Monday, March 6, 2017

Kew Gardens – Part 1

On my post about the First Baby of 1947, I noted that the father and mother “resided in a quonset hut in Kew Gardens.”

At least one person who left a comment on that post had never heard of Kew Gardens. That’s easy to understand, since there isn’t really a trace of it left today.

So what was Kew Gardens? Rick Kurish provided me with a nice capsule summary of what it was all about in an email a few years ago.

Rick wrote, "While spending time with friends on Lorain's east side over the holidays, we were discussing the post World War ll building boom in the area. I asked if anyone remembered the quonset huts that were erected on the south side of Colorado Ave. shortly after the war. Everyone looked at me as if I was crazy, but I clearly remember them.

"In the early 1950s, we would occasionally visit cousins who lived way out in the hinter lands of the east side on Colorado Ave,” said Rick. "I remember a number of quonset huts located south of Colorado Ave. somewhere near where Discount Drug Mart is currently. When I asked my dad what they were, he said they were emergency temporary housing that was erected for returning veterans. By the time I saw them in the early 1950s they were apparently already unoccupied. My dad said housing, and building materials, were scarce immediately after the war, and this was a stopgap solution.”

It’s strange to think of a bunch of quonset huts being up there on the south side of Colorado by Drug Mart.

Anyway, since Rick's email, I have been trying to compile enough information about Kew Gardens to do a post about it. 
An article that appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 23, 1946 show how the tenants were picked. The article noted that the names "of 139 veterans, selected for a special screening committee of World War II ex-servicemen for occupancy of the Kew Gardens veterans housing project were made public today by Willard Francis, secretary of the Lorain-co Housing Authority, which has charge of the project.
"The screening committee, made up of one representative each from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, the AMVETS and the veterans committee of the CIO, examined more than 600 applications.
“The committee went over each application using a special system of points. For instance, so many points were allowed for a family living in doubled-up quarters, there were points in cases involving pregnancy or in cases where families were forced to live in cellars or other quarters unfitted for residential use, also for families forced to live without proper toilet and other sanitary facilities necessary for decent living.” 
Once it was determined who was going to live in Kew Gardens, they had to have something to live in. In addition to the quonset huts, trailers were a big part of the first phase of the housing project. Where did they all come from? An article that ran in the Lorain Journal on December 26, 1946 revealed where they originated – and that they would soon be on their way to Lorain.
****
TRAILERS COMING
County to Let Contract For Vets’ Home
By Staff Correspondent
ELYRIA – County commissioners laid plans today for moving the county’s house trailers to the Lorain Veterans housing project at Kew Gardens from points in Michigan, Maryland and Florida.
The trailers will be inspected at their present sites to determine what repairs are necessary. Trailer that do not pass inspection will not be brought to Lorain.
Contract for the moving will be awarded to a Midland, Mich. hauling firm as soon as the inspections have been made. A small number of utility trailers in Michigan are to be brought to Lorain.
****
Quonset huts were apparently still a novelty when they were being used at Kew Gardens. In fact, the Journal ran this photo and accompanying caption to help explain what they were in the January 29, 1947 edition.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think in that area was where the group who wanted to grow marijuana wanted to put their operation. Two other business' I remember along the front part of that property next to the service station(Trifilettis'??) that was/is a trampoline place I guess you could pay to play on them(my Mother never let me go) and a Go cart place years later yet another place my Mother would not let me go. But I am alive to tell about it. Rae

Anonymous said...

Kew Gardens must not have been there very long as I grew up on Colorado Ave in the 70/80's and I don't recall anything on the south side of the street near Drug Mart except Trifiletti's gas station. The area between the gas station and Joyce Buick was always heavily wooded and basically our playground. The go-cart place was down the road a bit next to Wendy's as I remember it. I don't remember a trampoline place.
I find it very interesting that we played all over this area as children and there was such a deep history that nobody knew about. I just recently learned that there was a steel mill on the east side in that same area called Cromwell Steel. I remember as a kid wondering what those old railroad tracks behind Trifiletti's were used for since they seemed abandoned long ago. They were apparently remnants of the old steel mill.

Unknown said...

I lived there. 609 East Drive. It was right next to the Greyhound bus garage just passed Missouri Ave. Later moved to Cromwell Gardens a few blocks down the street.

Unknown said...

Mom,Dad and I lived there in the early 50's. My sister was born in 1951. I got my first 2 wheeler Xmas 1951. Got the Pinto pony picture 1952. I was 5. Now I am 72.

Dilworth family said...

My husbands father lived there in trailer #22

Unknown said...

I also lived there in 1954-1956 .Our address was 709 right on the east parking lot . I went to 3&4 grade at larkmore school.

Unknown said...

Parents & I moved to 707 Kew Gardens just off Colorado Avenue across from where the Drug Mart was built many years later, but the building had been torn down long before that and the land was rented by carnivals at times. There are stories about a couple owning all the land there but they lived in a little "shack" on the North side of Colorado Avenue where I would see them sitting in chairs in front of that little shack when walking home from Lorain High early 1960s. I know exactly where Kew Gardens was.

I lived in Kew Gardens with my Parents & baby brother July 1947 through 1951 when we moved back to the Post WWII military housing projects at 917 S Central DR, Lorain, OH so I could go to Boone School for kindergarten. My brother was born while we lived at 707 Kew Gardens. Multiple family members & friends/neighbors lived there at that time, including my Dad's younger brother Kenny and his family. Dad & his brother are WWII Vets (both deceased). I am now 75 & have some pics of our little house at 707 Kew Gardens but don't see how to post the pics. They are awesome. I remember Kew Gardens well in spite of being a toddler there.

They had 2 bedrooms, no A/C obviously, & during hot days we slept with windows open using screens, of course, but had no fans either. When it would rain, the sound on the corrugated metal roof was really loud. We used clotheslines in the yard and clothes were washed by hand using a tub or wringer washer (no dryer). We had our own way to cool off during Summer months with a wash basin of water, but often water was not to be used for lawns, washing cars, etc at times. Don't remember much about that little house other than rooms were small.

If you would like to see pics, tell me how to share pics!

Dan Brady said...

Hi, and thanks for leaving the comment. If you email me at danielebrady@hotmail.com, we can plan on either adding your photos and captions/comments to this blog post as an update, or create an entirely new post with your photos and your comments. You would need to email me the photos along with what you want to accompany them.

It would be great to get them onto the blog either way, since many people over the years have expressed an interest in Kew Gardens.

Dan

Unknown said...

We were the 1st family to move into Kew Gardens. The Lorain Journal took a picture of my mother and me. I was 3 days old and it was 1Nov 1946. We lived at 126 West Drive; the last "house" on the west side of street. There were trailers beyond our house. Our family name was 'Greuter'. I remember the Mitchell's and Hershey's. Lots of good people, but can't Remer the names. There was a carpenter/repair shop a few houses to the north. Milk & ice blocks were delivered by horse drawn wagons. The drivers were very nice to us. The woods were close and it became our playground. We ran around like any young kids. We were poor, but we had each other. We moved to 615 West 23rd St around 1954. I have very few pics, but glad to share.
Regards,
Bob Greuter
440 371 5339

Thomas DeCarlo said...

I lived in kew gardens in the 50’s. Our address was 713 kew gardens. Our hut was located where horizons sits today, us kids use to cross Colorado ave to go to mikes store to buy gum and candy! There was a play ground to the south of us and I still have family pictures of us living there. I went to fairhome school for kindergarten and lockmore for grades one and two. Tommy ‘s store was located kitty corner from drug mart on the south side of Colorado ave. Great childhood memories!!!