Hidden Cleveland: Cleveland Public Library

Bookworms with their noses buried in the pages can easily miss the murals painted above the grand doorways in Brett Memorial Hall, a reading room in the 1925-built main branch of the Cleveland Public Library. The bright colors of The City in 1833 pop off the hall’s northern wall and give Cleveland buffs a glance at what the city may have looked like as a family strolls through the middle of Public Square. American modernist William Sommer painted the mural in 1933 as part of the federal Public Works of Art Progress project, and didn’t choose 1833 as his subject on a whim. “That was the period when Cleveland was transitioning from an outpost to a city,” says Ann Marie Wieland, a library archivist. 325 Superior Ave., Cleveland, 216-623-2800, cpl.org

Bonus: Your move. The Cleveland Public Library’s chess collection, which was started in 1908 by then-trustee John G. White, boasts more than 30,000 items, including rare chess sets and boards, tournament bulletins and even macabre materials — such as two death masks of chess player Gisela Kahn Gresser.