In 1797, Moses Cleaveland named the area east of the Cuyahoga River Euclid, after the Greek mathematician and "patron saint" of surveyors.

Two separate locations – one along Nine Mile Creek near present-day Quarry Park at South Belvoir and Monticello Boulevards, and the other along what is today part of the Euclid Creek reservation – were consolidated by Forest City Stone Company in the 1870s, creating one of the region's largest producers of the stone.

[8] South Euclid's rapid economic and population growth continued in the early decades of the 20th century, partly driven by industry in nearby Cleveland.

Due in part to funding by the WPA, which helped keep people employed through the Great Depression, the village continued to grow and was officially incorporated as a city in 1941.

[9] Population growth, which tapered during the Depression era, skyrocketed during the postwar period, driven by both the baby boom and white flight from the urban center of Cleveland.

A large portion of the city's population consists of African-Americans, Italian-Americans, Jews, and immigrants from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

According to the 2010 Census, 89.9% of South Euclid's residents spoke English, 3.2% Russian, 1.7% Spanish, 1.2% Italian, and 1.0% Yiddish as their first language.

[25] served as home to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the nationally renowned Cuyahoga County Public Library system.

[26] A wing of this same building, which once served as the gardener's quarters, houses the South Euclid - Lyndhurst Historical Society.

[27] In 2012, the CCPL announced plans to sell the Telling mansion and move the Library to a new facility[28] at 1876 South Green Road.

[30] There are four city-owned public parks: Quarry (divided by Monticello Boulevard into distinct North and South sections), Victory, Bexley, and Oakwood.

[37] A small portion of South Euclid is located within the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.