Cleveland, WI

Cleveland is a Manitowoc County village on Lake Michigan, with 1,579 residents at the 2020 census. The present village took shape in 1958 when Cleveland, Hika, and St. Wendel were brought together inside the Town of Centerville. That history matters because the place still feels like several old lakeside settlements sharing one municipal name. Centerville began near the midpoint between Manitowoc and Sheboygan, Hika grew along the lake, and St. Wendel formed two miles inland; the modern village carries all three pieces.

Hika Park is the community's historic shoreline stop, at the mouth of Centerville Creek where the Lake Michigan Water Trail reaches the village. Dairyland Park hosts the annual Dairyland Festival, while Veteran's Park has ball diamonds, volleyball and tennis courts, basketball hoops, winter trails, and a sledding hill. Lakeshore Technical College's main campus is here, and Cleveland Elementary belongs to the Sheboygan Area School District, tying the village to a larger education network. Cleveland's local rhythm comes from those overlapping maps: lake shore, creek mouth, former hamlets, college campus, school, and parks that give a small village several places to gather.