Editing Cleveland, Texas (section)

== History ==
In 1854, a church and convent were built by Father Peter La Cour near the town's present site. The town began forming in 1878 when Charles Lander Cleveland, a local judge, donated {{convert|63.6|acre|m2}} of land to the Houston East and West Texas Railway (now part of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]]) for use as a stop, requesting that the town be named for him.  Since 1900, Cleveland has served as the junction of this line and the [[Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway|Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe]] (now the [[BNSF Railway]]). The town was not incorporated until 1935.

The forests around Cleveland, including [[Sam Houston National Forest]], which is located just to its north, are a resort for many inhabitants of the Houston area, who come to camp, hike, hunt, and fish. Cleveland has several historic sites and public recreational facilities, including two parks. The Austin Memorial Library Center offers a wide range of services to the community, and the Texan Theater and the annual livestock show and rodeo, Dairy Days, provide entertainment. Commercially, Cleveland has been a shipping point for timber, lumber, and lumber byproducts since the 1870s. A large medical community, oil, gas, cattle, farm products, and sand and gravel are important to the town's economy. The general trend toward urbanization of the entire area is reflected by the fact that in 1965 Liberty County was added to the Houston metropolitan statistical area. The population of Cleveland grew from 1,200 in 1930 to 7,605 according to the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000.

In 2010, 19 young men and teens from Cleveland were arrested for [[2010 gang rapes in Cleveland, Texas|gang rapes of an 11-year-old Mexican girl]]. Ultimately, 21 persons either pled guilty to or were found guilty of crimes connected to the rapes and received punishments ranging from life in prison to probation.

On April 28, 2023, five people, including an eight-year-old, were killed in a [[2023 Cleveland, Texas shooting|mass shooting]] outside the town.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-04-24 |title=Five dead including an 8-year-old at an "execution-styled" shooting in Texas|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-dead-texas-shooting-suspect-armed-ar-15/story?id=98957271|access-date=2023-04-29 |website=ABC News|language=en-US}}</ref>