Perceptions of the Burning River: Deindustrialization and Cleveland's Cuyahoga River

In 1969, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire and burned for about twenty minutes, damaging two railroad trestles. After initially receiving little local news coverage, the fire evolved into an iconic event of the environmental crisis. Significantly, the river had caught fire at least nine times before 1969. Why, then, did the 1969 fire garner so much interest? We argue that the growing importance of the burning river reveals one consequence of the long, wrenching process of deindustrialization in Cleveland and much of the United States. Press coverage of the earlier fires focused on economic issues. The Cuyahoga and its industrial flats were at the heart of Cleveland's economy; the area's docks, railroads, warehouses, and refineries were essential to the city's well-being. By the 1970s, however, as the 1969 fire story evolved, the flats were rapidly emptying, as were nearby neighborhoods. No longer did most Clevelanders make their living near the industrial river. From a greater physical and psychological distance, then, the burning river looked much more troubling than it had close up in an earlier era. Cleveland's postindustrial sensibilities—like those of the nation as a whole—created new meanings for the Cuyahoga and its 1969 fire.