The Pueblo – Part 1

Have you ever headed west out of Lorain on West Erie Avenue (U.S. Route 6) and noticed a short stretch bit of bypassed roadway on the south side of the street, parallel to the highway, just before the undercut? That's Pueblo Drive, currently home to West Side Tractor & Marine and Charles Akers Construction.

But decades ago, that same bit of pavement was part of Lake Road, which was then the main east-west highway through Lorain. And the spot where the bypassed pavement dead-ends at the railroad undercut was home to its namesake restaurant: The Pueblo.

If you're under 50, I'm guessing that you've probably never heard of it.

I first heard of it from my father. When he was a young man, he was on a bowling team whose sponsor was a South Lorain tavern. When the team won the championship, the tavern owner treated them all to a nice dinner at the Pueblo, which then was one of the swankiest places in town.

Anyway, the Pueblo was truly an original, and a Lorain landmark for many years. It was designed to mimic the traditional adobe construction style of the old Spanish missions and the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest.

It’s hard to imagine such a building at that location today, overlooking the highway.

The Pueblo's story spans from the late 1920s right into the 1960s, through a variety of changes in ownership and names. It’s an interesting story that has been waiting to be told on this blog for more than five years!

Pueblo Drive looking west; the Pueblo was located on the left near the end of this short road,
which is a bypassed segment of U.S. Route 6. 

Another view of Pueblo Drive from Route 6