One hundred years ago, Cleveland was taking on an Italian accent. The city had five Italian enclaves bustling with immigrants, including the nascent Little Italy on Mayfield and Murray Hill roads between East 119th and East 125th streets.

Stonemason Joseph Carabelli, the founder of Little Italy, saw the need for monument work at the nearby Lake View Cemetery and began to recruit his countrymen for stonecutting and masonry. These immigrants built a neighborhood on the hill: houses, shops and, of course, Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church. By 1911, 96 percent of Little Italy's residents were Italian-born, and another 2 percent were Italian-Americans.