Lorain National Demolishes Its Neighbors – July 23, 1972

Downtown Lorain's streetscape has changed so much over the last fifty years that sometimes it's good to be reminded of what it used to look like – even if you were living in the city most of that time.

Case in point: the photo and caption above, which ran in the Journal on July 23, 1972. As the caption notes, " The face of the city is ever changing. This time Lorain National Bank is demolishing two old buildings to provide off street parking for 30 to 40 cars for both its main and East Sixth Street offices. Access to the additional parking, which will be ready in a few weeks, will be through the alley behind Broadway. 

"The old buildings were the former Shane Furniture company, next to the bank, and the T. C. Metzger building, to the extreme right or south."

Today the streetscape looks like this (courtesy of Google Maps).

Of course, Lorain National Bank is no more, having become Northwest Bank – leaving First Federal of Lorain as the last of the local banks that still have 'Lorain' in its name.