FreshWater takes a look back at 13 of our favorite stories from 2021. Happy New Year!

It's been a long two years since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. While we may be physically and emotionally drained, Cleveland and its residents had some noteworthy accomplishments. This week, we take a look back at 2021 with the FreshWater staff reflecting on the past year and looking forward to events and projects in 2022.

Cleveland Masterworks: Many Clevelanders wax nostalgic when they think of the downtown departments stores during the holiday season. Those stores are now gone, with the images of lavish holiday decoration and shopping left to memories.

Cleveland Masterworks: Impressed with the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, Dudley Blossom led the effort to create the 1936-37 Great Lakes Exposition on Cleveland's lakefront—hoping the event would serve as a diversion from the Great Depression and a celebration the city's centennial. 

The beloved Rockefeller Park has been one of the city's most prized outdoor spaces for a century. How the 20-acre park came to be is a story of several benefactors—William Gordon, John D. Rockefeller, and Jeptha Wade—and park designer Ernest W. Bowditch.

Cleveland Masterworks: James J. Husband’s output in Cleveland was small—he designed just four known buildings. But as a native southerner living in Cleveland in the 1800s, he was quickly chased from town after controversial comments about President Lincoln's assassination.

Cleveland Masterworks: The thought of Cleveland Municipal Stadium often brings nostalgic smiles to Clevelanders' faces, conjuring up memories of bitterly frigid Browns games, rock concerts, and even Super Bowl and World Series wins. Take a step back in time and reminisce. 

Cleveland Masterworks: At the turn of the 20th Century, some of Cleveland's wealthy icons had a vision to create a new art museum. That vision led to the creation of the Cleveland Museum of Art—“for the benefit of all people, forever.”

Cleveland Masterworks: Wilbur J. Watson set the standard for bridge construction throughout the United States. But in Northeast Ohio, his legacy is in the beauty of the bridges he built. 

Cleveland Masterworks: Frederic William Striebinger was a native Clevelander who left his mark on a few of Northeast Ohio's picturesque mansions.

Cleveland Masterworks: Gray's Armory, in the midst of downtown Cleveland, is a symbol of 127 years of military heritage and community service. 

Cleveland Masterworks: The Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, today known as the Hope Memorial Bridge, boasts the iconic Guardians of Transportation that inspired the name of our newly-named baseball team.

Cleveland Masterworks: Riverside Cemetery, one of the city's first parklike garden cemeteries, and the first one on Cleveland's west side.

Cleveland Masterworks: As the 2021 MLB season draws to a close and the city transitions into the Cleveland Guardians, Tom Matowitz delves into the history of League Park and the Cleveland baseball teams—and football teams—that played in the early days.

The partnership between Charles Wallace Heard and Simeon Porter only lasted a decade in the mid-1800s, but together they built a legacy with Public Square's Old Stone Church, among other notable buildings in Northeast Ohio.

Cleveland Masterworks: With impeccable training, Charles Sumner Schneider made a name for himself in Northeast Ohio—designing homes for the wealthy, Shaker Heights schools and city hall, and—his crowning achievement—Stan Hywet Hall in Akron.

Cleveland Masterworks: Abram Garfield, son of President James A. Garfield, designed some of Cleveland's most desirable houses, many in Bratenahl, and later delved into government buildings and public housing projects.  

Cleveland Masterworks: The National Air Races from 1929 through 1949 preceded today's Cleveland National Air Show with equally impressive maneuvers and air races that drew 100,000 spectators a day.

Cleveland Masterworks: Carl Howell and James Thomas began building some of the most grand homes in Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights and worked for notable developers of the time like the Van Sweringen brothers and Barton Deming. 

Cleveland Masterworks: Frank Seymour Barnum was known for designing fireproof buildings, but he also designed notable school, industrial, and residential structures throughout the city in the late 1800s and early 1900s.