Ask a Lorainite to name a long-gone local bakery that they remember fondly, and they’ll probably bring up DeLuca Bakery, Hough Bakeries, or maybe even Bob’s Donuts.
But there’s one bakery that only a few residents would probably remember, although it was probably the biggest in town for many years: the Spang Bakery.
The bakery’s roots were in Cleveland, where it had opened on Barber Avenue back in 1888. As it grew, it expanded and Lorain was chosen for the location of the first satellite plant.
I wrote about the much-heralded opening of the Lorain plant in 1925 here and here.
The plant (officially known as the J. Spang Home Bake Bakeries Plant) closed in the late 1950s. The building was used by a few companies after that (including a wholesale donut operation, and a Cotton Club distribution company) before going vacant for good around 1964.
Within a few years, the building had become a nuisance, with kids using it as a place to sniff glue. Finally, on October 21, 1968 the empty building burned down.
It took a few years, but it was finally torn down by the City of Lorain, beginning on the last day of 1970.
Interesting
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