70 free Cleveland trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
63 free Cleveland trivia questions with answers. Cleveland has a knack for firsts, feuds and comebacks. This quiz covers the whole story: the general who founded the city and never came back, the mysterious missing letter in its name, the river that caught fire and helped launch the modern environmental movement, and the radio DJ whose Moondog Coronation Ball became the first big rock and roll concert. Sports fans get plenty to chew on too, from the logo-less Browns and the 2016 Cavaliers comeback to the Guardians of Traffic that gave the baseball team its new name. There are also questions on Terminal Tower, the West Side Market, the teenage creators of Superman, the A Christmas Story house and the Cleveland Clinic. It is built for locals, transplants, visitors and anyone who likes a city with character. Every answer has been checked against primary sources, and each explanation adds one detail worth remembering.
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Q 01Which Revolutionary War general founded Cleveland in 1796 while leading a land-company survey party?
Moses Cleaveland
He led a party of about 50 people west from Schenectady, New York, and his employees named the new town site in his honor.
Q 02Legend says the extra 'a' in the city's original name was dropped so it would fit where?
On a newspaper's front-page banner
Another theory is simply that the surveying party misspelled the name on their original map, and the shorter spelling stuck.
Q 03How many times did the city's founder return to the settlement bearing his name after 1796?
Never
He died and was buried in Canterbury, Connecticut, though a statue of him stands on Cleveland's Public Square.
Q 04Cleveland was laid out as the capital of which state's 'Western Reserve' lands in Ohio?
Connecticut
The land was reserved to that state by Congress and had initially been called New Connecticut before the Western Reserve name took hold.
Q 05What ignited the famous June 22, 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River?
A spark from a passing rail car
The blaze did about $50,000 in damage, mostly to a railroad bridge, and local media barely covered it at first.
Q 06Time magazine's influential 1969 story on the burning Cuyahoga was illustrated with a photograph of what?
The much larger 1952 river fire
No photos of the 1969 fire are known to exist because reporters arrived only after it was under control.
Q 07Which Cleveland brewery named its Burning River Pale Ale after the Cuyahoga's fires?
Great Lakes Brewing Company
The same brewer sponsors the two-night Great Lakes Burning River Fest at Whiskey Island each year.
Q 08Who became the first African American mayor of a major US city, in Cleveland in 1967?
Carl B. Stokes
He beat Seth Taft, grandson of President William Howard Taft, by only about 1,600 votes.
Q 09Cleveland's pioneering first Black mayor was later appointed U.S. ambassador to which island nation?
Seychelles
He had served as a municipal judge in Cleveland before the appointment.
Q 10Which architect designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building on Cleveland's lakefront?
I. M. Pei
He said he consciously used a bold, new architectural vocabulary to echo the energy of rock and roll.
Q 11The Rock Hall's tower had to be cut from a planned 200 feet to 162 feet because of its proximity to what?
Burke Lakefront Airport
Planners at one point considered putting the museum in the vacant May Company department store building instead.
Q 12Which figure joined Little Richard in cutting the ribbon at the Rock Hall's 1995 dedication?
Yoko Ono
An all-star concert followed the next night at Cleveland Stadium.
Q 13Which record-label chief established the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in 1983?
Ahmet Ertegun
Cleveland was not chosen as the museum's home until 1986, after a long search among several cities.
Q 21Which Browns cornerback named the defense 'The Dawgs' in the mid-1980s, giving the Dawg Pound its name?
Hanford Dixon
He and teammates would bark at each other and at fans in the bleachers to fire them up.
Q 22The 2016 Cavaliers were the first team to win the NBA Finals after trailing by what margin?
3–1
More than 1.3 million people attended the victory parade in downtown Cleveland on June 22, 2016.
Q 23The Cavaliers' 2016 title ended a Cleveland championship drought dating back to which year?
1964
That earlier title was the Browns' NFL championship, won under coach Blanton Collier.
Q 14Alan Freed's 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball, called the first major rock concert, was held where?
Cleveland Arena
The crowd far exceeded capacity and the show was shut down early amid a near-riot.
Q 15On which Cleveland radio station did Alan Freed start playing rhythm and blues records in July 1951?
WJW
He called the show The Moondog House and billed himself as the King of the Moondoggers.
Q 16Alan Freed's 2016 Lake View Cemetery memorial, which holds his ashes, is shaped like what?
A jukebox
His ashes had been kept at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from 2002 until the museum asked for their removal in 2014.
Q 17The Cleveland Browns are named after whom?
Paul Brown, their first coach
The franchise began play in 1946 in the All-America Football Conference and won all four of that league's championships.
Q 18The Browns are unique among the NFL's 32 clubs for what reason?
They have no logo on their helmets
The plain orange helmet with a brown-white-brown stripe serves as the team's official logo.
Q 19Which new franchise did Art Modell take his Browns roster to in 1996, leaving the name in Cleveland?
Baltimore Ravens
The Browns were treated as suspended and returned in 1999, restocked via an expansion draft.
Q 20In 2017 the Browns became only the second NFL team to finish a season 0–16. Which team was the first?
2008 Detroit Lions
The 2016 and 2017 Browns went a combined 1–31, the worst two-year stretch in NFL history.
Q 24The NBA rule barring trades of first-round picks in successive seasons is named after which Cavaliers owner?
Ted Stepien
The team went 66–180 during his three years as owner and cycled through six coaches.
Q 25In 2010's The Decision, LeBron James announced he was leaving Cleveland for which team?
Miami Heat
The special raised $2.5 million for the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, where it was broadcast.
Q 26LeBron James, drafted first overall by the Cavaliers in 2003, was born and raised in which nearby city?
Akron
He went straight from high school to the NBA and won Rookie of the Year with the Cavaliers.
Q 27The Cleveland Guardians take their name from eight Art Deco statues on which bridge?
Hope Memorial
Each statue holds a different vehicle, from a hay wagon to a 1930s automobile.
Q 28From 1903, Cleveland's AL club was nicknamed the 'Naps' after which player-manager?
Nap Lajoie
When he left after 1914, sportswriters were asked to pick a new name and chose Indians, which lasted until 2021.
Q 29The 1899 Cleveland Spiders finished with the worst record in major league history. How many games did they win?
20
Their owner had shipped the best players, including Cy Young, to his other club in St. Louis before the season.
Q 30Which Cleveland owner signed Larry Doby in 1947, breaking the American League's color barrier?
Bill Veeck
The following year he also signed the 42-year-old Satchel Paige, the oldest rookie in major league history.