Vermilion Gets a Roadside Park – May 1938

The former location of Vermilion's state roadside park on US 6

Back on this post, I wrote about how Vermilion lost its roadside park on US 6 at Highbridge. Well in this post, I'll look at how Vermilion acquired it.

The article below from the May 18, 1938 Lorain Journal explains.

"Lorain-co today had a new rest and picnic spot for the motoring public – Zelinski park," it notes.

"Named after Otto Zelinski, who donated the land, the park is located beside busy Lake-rd, just east of the new highway bridge over the Nickel Plate tracks at Vermilion-on-the-Lake.

"Twenty workers of the National Youth Administration today ended their two months' work on the "pocket park" as the property is known.

"Zelinksi has a grocery store and ice house beside the park. The whole vicinity is wooded, providing a natural setting for the grounds."

Here's a photo of the park, courtesy of Rich Tarrant and his "Vermilion Views" website. The park sign acknowledges Ohio Governor Martin Davey, who was just completing his term of office in 1938.

The roadside park made the news a few times in its early years.

Aug. 8 1939

Unfortunately, as I noted on my original post, the State of Ohio adopted a policy in which it would not maintain parks located inside city limits. As a result, the state vacated the park (which it never owned in the first place) as noted in this article from the May 29, 1963 Journal.

It's too bad that the park is gone. I could walk to it in less than five minutes from my condo, which is just  up the hill from The Pit restaurant (now shuttered), which you can see in the 'now' photo.

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I wrote about how the former Zelinski grocery store (located next to the park) was moved in 1964 to a new location on Howard Drive here.