Prior to European settlement, the land that is now Cleveland Heights was inhabited by various Indigenous peoples, notably the Erie and later the Iroquois Confederacy, who used the densely forested area for hunting. In the late 18th century, the land became part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, surveyed by Moses Cleaveland. Throughout the 19th century, the elevated region east of Cleveland consisted primarily of farmland, orchards, and stone quarries.
Significant development began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as prominent Cleveland industrialists sought escapes from the pollution of the industrial city center. John D. Rockefeller, the Standard Oil magnate, purchased massive tracts of land here, creating his Forest Hill estate. The introduction of streetcars in the late 1890s triggered a population boom, transforming the rural outpost into a bustling streetcar suburb. Cleveland Heights was officially incorporated as a village in 1903 and became a city in 1921.
The mid-to-late 20th century marked a defining era for the city. During the 1960s and 1970s, as blockbusting and racial steering threatened to aggressively segregate American suburbs, residents of Cleveland Heights formed groups like the Heights Community Congress. These organizations fought for fair housing, promoted racial integration, and worked to maintain a diverse community—efforts that succeeded and heavily influenced the city's modern demographic makeup.
In recent decades, Cleveland Heights has focused on historic preservation, maintaining its aging infrastructure, and revitalizing its commercial districts to support small local businesses. In 2019, citizens voted to change the city's government structure from a century-old council-manager system to an elected strong-mayor system, marking a new chapter in the city's civic history.