Carnegie Library & Streator Park Then & Now Part 3

Here's the final installment of my quest to get the then-and-now shots of Streator Park, despite the fact that the sidewalk configuration had changed over the years.

I checked on Ebay again and purchased another vintage postcard of Streator Park. (I began to think that the printers of these postcards were pretty desperate for local subject matter!)

This new postcard provided a different view of the park, with the fountain visible on the left side. Using the sidewalk and the building chimneys as coordinates, I finally had a pretty good idea of where the fountain was located.

Here are the resulting then-and-now shots. They were shot over a period of a couple days (which explains why the sky looks so different in some of the photos).

Here is the fountain shot that was so hard to figure out.

And lastly, here is the lagoon shot. The playground equipment made it impossible to replicate the angle exactly.

It is disappointing to see how much the park has changed. During the early 1900s, citizens could stroll through the park on their way to the library, rest on the park benches and appreciate the park’s beauty. Unfortunately, the park is now dominated by garish playground equipment.

This is one park that I wish could be restored to its original state.

Anyway, the Carnegie Library served the city well until the new library replaced it in 1957. We'll see if the building is put to some new use as a result of Lorain City Council's efforts. (The lawsuit has moved ahead, as explained here.)