Santa Arrives Downtown – Nov. 28, 1968

One of the things that I don’t like about the day after Thanksgiving is the immediate shift to Christmastime. Most of the time, I’m just not in the mood yet.

But this phenomena is nothing new, as the full-page ad from the November 26, 1968 Journal above suggests. It announces the arrival of Santa Claus in Downtown Lorain the next day.

Downtown Lorain was still in the midst of its Christmas counterattack against both O’Neil - Sheffield Center (which opened in 1954) and Midway Mall (which opened in 1966). But it was probably a foregone conclusion that even Santa (or a reasonable facsimile of him) on a fire truck couldn’t compete with a magical talking Christmas tree.

Anyway, the Palace was showing two free movies as part of the campaign to lure kids (and their parents) downtown. The two flicks – Rhino! (1964) and Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961) – weren’t exactly jolly Christmas fare, however.

A Lorain Family Gives Thanks – 1937

On the same front page of the Lorain Journal that contained the article that I posted yesterday was this inspiring news item (below). It’s about the Rev. and Mrs. Herbert Veler of Lorain (he was pastor at First Lutheran at the time) and why they were so thankful on Thanksgiving 1937.

You see, their son Richard Paul had been born on October 29, 1936 but only weighed a little over four pounds. Consequently he was an ‘incubator baby’ that required special attention. Thanksgiving 1937 provided the perfect opportunity for the newspaper to catch up on his progress; read all about it in this article that appeared on the front page on November 24, 1937.

So what became of young Richard Paul Veler?

It sounds like he enjoyed a fruitful and meaningful life, although not in Lorain. But he remained a Buckeye.

An article in the Springfield News-Sun at the time of his passing in August 2016 noted, "A lifelong learner with a passion for literature, Veler went on to earn his B.A. in English from Wittenberg University in 1958, followed by his M.A. in English from Harvard University where he was also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. 

"In 1964, he completed his Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University before returning to Wittenberg to begin what would become a career spanning more than three decades as a beloved professor, Mark Twain scholar, editor and senior administrator. Called "the conscience of the university" by former Wittenberg President Baird Tipson, Veler led several initiatives at his alma mater. 

"Veler chaired the English Department for 12 years and served as University Editor for 14 years, which included editing Wittenberg Today, the flagship alumni publication, and the Wittenberg Review: An Undergraduate Journal of the Liberal Arts. 

"The recipient of multiple awards, including Wittenberg's top faculty prize, the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1977, Veler went on to earn the University's highest recognition, the Wittenberg Medal of Honor, in 2010. 

"In presenting the award to her colleague, fellow Wittenberg Professor of English Robin Inboden shared that Veler embodied Wittenberg's mission, noting how he inspired hundreds of students "to love literature, as well as his ardent devotion to a life fully lived and not measured, as T.S. Eliot would say, in 'coffee spoons.'" In her words, "he achieved the elusive wholeness of person," and "modeled a faith in students that continues to guide and sustain" his colleagues and friends alike. His personal and professional career was defined by creativity, service, compassion and integrity with one colleague calling him "a man of elemental human goodness.” 

"His family's name lives on at Wittenberg through the Mildred L. Veler Meditation Chapel inside Weaver Chapel, and through an endowed scholarship. Veler was preceded in death by his wife Suzanne, and his parents, both of whom graduated from Wittenberg in 1929."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s hoping all of my readers enjoy a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are a few scanned pages from the Autumn 1952 edition of ideals magazine to put you in an old-fashioned holiday mood. There are some nice fall photographs (it is still fall, after all) and artwork, as well as some poems and seasonal items. Click on each for a larger version. Enjoy!

First Thanksgiving Article – Nov. 24, 1937

Vintage postcard of Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock 

Vintage postcard of Plymouth Rock

In honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow, here’s a pretty good article about the very first one. It appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal and The Lorain Times Herald back on Wednesday, November 24, 1937. 

The article consists of what is now considered to be the accurate version of the first Thanksgiving celebration – but without the modern nonsense (usually pushed by the New York Times) that always seems to depict the Pilgrims in the worst light.

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America Looks Back to ‘First Thanksgivers’

Pilgrims 315 Years Ago Had Little, But Celebrated

Tomorrow, while the turkey is being cut and the stuffing being passed around at thousands of American dinner tables, the minds of the feasters will turn back to the first Thanksgiving, celebrated at Plymouth, Mass., 315 years ago.

