General Moses Cleaveland

Portrait figure of General Moses Cleaveland, founder of the city of Cleveland. He stands in a classical stance with his left foot stepped forward. He bears a staff in his right hand, and in his left arm he cradles a surveyors tool. Cleaveland is wearing the clothes of an honorable, wealthy man. His gaze is analytic and professional, as if he is still surveying the land around him where a now-developed metropolitan hub of the Great Lakes bustles.

Cleaveland was a surveyor, lawyer, soldier, and politician from Connecticut who ventured into Connecticut's Western Reserve (now North East Ohio). Cleaveland and his team landed at Settler's Landing in the Flats in 1796, and the city was founded shortly afterwards, with a grand total population of four.

There is speculation about why the city dropped the letter "A" from Cleaveland's name. The most poplar theory is that the editor of the first newspaper in Cleveland, "The Cleveland Advertiser, realized that "Cleaveland Advertiser" was one character too long for the printing form. so he dropped the "A" to make room. The change stuck, and the rest is history.

Cleaveland's statue was moved to line up with S. Ontario street during the 2016 renovations of Public Square.