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Timeline

1905 William Stinchcomb writes, "I want to suggest the advisability of ultimately establishing an outer system of parks and boulevards."
1910 Cleveland is the nation's sixth largest city. Residential development is pushing beyond the city limits.
1911 West side business interests promote idea of preserving Rocky River Valley.
1912 Judge Alexander Hadden appoints a county park board.
1915 Harry Farnsworth, park board chairman, proposes joining "huge strips of land" to make "a great 40 mile sweep of boulevard."
1916 William Stinchcomb prepares the first park plan.
1917 March 6, 1917: Ohio General Assembly passes bill providing for "the conservation of natural resources by the creation, development and improvement of park districts."
   
1920s The park board acquires 9,000 acres in nine reservations, putting it at the forefront of the county park movement.
1921 William Stinchcomb is appointed as first director-secretary of Cleveland Metropolitan Park District.
1922 The park board begins reforestation of Rocky River Valley and clears the first hiking trails in Rocky River, Brecksville and Bedford reservations.
1922 Social worker George Bellamy testifies, "Forest recreation has an important effect on the health of the children of Cleveland."
1926 Golfers jam Big Met, the west side's first public links.
1926 The Park District begins construction of a dam across the west branch of the Rocky River to create Hinckley Lake.
1929 The Ohio Supreme Court upholds the Park District's right to levy taxes and spend money.
   
1930 Cleveland Museum of Natural History assigns Arthur B. Williams as the first park naturalist.
1930s Federal work-relief projects sweep park development forward, CCC camps are established in Euclid Creek and Brecksville reservations.
1930 July 4, 1930: The first trailside museum opens in North Chagrin Reservation.
1934

Trailside museum attendance exceeds 34,000.

1936 5,000 men are at work in the metropolitan parks, building roads, trails, shelterhouses and other improvements.
1936 A second trailside museum opens in Rocky River Reservation
1938 Look About Lodge, headquarters of the Cleveland Natural Science Club, opens in South Chagrin Reservation.
1939 A third trailside museum opens in Brecksville Reservation.
1939 The park levy passes, despite hard economic times.
1939 Park assets include 55 miles of roads, 60 miles of bridle paths, 53 miles of hiking trails and 33 picnic grounds.
   
1940s The park board turns its attention to completing the "Emerald Necklace".
1940s Wartime labor shortages open employment opportunities in the parks to women.
1943 Gates Mills Council says "no" to a parkway through the village connecting North and South Chagrin reservations.
   
1950 The Park District holds title to 13,000 acres of parkland.
1950s William Stinchcomb battles stream pollution and highway encroachment.
1950s The Park District braces for suburban population explosion.
1951 July 1951: 7,000 bathers jam Wallace Lake.
1954 The Park District establishes a new department of education and names Harold E. Wallin as park naturalist.
1957 William Stinchcomb resigns; Harold W. Groth is appointed to succeed him.
1958 The ranks of park police expand to counter increasing vandalism.
   
1960s Following a court order, Manakiki and Sleepy Hollow golf courses open to public play.
1960s Parks Director Groth fights "to keep the parks from being eroded" by outside interests.
1961 The Regional Planning Commission calls for the addition of new parkland to meet the recreation needs of Greater Cleveland.
1962 Bradley Woods Reservation opens. The Park District now holds title to 16,000 acres of parkland.
   
1970 March 26, 1970: The Park District assumes ownership of Cleveland Zoo.
1971 The Trailside Interpretive Center opens in Rocky River Reservation.
1974 Harold Schick is named director.
1976 Mill Stream Run Reservation opens.
   
1980 Lou E. Tsipis is named director.
1986 The Park District leases Garfield Park from the city of Cleveland and embarks on extensive renovation.
1988 Vern J. Hartenburg is named director.
   
1992 Cleveland Metroparks prepares a master plan to guide future decision making.
1999 The Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation opens, extending the towpath trail to Old Harvard Rd.
   
2002 Viaduct Park in Bedford Reservation opens.
2003 Washington Reservation opens and First Tee of Cleveland is begun. The Park District now includes over 20,000 acres of parkland.
2006 January 1, 2006: West Creek Reservation opens.
2009 Lake to Lake Trail in Big Creek Reservation open. The trail links Lake Abram to Lake Isaac while protecting the largest and last remaining glacial pothole wetlands in Cuyahoga county.
2010 Brian Zimmerman is named director.
2011 Huntington Beach receives Blue Wave certification.
Cleveland Metroparks acquires Seneca Golf Course.
2012 Cleveland Metroparks opens Royalview Trail, a natural-surface trail in Mill Stream Run Reservation in Strongsville.
Cleveland Metroparks acquires Rivergate Park from the Trust for Public Land and the Cleveland Rowing Foundation.
Cleveland Metroparks acquires the 155-acre Acacia Country Club property, located in the city of Lyndhurst.