Gore Orphanage Part 7

In 1992, the Lorain County Metro Parks purchased 1500 acres of the Vermilion River valley – including the site of the 'haunted' Swift mansion. Thus the mansion site, along with the rest of Swift's Hollow, is now part of the park system. It's a good thing, not only because of its rich history, but because the area is quite beautiful and it deserves to be preserved.

I paid several visits to the area during my research for my Black Swamp Trader and Firelands Gazette article (as well as this blog series) and took tons of pictures, a few of which are shown here. In order, the photos show Gore Orphanage Road, the Gore Orphanage Road bridge over the Vermilion River, the fields of Swift's Hollow, some Swift mansion foundation ruins and the one original stone gate post that remains at the Swift mansion site.

Although it is hard to confirm from the vintage photo (see close-up at right), the damaged gate post at the site looks very similar to the gate post in the photo.

Although the Lorain County Metro Parks is quite frustrated with teenagers who visit the Swift mansion site hoping to see ghosts, the park system is not above having some fun with the whole thing. This year the Lorain County Metro Parks sponsored several presentations and tours to the Swift Mansion site in an effort to entertain and educate the public, who is naturally fascinated with the whole 'Gore Orphanage' legend. I was lucky enough to catch one of these presentations and tours, and it was quite enjoyable. Mr. Grant Thompson, a Park Manager of the Lorain County Metro Parks, did all the research for these presentations and is a well-known expert on the topic.

The Legend of Gore Orphanage will probably never be laid to rest entirely. It remains an interesting bit of Lorain County lore.