The hardy band of Pilgrims which had landed on the rocky Massachusetts coast in search of the religious and civil freedom which were denied them in England, had battled nature’s cruel wilderness and had managed to harvest a meager crop from their little “clearing.” Yet the pioneers were so thankful for so little that they held the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Plymouth today is unlike any other town in America. It possesses a historic past, an unbroken tradition that goes back to the very beginning of English-speaking life on this continent.

Visitors to Plymouth find that the past is so alive there that they almost expect the Pilgrims to step out of one of the modern grocery or drug stores there and welcome them.

Down “the first street in America” at the waterfront of Plymouth lies Plymouth Rock, the mecca of millions, glorified as “America’s doorstep.”

The rock is an oval boulder, bearing the inscription, “1620.” The harbor close by looks out over sheltered Cape Cod Bay, which was picked by the Pilgrims as a place to end one of the most picturesque voyages in history and to begin a new era in social and political development.

Just back of the Rock is a small plateau, on the top of which are buried nearly half the members of the Mayflower colony during the first terrible winter after landing. At one time during those months, only Governor Brewster, Capt. Miles Standish and five others were well enough to care for the sick and bury the dead.

On the hill, no headstones marked the last resting place of the heroic 51 who died. The graves were leveled and grain planted over them that the loss of half the colony’s members might be kept from the savage Indians.

On the modern Leyden-st, the first families of America built their homes. The little street was then known as Great or Broad-st.

On each side, the Pilgrims built their first crude cabins. They erected their fort there and later built a watch tower, hedged with palisades and beacons.

Two copper cannon now overlook the street from the brow of Burial Hill, which stands above it. The cannon are British; dated 1550 and 1554 and are the only ones of their kind known to exist in the United States. They were taken from the decks of the Mayflower for use in the fort against the Indians.

Burial Hill is now one of the most famous shrines in the country, ranking with Arlington cemetery as a mecca for those who would worship Americans who died with honor.

During the summer before the first Thanksgiving, the supply of food brought from England was exhausted and there remained but one pint of corn in the whole settlement.

Five Kernels of Corn

Five kernels were given to each man, woman and child in the colony. For three or four months, none of them again tasted bread or corn. They were forced to live on shellfish, berries and acorns.

With great eagerness, the band watched their first harvest ripen. At length, with the grain cut and in, Governor Bradford sent four men out to kill fowl for the first Thanksgiving dinner. The four killed enough birds to last the colony for a week.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated for three days, with King Massasoit and 90 other Indians being entertained during that time.

The first Thanksgiving was not intended, as many believe, as a day of religious worship. The colonists ‘relaxed’ after a summer and early fall of ceaseless work. The week of Thanksgiving was their first real playtime.

Running, jumping and climbing games were on the schedule. Everyone took part in these. Four women did all of the cooking for three days for 30 colonists whose hunger had been aroused by months of starvation. Besides, there were 90 Indians with healthy appetites.

Lake Elementary School opens in VOL - November 1957

Yesterday’s post featured the First Congregational Church in Vermilion making the move to its new home back in November 1957. Let’s linger in out in Vermilion during that same month and year for one more day here on the blog, shall we?

Today’s post shows that big change was taking place on the other side of the river as well, out in Vermilion-on-the-Lake (which was not yet officially part of Vermilion). Below is an article that appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 11, 1957, noting the opening of a brand new school: Lake Elementary School, located at 320 Aldrich Road.

It must have been pretty big news to be able to consolidate the kids at one building, since as the article noted, the opening of the new grade school “marked the end of classes in the town hall,” which was located on the other side of the river (near the church mentioned in yesterday’s post).

I don’t know exactly when the school closed, but since the early 1990s the former school had been the home of the Vermilion Family YMCA. However, the organization moved to a new location at 1230 Beechview Drive this year, leaving the building on Aldrich apparently empty.

The view two Sundays ago

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Call me old-fashioned, but I really think that the designers of these types of grade schools built in the 1950s had some good ideas. Windows allowed law enforcement the opportunity to quickly and easily see what was going on in each room if necessary. Having all the kids on one floor made for a quick exit; sometimes many of these classrooms even had their own door. And heating and cooling one floor would probably be cheaper than doing the same for several floors. 

The biggest drawback seems to have been the leaky flat roof.

