Oberlin Avenue Businesses – March 1, 1970

Here’s kind of a neat photo, especially for anyone who grew up on the west side of Lorain in the 60s and 70s.

It ran in the Lorain Journal on March 1, 1970. It depicts the signs of the various businesses located in and around the Lorain Plaza Shopping Center at the intersection of Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road.

The photo looks north, from the vantage point of the Lorain Plaza stores located on the western wing facing Oberlin Avenue.

Besides the Lorain Plaza Shopping Center sign itself, we see the signs for Sandy’s Hamburgers, Kroger, Sunoco and the edge of the 76 sign in front of Jack’s Union Oil at the far left of the photo.

In the foreground is a sign for Towne House Barber Shop, located at 3311 Oberlin Avenue, and one of the businesses in the shopping center. Its neighbors in the center were Hallmark Cleaners (3319 Oberlin Avenue) and the Oberlin Avenue Branch of the Lorain Public Library (at 3317 Oberlin Avenue).

I remember going into that library branch as a kid, long before I ever set foot in the Main Library. I have yet to find anyone else who remembers it!

The caption for the photo is interesting, because it identifies the major shopping districts of Lorain at that time: Downtown, Central Lorain and South Lorain. (Strangely, it did not include the Westgate Shopping Center and W. 21st Street area.)

Anyway, I drove over to Lorain Plaza yesterday to grab this “now” shot of today’s sign clutter. I even parked in front of the former location of Town House Barber Shop (now vacant) to get it.

As you can see, amazingly, Sunoco is still there, off in the distance. But in the fifty years since the 1970 photo, all of the other businesses are long gone, their former spaces occupied by equivalent conpanies; Sandy’s (McDonald’s); Union Oil (Valero); Kroger (Apples).