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Invisible Giants The Empires of Cleveland’s Van Sweringen Brothers w Dust Jacket
Invisible Giants The Empires of Clevelands Van Sweringen Brothers DJ
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
By Herbert H. Harwood Jr.
Copyright 2003
342 pages
This is the Horatio Algeresque tale of Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen, who rose from poverty to become two of the most powerful men in the country. They controlled the country's largest railroad system-a network of track reaching from the Atlantic to Salt Lake City and from Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico.* They created the model upper-class suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio, with its unique rapid-transit access. They built Cleveland's landmark Terminal Tower and its innovative "city within a city" complex. Indisputably, they created modern Cleveland.
Yet beyond a small, tight circle, the bachelor Van Sweringen brothers were enigmas. Although their actions were aggressive, creative, and bold, their manner was modest, mild, and retiring. Dismissed by many as mere shoestring financial manipulators, they built amazingly solid works which remain strong today.
Introduction
1. Oasis in a Gritty City
2. The Ideal Suburb
3. Mr. Smith Sells a Farm
4. Mr. Smith Sells a Railroad
5. Shaping Solid Forms
6. A Difficult Birth at the Public Square
7. The Beginnings of an Empire
8. To the South, East, and North 9. Taking Stock: 1924
10. Some Shadows Fleet By
11. Building, Rebuilding, and Juggling
12. Consolidation Anarchy I: The Maverick and the General
13. Consolidation Anarchy II: The Street Fighter
14. The Summit I: An Appalachian Peak in the Rockies
15. The Summit II: Filling Out the Railroad Map
16. The Summit III: Consummation in Cleveland-and a Jolt
17. Completions and Complications
18. Taking Stock: 1930
19. Sudden Darkness
20. The Rails Roll Downgrade
21. A New World
22. The Cruelest Year
23. The Last Train
24. Epilogue I: New Empires from Old
25. Epilogue II: The Ghosts
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