As the population of the City of Cleveland grew at the turn of the 20th century, so did it’s boundaries. The City annexed a number of neighboring communities, including West Park and Ohio City on the west side and Glenville and Collinwood on the east side. With each annexation, a number of issues needed to be worked out, including policing.
Conversations about policing Collinwood started at least three years before its actual annexation in 1910. Chief Kohler advocated for the creation of a new precinct, the Fourteenth, to cover the new territory and it’s 8,700 residents. The Plain Dealer reported that “Chief Kohler favors the establishment of a new precinct in the far East End section that would cut down the size of the thirtheenth precinct. This precinct, which became unusually wide spreading with the annexation of Glenville, became even larger after the annexation of Collinwood.”The existing Collinwood police force, consisting of Chief McIlrath and eight patrolmen, were absorbed by the Cleveland Police Department.
Initially, the police and fire department shared space at the first floor of former Collinwood town hall, a wood frame building on E. 152nd. When this building was replaced with a modern fire station in 1912, the police moved into a new building, the Fourteenth Precinct Station, located at 13804 Idarose (near 138th and St. Clair). A newly purchased patrol car was assigned to the precinct.
When Eliot Ness reorganized the police department in 1938, switching from 18 precincts to 6 districts, the stationhouse on Idarose was one of “only nine of the sixteen precinct stations will remain open for the transaction of police business.” For a short time, the building served as the Hayden Boystown, but it remained in service as the 6th District Station until 1969, when the sixth district officers moved to a new building on E. 152nd. 13804 Idarose served as a center for the Police Athletic League for a few years before it was torn down and replaced with a small, single family home.
