1368 E. Erie Avenue – in the Penfield Family Photo Album

The view last weekend from Kansas Avenue

Shortly after my post about the now boarded-up building at 1368 E. Erie (above), I got an email from fellow local history enthusiast Drew Penfield (whose Lake Shore Rail Maps is the definitive website about the history of the Lake Shore Electric interurban line).

He wrote, "I just saw your post about the old drug store on East Erie. My father lived in the house at 211 Kansas Ave., basically across the street from that building, in the late 40's and early 50's."

Drew attached two terrific photos of his father as a boy, with the former Shoemaker Drugs building in the background. Here's the first one (below), with his father standing in his front yard, probably taken in the early 1950s.

And here's the second photo of his father. He's a little younger in this one, and shown with a few of his chums (below).

While shooting my "now" photo, I walked around the area where these photos were taken. Unfortunately both trees are long gone – possibly due to the widening of the road and the addition of a huge sidewalk.

Anyway, the images from a bygone era make the upcoming demolition of that building even more poignant. Although Shoemaker Drugs is just a backdrop in these photos, the store played an important role in that neighborhood, making medicine and other items easily available to nearby families. And, as Al Shuck pointed out in a comment appearing on my first post, Dr. Paul Pastuchiw's family medical practice was located in the second floor of the building for many years, making the building even more important in the community.

Special thanks to Drew and his father for allowing me to post these great family photos.