Country Road Cathouse Causes Concern – April 1953 – Part 1

Remember the 1980s TV show Miami Vice, which focused on two vice cops in their efforts to combat drug trafficking, prostitution and criminal kingpins in that coastal metropolis?

A Lorain-based version of the show in the 1950s might aptly have been called Surf Road Vice. Because on that country road, located just west of city limits, was where all the criminal action was taking place, back in April 1953.

Below is the story from the front page of the April 15, 1953 Lorain Journal.

As noted, "A prostitution business boom on Surf Avenue near Meister Road is currently undergoing growing pains un-noticed or unmolested by county law officials.

"Area involved is located one and one-half miles west of Lorain city limits. It's about as wide open as a red light district can get.

"Business of the world's oldest profession is so good that the leading procurer of women in the area is reportedly in the act of purchasing a five-acre tract of land which borders Meister Road 300 yards southwest of his empire of pleasure."

The article explains how a family of four currently residing on the Meister Road tract were in the process of being evicted, victims of the possible expansion program by John "Rocky River" Roberts.

"A daytime view of Surf Avenue," the story continues, "reveals a typical sleepy looking country road. It's sleepy all right. The "girls" are catching 40 winks to rest up for another big night of play-for-pay.

"Biggest play periods are on Saturday and Sunday nights when the country road takes on all the hustle and bustle of Grand Central Station. A seemingly endless stream of traffic, which includes a large percentage of taxicabs, raises a steady cloud of dust on the much traveled roads in the area."

And here's the Page 2 continuation of the story.

Next: Shaming the Sheriff