Cleveland is home to many fascinating neighborhoods and districts. Perhaps the most intriguing, however, is an area known as the Flats. Typically, the term "Flats" refers to the northern portion of the Cuyahoga River Valley. The Cuyahoga River ceases to be the idyllic flow of water seen to the south of Cleveland as it approaches the city's steel mills. The river is more man-made than natural where it meets the Flats, and a wide array of industries sit along its banks. The Flats have been a vital component and a reflection of Cleveland's rise, decline, and ongoing renaissance. Cleveland's Flats is a chronicle of this remarkable region. From the refineries of Standard Oil to massive ore boats carefully navigating the Cuyahoga, Cleveland's Flats treats the reader to scenes found in no other place.
Matthew Lee Grabski, a local historian with a fondness for the Flats, has a special tie to the area. In the 1860s, his great-great grandfather Richard Clark joined his brothers James and Maurice in an oil refining venture in the Flats with a young man by the name of John D. Rockefeller.