STRONGSVILLE is a Cleveland suburb in the southwestern corner of Cuyahoga County. Located 15 miles from Cleveland, it is bounded by Lorain County on the west, Medina County on the south, BEREA and MIDDLEBURG HTS. on the north, and NORTH ROYALTON on the east. It was incorporated as a village in 1927 and became a city in 1960, operating under the mayor-council form of government.
Forming a near-perfect square, Strongsville is one of the few Cleveland suburbs to closely emulate the footprint of the Connecticut WESTERN RESERVE township from which it was formed. Like the original Strongsville Township, the suburb occupies 25 sq. mi.—the second-largest area among Cuyahoga County cities. The township was formed in 1818 and named after John Stoughton Strong, an early pioneer and land agent from Vermont. By 1820 Strongsville's population reached 297 and the first roads were constructed. Early INDUSTRY included 2 sawmills, sandstone quarries, and a brick-manufactory. The Homestead (built in 1847 and now the Pomeroy House restaurant near the intersection of Pearl and Royalton rds.) was a stop on the underground railroad. Homeowner Alanson Pomeroy concealed runaway slaves who were subsequently taken to boats on the Rocky River for passage to Canada. John D. Rockefeller's family moved to Strongsville in 1853.
Farming remained the area's chief occupation (see AGRICULTURE) until after WORLD WAR II. In 1955 the Ohio Turnpike was cut through northern Strongsville, spurring real-estate developers to snap up much of the surrounding land. By the early 1960s only a few full-time farmers remained. With the construction of I-71 linking major east-west and north-south HIGHWAYS, the city began an aggressive program to attract industry. The community's first industrial park, Progressive Drive Business Park, now comprises 325 acres. In 1966 the Strongsville Industrial Park (now called the Strongsville Business & Technology Park) opened in the city's southwest corner. Consisting of 1,693 acres and comprising almost 13% of the city's total land area, the park attracted the Glidden-Durkee Research Center in 1967 and 10 other companies soon located there. Other industrial parks followed, including Darice Parkway and the Dow Circle Research & Development Park.
The number of Strongsville citizens also burgeoned after the war, increasing from 3,504 in 1950 to 8,504 in 1960. Strongsville had a population of 28,577 by 1980, 43,858 by 2000 and 44,042 in 2021. Roughly 90 percent of the city's residents are White and just under 50% of those over the age of 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
In 1961 Strongsville withdrew from the Cuyahoga County School System and established the Strongsville Board of Education. The school district now serves more than 5,500 students via one preschool, five neighborhood elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Part of the CLEVELAND METROPARKS SYSTEM (about 2,000 acres of the Mill Stream Run Reservation) is located in Strongsville, as are nine public parks operated by the city. Strongsville also hosts a branch of the CUYAHOGA COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM.
The city's largest employers are the Strongsville School System and Medical Mutual. The Southpark Center shopping mall off Royalton Rd. comprises more than 1.6 million square feet of shopping and dining.
Chris Roy
Strongsville Master Plan