Anyone who grew up in Lorain in the 1960s and 70s probably remembers Hole in the Wall beach, located just west of Beaver Park and Oak Point Road. It was one of many places where local teenagers would congregate. Unlike Lakeview Park, however, it was located on private property, so anyone at the beach there was trespassing. Making it worse, it was a little dangerous to access it, since it involved crossing railroad tracks on foot in an area dense with bushes and tall grass.
It was a trouble spot even in the early 1960s, according to the article above, which appeared on the front page of the Journal back on June 11, 1963.
As the article notes, "Police Chief Frank Pawlak today launched a campaign to discourage swimmers from going to the Hole-in-the-Wall swimming area on Lake Erie, west of the Beaver Park Marina.
"He said he has ordered "no parking" signs erected along Rts. 6 and 2 in the vicinity of the swimming area to make it as difficult as possible for would-be swimmers to go to the Hole-in-the Wall area.
"Pawlak's action came on the heels of the beating of three persons at the popular beach last Sunday.
""All of the cars parked in the area will be ticketed since the beach is inside the city limits," Pawlak said.
"Pawlak noted that after leaving the highway where they must park their cars, swimmers must cross the Nickel Plate tracks to reach the beach, which is owned by the railroad.
""It is up to the railroad to keep people from trespassing on their property," he said."
Despite the signs, it was a popular place even when I was in high school in the mid-1970s. I only went there once or twice with my friends, and I worried the whole time I was there that my car might be ticketed or towed.
Sixty years later, you can still see a bunch of cars parked along the highway there, every once in a while, despite a fence designed to keep swimmers out. A 'No Parking' sign is still there, but it's faded – just like my memories of bumming around Lorain with my high school pals in much simpler times.
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I looked, but couldn't find the outcome of the charges, beyond the $200 bond set for each of those accused. Elyria papers termed it a "gang beating." The accused said it started when one of the non-locals took something from a pocket of clothing left on the beach while the locals were swimming.
Must've been a pretty good fight. One of the non-local ended up with a broken jaw. The other with a broken finger. Plus, other "bruises, scuffs, and lacerations."
It also looks like, for a short while, the City of Lorain semi-seriously considered leasing the land and turning into a city beach (July 2, 1963, p 9, Chronicle Telegram).
I used to dock my boat at Beaver Park. The woman that owns the marina was responsible for getting that fence put up back in the eighties. I can't really remember the details, but it was due to all the teenagers trashing the beach all the time. Much like Dan, I visited the beach a couple times during high school, but was always worried about my car getting towed. Of course Jaws just came out around that time so beaches really weren't my thing after that.
I used to go there or along that beach area with my grandfather to collect sand.Every now and then grandad would do some cement work on his driveway and sidewalks.Well grandad was too tight to buy some sand to mix with bags of cement so he would get me to go along with him to the beach to carry 5 gallon buckets of "free" sand up the hill and over the railroad tracks to put in the back seat area of his Chrysler Imperial.He would have about 10 buckets and after the first bucket I was already worn out as I was only about 12-14 years old.Grandad would always pull the back seats out of his cars and lay blankets on the floor so as to not damage the leather seats.That way he could use the car more like a utility vehicle.Grandad always had Chrysler products,and preferred Imperials.I remember one time my father was going down Lake Rd/Rte 6 on his way home from the Lorain Ford Plant while we were there.I had forgotten about doing this with my grandfather until you posted this story Dan.Thanks for the memories.
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