For decades, the poles painted with the Stop numbers associated with the Lake Shore Electric Railway (and the buses that replaced them) were a familiar sight to Lake Road (U.S. 6) travelers. I remember seeing them while commuting to Cleveland in the 1980s.
But as the decades passed, the painted yellow bands with the numbers on them began to chip away and fade, just like the memories of what the numbers represented.
Happily, the numbers on the poles – and the history behind them – are making a comeback.
According to the Heritage Avon Lake Facebook page, the Boy Scouts of Troop 338 have taken on the task of repainting the familiar yellow band and Stop numbers.
The first one – at Stop 56 (at Route 83) is completed and was the subject of media coverage last week. Here’s what it looks like (below).
Several others have been completed as well.
The book The Avon Lake Story (1965) by Milburn Walker included a mention of the old Stops. It stated, “A carryover from electric interurban days in Avon Lake is a numbering system to denote bus stops. Along the interurban right-of-way before the electric line’s demise in 1938, the stops are now on Lake Road, the bus route. Stop 56 is at Center Road and Lake Road."
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| From the book The Avon Lake Story |
Congratulations to Avon Lake and everyone involved with the project for celebrating the city’s transportation heritage, and taking steps to make sure that this part of it is not forgotten.
For much better coverage (with photographs) of the Stop 56 pole being painted, be sure to visit Heritage Avon Lake’s Facebook page and scroll down the page a bit. It also has a great ongoing selection of “then and now” photographs of Avon Lake through the years posted on its timeline.
5 comments:
Thanks Dan. Drew Horton from Avon Lake Troop 338, did this project as an Eagle Scout Project. We are thrilled to save some of our history, and that Drew was willing to help.
Tony Tomanek, Heritage Avon Lake
Hi Tony! Drew did a nice job. It's really great to see the signs on the poles again!
Do they plan on continuing this all the way through the route in surrounding cities?
I didn't get that impression; I think it's just an Avon Lake project.
Perhaps some scouts, or the local historical societies, could team up with Drew Horton and do the same in the surrounding cities. It appears Drew has already done the leg work of coordinating with the power company for permission to paint the poles. Would be a nice boost to his Eagle Scout project if it inspires others to continue the practice in their own towns. There has to be people in Bay Village, Sheffield Lake, Lorain and Vermilion that would like to get involved.
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