As you might remember, the camp consisted of some cabins (above), the Green Lantern Restaurant and the Green Lantern Service Station.
Back when I wrote these two posts, I was really hoping that I had determined the location of the camp. I thought that it was located just west of modern-day Skate World, where a few vintage cabins are still located. I was basing this on the fact that the man who owned Green Lantern Camp (W. F. Brenner) also owned the land west of Skate World at one time – and even resided there.
But now I know I was wrong. Sorry about that.
First of all, the Skate World location is simply too far west to be Stop 110 1/2. As my post noted yesterday, the former Garwell’s is Stop 111 – so Green Lantern Camp had to be located east of it.
But some things I discovered recently make me think I’ve been on the wrong side of the highway the whole time.
The Green Lantern Service Station was operated by a gentleman named W. H. Twigger.
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| 1939 City Directory Listing |
What’s interesting is that when I looked him up in the same directory by his last name, the book listed him as residing at Stop 110 1/2 on Meister Road.
You might be surprised to know that Meister Road used to curve and come out right on Lake Road (see vintage map below from the late 20s/early 30s).
What really convinced me that I was getting closer to the actual location of Green Lantern Camp was this 1936 Lorain phone book listing. It reveals that Green Lantern restaurant was indeed located at Meister and Lake Road. I just don’t know if it was on the north or south side of the highway.
I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up. Rick Kurish had discovered that Green Lantern Restaurant had been for sale in 1940, and that the restaurant included living quarters. Could it have become the Bohemian Tavern later in the 1940s?
I’ll keep digging and see if I can find a connection. The answer is usually out there, if I can look past my preconceived notions and come up with that elusive bit of information – a name, a phone number – that ties it all together.
UPDATE
Click here for the final word on Green Lantern Camp.
Dan, would it still be there on the 1952 aerial photos? I looked but I'm not sure where it should be in relation to things like the drive-in.
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, and I do think I found the Bohemian Tavern on that 1952 Historic Aerial map; there's a large building with parking lot right where Meister comes out at Lake. There's nothing else on the south side of the highway in that area except for the Grandview Motel. And the Roman Villa isn't on the 1952 map, so we pretty much know that the building at Meister had to be the Bohemian Tavern, which was still around and in business. When you toggle back and forth between the 1952 and 1969 maps, the building that I think is the Bohemian Tavern disappears on the newer map, lost to the widening of Lake Road. I just don't know if the Green Lantern restaurant became the Bohemian Tavern or not; unfortunately, that area was Black RIver Township and thus not included in the directories yet. I suspect it did at this point, just wish I could find some solid evidence. Thanks for the comment!
If you know the owner's name of each business (and feel like slogging through the Lorain County tax duplicates for the proper years), they should list the permanent parcel number. Or at least the section and lot number. They would be the same. Those years are not online, you have to search in person.
ReplyDeleteDennis