Most of today’s schools seem to be over-designed (ugly), multi-floored monstrosities that would seem to be more difficult to police, and would require more time to get the students out in case of an emergency. These new buildings don’t even look like schools, and would seem to have built with eventual repurposing in mind.

First Congregational Church in Vermilion – Then & Now

Back in November 1957, the First Congregational Church in Vermilion was on the move.

As noted in the article above, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 12, 1957, it had held its last service in its old church on Division Street (today’s Main Street). Its new home was out on State Road (State Route 60) south of town.

Here’s a vintage postcard of the beautiful new church.

And here’s my “now” shot from two Sundays ago. 

Today the church is known as Vermilion United Church of Christ, Congregational. I received a nice wave and friendly smile from a parishioner when I pulled into the parking lot.

And to bring things full circle, here’s my “now” shot of the old church. Since 1984 the building has been the home of Millett Auction House and Market Place.

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As a bonus, here’s a vintage postcard (courtesy of DSap’s Postcards) of First Congregational Church.

Kutza's Pharmacy's 50th Anniversary – Nov. 28, 1957

It was just a few weeks ago that I featured an article about mom-and-pop drug stores.

Well, here's an ad for a well-known Lorain pharmacy that enjoyed a long run. In fact, the full-page ad   for Kutza's Pharmacy – which appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 28, 1957 – celebrated the store's 50th Anniversary.

I did a post about the history of Kutza's back here in 2012, which included a nice photo of some of the pharmacy's vintage medicine bottles courtesy of Jack Tiller. There's also an interesting posted comment about the building left by a gentleman named Ted.

The business was located at 1302 Broadway. The building survived the construction of the Frank Nardini Underpass – but just barely.

The view last Sunday

Lorain Catholic Dedicated – Nov. 23, 1969

It’s still strange to remember that for a time beginning at the end of the 1960s, Lorain had four high schools: the ‘original’ (so to speak) Lorain High School, Admiral King High School, Southview High School and Lorain Catholic High School.

Today, with all of the city’s public high school students consolidated at the new Lorain High School, all three of the old public high school school buildings are gone.

Only the former Lorain Catholic High School building is still standing, repurposed as the home of Horizon Science Academy charter school.

But back on November 23, 1969, Lorain Catholic was brand new and ushering in a new era for those students that desired a Catholic education, having replaced the old St. Mary High School (which I wrote about here.)

The photo and caption below appeared in the Journal on November 22, 1969, the eve of the dedication.

According to its Wiki entry, Lorain Catholic closed in 2004.

But the building’s architecture is still fresh and modern, and the campus is attractive, so it’s nice to see that it is still a center of learning.

Courtesy Horizon Science Academy

The view this past Sunday

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I did attend Lorain Catholic – briefly. I took one summer school class there. For the life of me, I can’t remember if it was Personal Typing or Problems of Democracy.

If it was Personal Typing (and I think it was), I should have paid more attention. I seem to rely on those skills more than ever now (thanks to this blog and having to text people) and I’m still a lousy typist.

Huck & Yogi Visit Hills – November 1966

Huckleberry Hound seems to be a recurring topic on this blog. I wrote about him appearing at the 1959 Ohio State Homecoming game just last month.

Well, that affable blue hound sure got around. This time, Huck and his co-star Yogi Bear were making an appearance at the Hills Department Store on Route 57. The ad above appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 10, 1966.

Although we shopped regularly at Hills, unfortunately I don't think we were there the same day Huck and Yogi were.  (We missed Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Hills visit too.)

But Hanna-Barbara’s promotional department must have had some kind of ongoing connection with Hills, because on another Saturday afternoon, I know we came home from the store with some H-B freebie stuff. I seem to recall a Punkin’ Puss hand puppet, as well as a 45 rpm record with a lame, "groovy" pop song about Yogi Bear.

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Ever since the original Huckleberry Hound series became a hit, Hanna-Barbara had costumed characters of Huck and Yogi making public appearances in support of the show (and the various toys and other items tied in with it).

An article in the Morning Call of February 27, 1960 noted, “Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, in man-sized costumes, travel year around, from city to city, visiting stores. Each outfit cost $1,500 and new men are hired in each city to climb inside and play the TV animal heroes for the kids.”

Here are a few ads showing how the appearances were promoted in the newspapers.

