Monday, June 15, 2015

Grand Opening of Driftwood Bar at Beaver House - June 15th & 16th 1957

Fifty eight years ago today, the Beaver House at Beaver Park in Lorain held a Grand Opening to show off the restaurant's new Driftwood Bar. The full-page ad making the announcement appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 15th, 1957.

According to the ad, the Driftwood Bar boasted a beautiful flame-upholstered rail, a drop fish net ceiling with starfish and coral, and a view of the lake from the dining room.

Here's a vintage postcard identified on the back as BEAVER PARK AND BEAVER HOUSE (below). I'm assuming that's the Beaver House on the far right.

The Beaver House first appeared in the Lorain phone book in the edition that was published in December 1950. It continued to appear in the directory until the 1977 edition, when the Beaver House listing was replaced by that of the catchier-sounding Surf Side 6.
1977 Lorain Phone Book listing
Surf Side 6 continued to appear in the book until the 1984 edition, when the listing disappeared. The business then reverted back to the Beaver House name.

It continued to be listed as the Beaver House until the 1990 book, when it finally disappeared for good.
Many of us aging Baby Boomers remember going to Surf Side 6 in the late 70s and early 80s. Its location on the beach gave it a unique personality and differentiated it from the other Lorain bars.
May 6, 1977 ad from Lorain Journal
Sept. 1977 ad from the Lorain Journal
The only negative was knowing that the "Killer Crossing" was there, waiting for you when you left the bar to go home.

5 comments:

  1. Surf Side Six was the ONLY place on the Lake to me........

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    1. Does anyone have a picture of a 70-80s t-shirt surf side six?

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  2. Saw Dave North last month-we sat and talked about the surfside six for 7 hours.

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  3. What is on this property now? It is a restaurant ?

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  4. The building that was Surf Side VI is gone, it appears that there is a large warehouse/storage building at its old location. But there is the popular Beaver House Bar & Grill down there on the beach:

    https://www.facebook.com/beaverparksnackshack

    https://www.beaverparknorth.com/beaver-house-restaurant-and-bar?fbclid=IwY2xjawEU1chleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf4sQgyLl-piw5xSl6XPRDfHdEfSqPyY46kVQvxYITZf1olOs6Xqtfx15Q_aem_Z0KxFPUcrAGUJq8DX243vQ

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