Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area and Liberty County.

[3] 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 63.6 acres (257,000 m2) of land to the Houston East & 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 (now the BNSF Railway).

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.

A large medical community, oil, gas, cattle, farm products, and sand and gravel are important to the town's economy.

In 2010, 19 young men and teens from Cleveland were arrested for gang rapes of an 11-year-old Mexican girl.

[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12 km2), all land.

[citation needed] The climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

Under this system, the mayor and five council members appoint the city manager, who acts as the chief executive officer of the government.

U.S. Highway 59 Business is the original route of U.S. 59, which runs north and south through the center of Cleveland, known locally as Washington Avenue and Loop 573.

A current limited-access bypass for U.S. 59 was created due to traffic densities in downtown Cleveland that rivaled those of many large cities.

[citation needed] SH 105 travels east and west, and Cleveland is roughly the halfway point between Beaumont and Navasota.

The other is an east/west Burlington Northern Santa Fe line that roughly follows FM 787 to the east, and SH 105 west towards Conroe.