This is an early one that apparently predated the preparation of good promotional artwork. Yogi’s got some severely dilated pupils in this ad that ran in the Boston Globe on August 23, 1959.

On the other hand, this ad (below) from the Oakland Tribune of October 30, 1959 has some excellent renderings of the duo. And they were giving away rings and sample packages of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and OK’s too!

Here’s a nice article about a personal appearance of the pair at the Los Angeles Sportsmen’s and Vacation Show. It ran in the Los Angeles Times on April 9, 1961. Yogi looks a little stubby, more like a bear cub than a full-sized bruin.

Here’s another ad from 1961. By this time, Yogi had eclipsed Huck as the star and had his own show. You can tell because he’s headlining the ad, and now Huckleberry is referred to as his pal. This ad ran in the Daily Oklahoman on July 28, 1961.

Here’s another ad (below) featuring the costumed versions of the characters. It ran in the Newport Daily News on August 8, 1964. Gee, with chowder and clam cakes being served, maybe they should have had Squiddly Diddly there too.

Lastly, here’s another Hills ad announcing a visit by Huckleberry & Yogi to a store in Pennsylvania only a few weeks before the Lorain gig. The ad ran in the Evening Standard in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1966.

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Wonder what the Huckleberry Hound costume looked like in color? You can see a couple of them on this early album cover.

By the way, we had one of those Huck Halloween masks!

Economy Sales Grand Opening – Nov. 10, 1965

If you lived or grew up on the west side of Lorain in the 1960s (like me), then you’re probably familiar with Economy Sales. The “Discount House of Distinction" was located at 4360 Oberlin Avenue just a little south of its neighbors Big Town, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Above is the full-page ad in the November 10, 1965 Journal announcing the store’s Grand Opening.

(Back in 2016, I did a two-part history of the store, beginning here and ending here.)

Economy Sales was a store ahead of its time. It was sort of like Amazon, with an incredible selection of merchandise. The difference was that instead of Amazon shipping the stuff to you from its warehouse, you picked it up at the showroom/warehouse.

Who doesn’t remember filling out and submitting the little card with what you wanted to purchase, and then waiting until it came chugging out from the warehouse on the conveyor belt?

The Bradys bought a lot of stuff there over the year; lots of gifts. I even bought my first 35mm camera there (a Pentax K1000).

As I noted in my earlier post about the store, it closed sometime in the mid-1980s. Today the building has been remodeled to house the Murray Ridge Center of Lorain.

1918 Board of Control Reunion – November 1965

Here’s an interesting historical article from back when the Journal was still a Lorain paper.

It’s from November 6, 1965 and is about the annual reunion of the 1918 Lorain Board of Control (consisting of Lorain’s mayor, safety and service director from that year).

The three gentlemen – Albert Horn, Thomas McGeachie and W. A. Pillans – provide a lively interview as well as a fascinating look at Lorain in 1918.  They also look at what was currently going on in 1965.

Save City Hall, 1918 Trio Urges
by MOLLY CUTTS

The difference between the Republican administration today and yesterday was a thread tightly woven into an hour-long discussion of the 1918 Lorain Board of Control.

As a private joke the three men opened their discussion with the announcement that “this afternoon we are going to purchase additional fire hydrants because of the increase in the dog population.”

The board also decided the “Save the Lighhouse Committee” is a waste of time and that there should be a “Save City Hall Committee.”

IN THEIR HOUR-LONG meeting the boards discussion ranged from Lorain’s fire hydrants to President Johnson’s reasons for trying to push through the District of Columbia home-rule bill through Congress.

Members of the 1918 board are Albert Horn, 85, Thomas McGeachie (who would rather tell a story than his age), and W. A. Pillans, 74. In 1918, they were, respectively, mayor, safety and service directors of Lorain. Pillans and McGeachie still live here, and the annual meeting is held when Horn visits his sister, Mrs. F. C. Locke, 1037 Fifth St.

Pillans and McGeachie are retired, but Horn is employed by the Metropolitan Board of Trade in Washington, D. C. Usually he comes to Lorain a little earlier in the year, but he had to wait until Congress adjourned because his job requires him to report to the board of trade all Congressional action affecting the district.

The men met at Pillans’ lakefront home, at 1352 Second St., which has a large picture window giving a beautiful view of the doomed lighthouse, which is much lamented in some quarters. All Pillans said about it is that “you can’t stop progress.”

