I was recently reminiscing about Lorain of the 1960's with a librarian at the Lorain Public Library main branch, and she happened to mention, "Remember when there was a miniature golf course on Oberlin Avenue?"
As soon as she said it, I remembered it. I vaguely remember playing there at least once as a kid, although none of my siblings or I were ever very good at miniature golf. It was fairly routine for our balls to go rolling into the parking lot and beyond. (That's probably why no one in our family is an avid golfer today, although I tried it for a few years.)
As soon as she said it, I remembered it. I vaguely remember playing there at least once as a kid, although none of my siblings or I were ever very good at miniature golf. It was fairly routine for our balls to go rolling into the parking lot and beyond. (That's probably why no one in our family is an avid golfer today, although I tried it for a few years.)
I did a little research and found the miniature golf center in an old city directory. Beginning in 1966, Putt-R-Golf was located at 4354 Oberlin Avenue. In 1968 the address changed to 4290 Oberlin Avenue. By 1969 it was gone, replaced by a Taco Kid restaurant.
From what I can tell, Putt-R-Golf was a chain similar to the more well-known Putt-Putt Golf. A quick internet search seems to indicate that there are still a lot of miniature golf centers that use one or the other of these names.
Looking in the city directory listings for that stretch of Oberlin Avenue brought back memories of other businesses that used to be there in the 1960's.
There was Esco (or Economy Sales, if you prefer) at 4630 Oberlin Avenue, where my family bought an awful lot of gifts and presents through the years. The gimmick was that the whole place was a showroom. After you found what you wanted to purchase either in the showroom or the catalog, you filled out a small order form with the item's number and handed it to an employee. A few minutes later, your item would appear like magic on a conveyor belt from the warehouse in back.
Esco was a great place because it was minutes from our home and really simplified shopping. Today the old Esco building is home to the Lorain County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities.
Open Pantry Food Mart was another business listed in that area, at 4450 Oberlin Avenue. It had a little different feel than a Lawson store. More seedy, perhaps? (If you want to read more about Open Pantry, here's a link to another blogger's post about the long-gone chain.)
I can see that I'm going to have to research businesses along this stretch in the near future and take some pictures. I haven't even mentioned Lum's yet! Mmmm... I can just taste that hot dog steamed in beer right now!