Union–Miles Park

Union–Miles Park is a neighborhood on the Southeast side of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. The neighborhood draws its name from Union Avenue (which bifurcates the northern part of the neighborhood), and Miles Park in its far southwest corner (originally the town square of Newburgh Village).

Union–Miles Park was originally part of Newburgh Township, which was organized in 1814. Settled by whites as an area of farms and orchards, Union–Miles Park became one of two centers in the Cleveland steelmaking industry beginning in 1856. The steel mills drew Irish, Scottish, and Welsh immigrants to the area, with the intersection of E. 93rd Street and Union Avenue becoming known as "Irishtown". After an 1882 strike at the steel mill was broken using Polish and Slovak strikebreakers, the large Irish and Welsh communities were displaced by these two new immigrant groups. Railroads cut through many areas of Union–Miles Park, defining the area. The steel industry in Union–Miles Park collapsed during the Great Depression. White flight from the area in the 1960s, and a strong influx of African Americans eager to take advantage of inexpensive housing, radically changed the demographic nature of the neighborhood. Since the mid-1970s, Union–Miles Park has been challenged by a high poverty rate, low adult educational achievement, extensive decrepit and vacant housing, high crime, and a lack of employment opportunities.

Union–Miles Park is bordered on the west by Broadway–Slavic Village, the northwest by Kinsman, the north by Mount Pleasant, the east by the Lee–Miles area, and the south by the city of Garfield Heights, Ohio.