Carnegie Library & Streator Park Then & Now Part 2

In the past, I've found Ebay to be a great research aid, as people always seem to be selling Lorain postcards, maps and even photos. I was hoping that some more postcards of the Carnegie Library and Streator Park would help me find where the fountain in the postcard (at left) had been. I was right – although it would only complicate matters, as you will see.

While looking on Ebay, I found two other vintage postcards of Streator Park. Both, strangely enough, showed a lagoon. (In the middle of Lorain?) Since the postcards were inexpensive, I bought both of them, hoping that they would help me understand the park’s layout. When the postcards arrived in the mail, I was surprised to see that they were the same photograph, but cropped, colored and labeled differently.

However, with a magnifying glass I was able to see the fountain to the right of the lagoon on each postcard. (See close-up at left.)

I went back to Streator Park, determined to get my photographs. The lagoon seemed to correspond with a large, mulched play area. Unfortunately I still couldn’t determine exactly where the fountain had been located.

More library research failed to produce any maps or photos of Streator Park to help me.


It was time to head back to Ebay - again. Good thing I had dough to blow!

Next: the then-and-now pix