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| 1443 Colorado Avenue this past weekend |
I did a post on the unique building at 1443 Colorado Avenue waaaay back in November 2011 (here) as a “What used to be in that building?” feature.
As part of that post, I did a capsule summary of the building’s history. As I noted then, Ashyk’s Interior Decoration (also known as Ashyk’s Drapery Shop) was the first tenant, although much earlier than I originally thought. The business run by Stanley and Mayme Ashyk first showed up at the 1443 Colorado Avenue address in the 1950 Lorain City Directory.
Here’s the ad (below) celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of the Ashyk's business. It appeared in the Lorain Journal on February 22, 1950.
You can read Mayme Ashyk’s touching obituary here. Her work resume prior to opening the drapery business with her high school sweetheart is a veritable Who’s Who of well-known Lorain companies, including Smith & Gerhart, Mascon Toys and National Tube.
The business moved to another location on Colorado Avenue by the late 1950s (1373 Colorado Avenue to be exact), making the building available for its next tenant: Central Bank. The bank would call the building home right into the 1970s.
But it was on January 13, 1967 that the bank building was the scene of a scary daytime robbery. Here is the account (below) as it appeared in the Journal the next day.
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Women Tellers Tied Up,
Bank Robbed of $10,000
THREE MEN ROBBED the Colorado Branch of the Central Security National Bank of more than $10,000 yesterday afternoon after forcing three tellers to the basement and tying them with a clothesline.
THE TRIO entered the bank about 1:30 p.m. One walked to a counter and acted as if he was filling out a blank.
Another walked up to a teller’s window and displayed a pistol.
The third walked to the door to the basement and opened it.
BECAUSE THERE were no other customers in the bank, the tellers were working at a table rather than at the windows.
THE TELLERS were:
Mrs. Harold Tisdale, 48, of 2016 W. 14th St., wife of a vice president of the bank.
Mrs. James E. Strehle, 26, of 516 E. 41st St.
Mrs. Wayne Bryant, 28, of 3339 Dayton Ave.
As the one bandit brandished his pistol, the one who opened the basement door told the tellers, “Get down here.”
The women obeyed.
The man followed them down and tied their wrists together with a clothesline.
THE WOMEN UNTIED themselves quickly because they had been tied rather loosely.
When it became quiet upstairs, they ventured up and found a chair had been placed against the door to bar its being opened.
It was about this time that Glenn Evans, 30, of 1507 New Jersey, a customer, entered the bank.
“I heard the girls screaming when I walked in,” he said. "They wanted to know who I was so I called out my name and started for the basement door to let them out.”
Before he got there, however, the girls pushed the door open.
ABOUT 1:45 P. M., police arrived. Later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation entered the investigation.
The tellers described the bandits, all Negroes, to police.
The man who wielded the gun was five feet two, 140 pounds and 25-30 years old. He wore a light, checkered trench coat and has a goatee, they said.
The others were 25-30 years old, five feet 10 and weighed 180 pounds. One man had a round face and was clean shaven.
Gregory Sanders, branch manager, was at lunch when the robbery occurred.
Mrs. Wayne Bryant is a friend of mine. Her name is Grace and I worked with her many years after coming from Central Trust. She is barely 5 foot and the sweetest most kindest person you will ever meet. I can see her being cool under the pressure. She had never told me about this. She is retired and living in Amherst. Rae
ReplyDeleteHarold Tisdale was one of my Grandfather's bosses ; Walter Jennings Hopewell was the janitor at the Main (20th and Broadway) office of Central Bank. When my Grandmother was alive, they also cleaned the Colorado Avenue office.
ReplyDelete