Public Square (Cleveland, Ohio)

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Public Square (also called "The Square" by locals) is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square (formerly the BP Tower) and the Terminal Tower all face the square. Other Public Square landmarks include the 1855 Old Stone Church and the former Higbee's department store made famous in the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story."

A 125-foot monument to Civil War soldiers and sailors occupies the southeast quadrant of the square. City founder Moses Cleaveland and reformist mayor Tom L. Johnson each have statues on the square.

Public Square was part of the Connecticut Land Company's original plan for the city, which were overseen by Moses Cleaveland in the 1790s. The Square is signature of the layout for early New England towns, which Cleveland was modeled after. While it initially served as a common pasture for settlers' animals, less than a century later Public Square was the height of modernity when, in 1879 it became the first street in the world to be lit with electric street lights, arc lamps designed by Cleveland native Charles F. Brush. The Square was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1975.