Country Road Cathouse Causes Concern – April 1953 – Part 3

Two days after its expose about houses of prostitution operating on Surf Avenue, the Lorain Journal took another swipe at Lorain County Sheriff Carl R. Finegan with a front page cartoon. 

The April 17, 1953 edition of the paper showed its frustration over what it perceived as inaction on the Sheriff's part, because the cartoon features a bearded rustic with a large star pinned to his floppy hat, lazily reclining under a tree. The word balloon above his head reads "All I need is a little time to gather some evidence." In the background, one of the Surf Avenue 'bawdy houses' is doing a brisk business. The accompanying article recapped the previous two days' news, as well as noting that an upcoming meeting of the Black River Township Board of Trustees would also be attended by the Sheriff.

The Journal of April 21, 1953 included an account of the well-attended meeting of the previous night. The Sheriff predictably faced an angry mob. The funniest exchange occurred when the Sheriff was explaining why he didn't want to send one of his men into the houses to gather evidence. "All of our deputies are married men. We couldn't send them in there." One of the residents then asked, "Well, can't you find some crumb in your jail who will go in there?"

On April 22, 1953 the newspaper reported that the property transaction of Meister Road in the vicinity of the Surf Avenue had been completed. 

The April 23rd Journal reported that the Lorain County grand jury had issued subpoenas for ten people in relation to the prostitution activities, including John "Rocky River" Roberts, the key figure in the investigation. Unfortunately, he was listed as "missing," having apparently fled town. The grand jury returned no indictments, and it was believed that the Surf Avenue houses had closed.

That was not the case.

It wasn't until Saturday, December 12, 1953 that Sheriff Carl Finegan and his deputies conducted a raid on a Surf Road house of prostitution. Here's the front page of the Lorain Journal of December 15, 1953 with the story.

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Today, Surf Road (originally Avenue) is a nice area, with tidy, middle-class homes. The road is in excellent shape, with the pavement better than most of the roads on the west side of Lorain. 

Amazingly, one of the former 'bawdy houses' is still there. Remember the photo from the first page of the Journal's expose?

Well, in a fitting turnabout reflecting the changes that have taken place in the neighborhood, the cinder block structure on the left has been repurposed – from a 'house of ill fame' to a house of praise.