Mill Hollow Clippings: Hill Climb

Did you know that for several years during the 1920s and 30s, Mill Hollow was the location for a popular sporting event known as the hill climb?

What exactly is a hill climb, anyway?

The Old Bike Barn website provides a great history here. It notes, "The credit for inventing hill climbing goes to none other than the groundbreaking Indian Motorcycle Company. In the early 1900s, Indian would run their motorcycles up the steepest hills around the Springfield Massachusetts factory to prove that they were powerful enough to go over some of the roughest terrains. 

"These exhibitions started to gather an audience, especially since not every ride up the hill would go as planned, and the antics of falling riders were just too hard to ignore. Within a few short years, these demonstrations turned into recurring events, and manufacturers like Triumph were also muscling in on the action and looking to challenge Indian in timed events. American stalwart's Harley-Davidson joined the Insanity around 1910 and quickly began to dominate the sport. Yes, pushing a motorcycle at insane speeds up the hill became a sport."

In Lorain, the Two-Tiered Motorcycle club of Lorain began holding their motorcycle hill climb at Mill Hollow in 1925. At first I thought it was on the road itself leading east out of the park. But actually the setting for the climb was a shale bank somewhere overlooking the river.

Apparently the initial event wasn't covered by the Lorain Journal, as the earliest account in the paper date from 1926.

Here are a series of articles about that 1926 hill climb.

Aug. 18, 1926

Sept. 4, 1926

Sept. 7, 1926

The Two-Tiered Motorcycle club of Lorain's annual hill climb continued to be a popular sporting event. It must have been a beautiful setting. Here is the coverage from 1927.

Aug. 13, 1927

Aug. 17, 1927

Aug. 20, 1927

Aug. 20, 1927

Aug. 22, 1927

Here are some more clippings from following years.

Sept. 7, 1928

Sept. 25, 1929

Sept.28, 1929

Aug. 23, 1930

Sept. 26, 1931

April 28, 1932

May 23, 1934

Sept. 12, 1935

By 1938, the Two-Tiered Motorcycle club of Lorain and Elyria decided to move the location of their annual hill climb from Mill Hollow. The new location was at the club's new hill on Route 59 west of Elyria near Birmingham. 

May 18, 1938

And the era of Mill Hollow serving as the site of an annual sporting event drew to a close.