Cleveland City Council declares part of Lake Erie to be "Gulf of Cleveland"

Part of Lake Erie has a new local name — specifically, the Gulf of Cleveland — in the area where the shoreline runs along the city of Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Cleveland City Council passed an emergency resolution 1047-2026 during its regular meeting on Monday night that takes a jab at the federal government's renaming of other landmarks across the country while staking its claim on another. 

As a result of that vote, the city of Cleveland will now refer to all of Lake Erie from the eastern and western borders of the city, and 2 miles into Lake Erie from the shoreline, in its official documents as the Gulf of Cleveland. 

The resolution takes effect immediately. 

Councilman Kris Harsh, who represents Ward 4 on the city's nonpartisan council, gave a speech during the meeting supporting the resolution, which drew laughs from attendees at times and a round of applause afterward.

Both Harsh and the resolution took note that President Trump has issued executive orders that apply to the U.S. government, which now refers to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario as Lake America; and furthermore, Mr. Trump has suggested that the state of New Mexico be referred to as New America. 

"President Trump's orders to assign new names without reference to history, tradition, and other acts of Congress have opened the door for United States officials to rename other geography," the resolution said.

"Thanks to him, this is a man who clearly isn't afraid to say what no one is thinking. I feel emboldened to take the extraordinary step of renaming Lake Erie as the Gulf of Cleveland today," Harsh said.

There might be those who say, the councilman said, "'But Kris, it's not even a gulf. It's a lake.' And I say, 'Who cares?'"

Harsh then said it's possible that a resolution might not be needed; city officials could just draw a map. 

And he held up a large map of the shoreline where "Gulf of Cleveland" was written in large letters over the water.

The resolution wording includes, "While Cleveland City Council recognizes that, similar to President Trump's actions, any new name they assign only binds the City of Cleveland to use it; and ... in this digital age, nothing is more important than branding ... the City of Cleveland refuses to be left behind in the coming deluge of government renamings and rebrandings." 

The resolution concludes that this step should be considered "an emergency measure for the immediate preservation of public peace, property, health or safety." 

The city clerk, furthermore, has been authorized to inform Apple and national mapping companies of this new designation, "and the City of Cleveland's expectation that they will henceforth include it on their maps."

"Thank you for your attention to this matter," Harsh said as he concluded his speech.

Council President Blaine Griffin, who was at the podium, responded, "I think you have just made TikTok and YouTube's top 10 this week with that."

The city of Cleveland was founded by Moses Cleaveland in 1796, seven years before Ohio became a state.