[3] Cleveland is in north-central Chippewa County; the town forms roughly a rectangle, 6 miles (10 km) north to south and about 9 miles (14 km) east to west, but with the east end cut off by the Chippewa River.

[3] The six-mile squares that would become Cleveland were first surveyed in summer of 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government.

In September 1852 a different crew marked all the section corners of the township, walking through the woods and wading the swamps, measuring with chain and compass.

[4][5] When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description of the six by six mile square which overlays the middle-east of the modern township: This Township contains one large Swamp timbered with Tamarac and several Cedar & Tamarac Swamps all unfit for cultivation.

The soil is generally level and of second & third rate quality and in many places fit for cultivation.