TO WHICH MCGEACHIE SAID, “When I was county commissioner, 12 years ago we would have had a 10-story annex to the courthouse with a nice jail on the top floor except for that 100-year-old elm tree which stood in the way. Did the people ever raise such a fuss about that?" So far the tree has also resisted Dutch elm disease.

Horn wants City Hall saved for its historical importance. His story, which he stoutly denies was the beginning of any shenanigans connected with the building, happened about 70 years ago.

His aunt, Elizabeth Horn, took him to what was then the home of John Stang, who was then building the shipyards. Both Stang and Miss Horn were part of the German community which “stuck together” and she asked him if he would give a job to a “relative” then living in Germany. Stang said yes, and some time after John Ickler came to Lorain, he had Miss Horn were married.

Horn’s explanation was “They were relatives, second cousins I believe, and anyway they never met until he got here.”

THE HORN ADMINISTRATION lasted two years, losing by 17 votes to William Grall in a bid for reelection.

Horn’s explanation was that “we offended too many people by cleaning up the city.”

They bludgeoned Lake Shore Electric into removing the tracks in the loop, they brought back the then ambassador to France because they wanted a building he owned to be properly wired, and they shut down the "largest gambling den between New York and Chicago.”

McGeachie as safety director fired 18 policemen and zipped a $2,500 appropriation through council with Democratic help. He used the money to hire private detectives from Chicago to do undercover work.

HE STATIONED A patrolman outside the gambling house 24 hours a day who took down the names of those who entered. He said, “Granted there were an awful lot of people named Smith, “but it wasn’t long before the operator of the house called City Hall and said, “Don’t you know you are ruining my business?”

“We knew and we didn’t make any fuss. After a while the house went out of business.”

The Horn administration also knew how to handle the public.

When council decided the lake was getting dirty and the drinking water should be purified they voted to buy a chlorinator. At that time Cleveland was dumping raw chlorine into the intake pipes in the crib. It didn’t mix properly and the water was turning boiled-potatoes black.

LONG BEFORE THE chlorinator was installed City Hall was deluged with calls saying the water smelled and tasted terrible. The administration decided to try and keep the public from knowing when the chlorinator was installed. It was successful and City Hall was able to go about its business without a single disrupting call after the chlorinator was actually installed.

All during their conversation, McGeachie kept musing, “I wonder if there is a Board of Control anymore?”

So yesterday afternoon the present City Hall reporter knowing there still is a Board of Control called Service Director George Zunich and asked, “Mr. Zunich, could you tell me what is the purpose of the Board of Control?”

Zunich, evidently unable to define the board’s purpose, answered, “I suggest you check your law books at The Journal.”

When asked about the head of the present administration, McGeachie said, “I don’t like him. I didn’t vote for him.”

HORN, WHO HAS BEEN away from Lorain since 1920, said, ”Oh, I do. I congratulated him on his reelection.”

Getting back to a more pleasant, though still political question, Horn talked knowledgeably about Washington’s home-rule question. He said he was very much against it.

When asked why President Johnson pushed for the bill he said, “He must have promised someone. I don’t know why. Washington votes four-to-one Democratic. What does he want those three little electoral votes for? I know he doesn’t like to lose, but I don’t understand this.”

Back in Lorain in 1918, McGeachie said the people were taking about impeaching Horn for buying Century Park. Why? “We never did figure that out,” he said.

Journal Front Page – November 17, 1965

To close out this week, let's take a leisurely gander at the front page of the Journal. Not today's Morning Journal, but the Journal from back on November 17, 1965 – 54 years ago this Sunday.

I originally retrieved this edition from microfilm because it contains a photo of the groundbreaking of Lorain's Kmart store at Grove Avenue and Fairless Drive in South Lorain. Who would have guessed that decades later Kmart would completely abandon Lorain County – as well as the entire Ohio market?

But the more interesting story on the page is about Raymond Schindler of Avon Lake. Mr. Schindler was retiring after 48 years of service with Ford Motor Company. He started with the company way back in 1917!

Elsewhere on the page, we see the passing of Harry Blackstone, the famous magician, as well as the sad news of 86 American soldiers killed and 230 wounded during the previous week's fighting in Viet Nam.

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Reading about Blackstone the Magician’s passing reminded me of a story that my mother told me recently.

