan area. It is the only sandstone schoolhouse in Cuyahoga County, and its stone ground story with a wood second story is described as unique in northern Ohio. It also served as a local district school and later for classes for slow learners.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79001806, listed July 26, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 14391 Superior Rd, Cleveland Heights |
|---|---|
| County | Cuyahoga County |
| Listed | July 26, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001806 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1882; 1915 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular schoolhouse (sandstone ground story with frame second story) |
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant and used for storage by the City of Cleveland Heights, with boarded-up windows; new roofing was installed in 1976. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Grant Deming's Forest Hill Allotment Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.50962, -81.56855 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79001806.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q126732374
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.