| The Whiskey Island Story |
Ohio Contact
Dennis Smith / Dave Strichko
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When the city of Cleveland was
founded, there existed a small
triangle shaped ridge of land near
the mouth of the Cuyahoga River
that was surrounded by swamp
and became the home of early
Irish settlers. The original owner,
Lorenzo Carter, had built a
whiskey still on the pennisula and
the area had aquired the name
"Whiskey Island". The Irish
settlers, who worked as iron ore
dock workers and canal diggers,
soon boasted of having 13
saloons within the one mile long
and one third of mile wide strip of
land.
Whiskey island was a crowded
area of slum housing. It had 22
streets crowded into its borders.
Crime was wide-spread and
violence everpresent. Railroad
tracks marked its northern end
and the area was often swept with
mosquito borne malaria.
Company stores often cheated
the irish workers with little legal
recourse.
Because so many of the men
living in this "Irish part of town"
earned their living by working on
the Iron ore docks they came to
be known as the "Iron Ore
Terriers" or "The Dog People".
The lads of the 69th Pa in
Cleveland have adopted the name
"Whisky Island Dog People" in
memory of the traditions of the
early Irish settlers.
founded, there existed a small
triangle shaped ridge of land near
the mouth of the Cuyahoga River
that was surrounded by swamp
and became the home of early
Irish settlers. The original owner,
Lorenzo Carter, had built a
whiskey still on the pennisula and
the area had aquired the name
"Whiskey Island". The Irish
settlers, who worked as iron ore
dock workers and canal diggers,
soon boasted of having 13
saloons within the one mile long
and one third of mile wide strip of
land.
Whiskey island was a crowded
area of slum housing. It had 22
streets crowded into its borders.
Crime was wide-spread and
violence everpresent. Railroad
tracks marked its northern end
and the area was often swept with
mosquito borne malaria.
Company stores often cheated
the irish workers with little legal
recourse.
Because so many of the men
living in this "Irish part of town"
earned their living by working on
the Iron ore docks they came to
be known as the "Iron Ore
Terriers" or "The Dog People".
The lads of the 69th Pa in
Cleveland have adopted the name
"Whisky Island Dog People" in
memory of the traditions of the
early Irish settlers.