My 2011 "Then and Nows" continue to wind down with the crummy weather...
Here's an undated photo from the photo archives of the Black River Historical Society, showing the intersection of Broadway and Route 6. The view is looking east toward the swing bridge with the Broadway Building on the right. (Click on it for that "You are There" experience.)
To me, it's a fascinating photo of a thriving Lorain. Just seeing the gas station and other buildings on the left side of the photo is amazing. (Today, you would never guess there was anything there – ever.) I like the old US 6 and Ohio 2 signs too.
I tried like crazy to find something in this photo that would nail down a specific year, to no avail – sometimes research is like that. We know the Broadway Building was built in 1926, and that the Swing Bridge was replaced by the Bascule Bridge in 1940. I couldn't determine whether the corner service station was always a Gulf station, or if it had become one at some point, because it is not listed by gasoline brand – just by owner. (For another view of the service station, click here.)
I couldn't find the Primrose Beauty Salon in the available books either (but the Library is missing all three books from 1934 to 1936, making it an incomplete search). I'll have to recheck the books for that Zoric Laundry & Dry Cleaning business and report back here later.
The canvas awning on the Broadway Building to the right of the 'Billiards' sign is pretty tattered – so the Broadway Building can't be all that new. And I don't see the Bascule Bridge under construction either to the south of the Swing Bridge. So I'm guessing the photo is early to mid-1930's.
Perhaps one of my more knowledgeable readers (Hi, Dennis!) has an idea of when it was. Or maybe somebody who knows their old cars!
Oh yeah – here's the now shot from this past weekend.
3 comments:
WAG ...circa 1936. My favorite place , The Swamp Lily, is on the left behind the billboard. Also known as "The Sailors Rest" must have been quite a place. If you know any "old sailors" please have them chime in to fill us in.
I looked really hard at the picture and could not see any overhead wires. Lots of wires, but none that appear to be for the trolley cars. Don't know how the lines were scrapped; if the wires were removed first and the rails as the streets needed rebuilt. If that is the case then it would be late 1938 or after. Just my 2 cents. Love the website!
When the Lake Shore Electric ceased operation in mid-1938 they had filed for bankruptcy and were selling off as much as they could to raise cash..That included pulling up the rails so they could be sold as scrap..So my guess would be the overhead wire came down the following year(1939-1940)when the old bridge was demolished..
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