Mom remembers as a little girl in the 1930s seeing Blackstone perform his act in between showings of a movie at the Palace Theater in Lorain. Back then, you could stay at the theater all day, and watch the movie (and the stage shows) over and over again. The theater management didn’t kick you out.

Well, Mom and her sister saw Blackstone’s act several times that day. They noticed that he always picked a young boy from the audience to assist him with part of his act, and that he usually made his selection each time from the kids sitting in a certain area.

So as the day went on, Mom and her sister slowly worked their way down the rows so that they were sitting right where Blackstone had made his selections.

And he picked Mom!

The funny thing was, he thought she was a boy! She was wearing a cap that Grandma had knitted for her (it was winter) that covered up her hair and buttoned under her chin, so only her face was exposed. But Blackstone kept her up on the stage anyway, and she was his assistant for part of the act. He even let her keep the white rabbit, which she took home that day much to her parents’ dismay.

Hialeah Tourist Court Revisited

I spent the last few days looking at the various trailer parks that were located on West Erie Avenue just east of the railroad undercut at W. 21st Street. However, there was one business that catered to travelers in that same area that most likely predated them all: Hialeah Tourist Court.

But Hialeah Tourist Court was not a trailer park. It was actually one of the earliest forms of businesses offering overnight accommodations – a cabin camp. It first appeared in the Lorain City Directories in the 1939-1940 edition as Hialeah Cabins. 

(I devoted a post to Hialeah Tourist Court and its history back here in 2014.)

And now here’s something I never thought I’d see on Ebay: a cool early postcard of Hialeah Cabins showing the layout of the property. That's the railroad tracks in the rear.

If you look closely you can see the ‘Hialeah’ name under the CABINS PRIVATE BATHS sign.

Here’s a closeup of the cabins on the right. Note the car in the background.

And now here’s a view of the postcard scene today. It looks like the office cabin is still there. But there appears to be just two cabins remaining.

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Here’s a late fall 2019 view of the remaining cottages.

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And here’s a spring 2020 view.

On the Trail of Trailer Parks – Part 2

By the end of the 1950s, trailer parks (or mobile home parks if you prefer) were a pretty common site along the stretch of West Erie between Leavitt Road and the undercut.

Thornburg Trailer Sales was also conveniently located directly across from Robby's Mobile Home Park and Lakeview Mobile Homes Park on the south side of West Erie.

Here’s a portion of the 1959 Lorain city directory listings for West Erie Avenue. It's interesting to see addresses attached to each business, rather than the old Lake Shore Electric/bus stop numbers.

Note the listing of Beth-Shan Trailer Court. It was located behind the Beth-Shan Motel, which would later become Shoreway Motel. 

Here's the 1960 phone book listings for "Trailer Parks." It appears that the shift to attracting permanent residents, not tourists, was well underway. New listings include Sommer's Mobile Homes Park (by the Ohio Turnpike in Elyria).

This 1960 page of the Lorain City Directory showing West Erie Avenue addresses from the Beachcomber Motor Lodge just west of Leavitt to the Lorain Drive-in Theater is kind of fun to look at. (Kolbe Road’s intersection with West Erie is indicated in the wrong place, however.)

Besides the trailer parks and businesses which I’ve highlighted in yellow, there are other things of interest, including the listing for The Palace, which sold ice cream at the same 3829 West Erie Avenue address as this building (photo courtesy of the Lorain County Auditor website).

But getting back to the trailer parks. Using the numerical addresses from the 1960 City Directory page, I’ve plotted a few of them on this current Google Map. As you can see, they were on both sides of what is today known as Anchor Lodge Retirement Village. I’m assuming that both trailer parks were eventually loss to the expansion of Anchor Lodge.

And here’s a final phone book listing for “Trailer Parks,” from the 1963 telephone book.

Lastly, here's an aerial view showing that Robby's and the other trailer parks were still there as late as 1969.

As longtime blog reader and contributor Rae noted in her comment last week, today there is no evidence that Robby’s Mobile Homes Park ever existed in that portion of West Erie Avenue from the West 21st Street underpass to Leavitt Road. 

And with the closing of Lakeshore Mobile Home Park (along with the demolition of the Shoreway Motel and its trailer park in 2017), there are very few traces at all of the businesses that once offered overnight accommodations to weary U. S. 6 travelers.

The gates to the now-shuttered Lakeshore Mobile Home Park