The Bench by the Bascule Bridge

If you've driven over the Bascule Bridge, you've probably seen it: a huge stone bench at the eastern end, on the north side of U.S. 6.

Have you ever wondered how it got there? If so, then you'll enjoy the amusing article below, which ran on the front page of the Lorain Journal on Friday, June 6, 1941. There's also two accompanying photos, featuring Lorain's Barbara Coley, who agreed to sit on the bench and pose for a Journal photographer. Her comments are pretty funny!

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$10,672 Stone Bench
All Ready for Sitters
Erie Avenue Bridge Armament Seat Called
'Shoe Shine Stand' by Commissioner

Lorainites have an opportunity to sit on a $10,672 stone bench today – if they like stone benches and a view of whizzing automobiles.

The opportunity for this pastime is at the east end of Lorain's E. Erie-av bascule bridge, where the 80-foot stone bench, paid for by the county and PWA, is now complete.

There's ample room. Computed on the basis of 18 inches per person, 60 sitters can ensconce themselves on the bench at once. A lofty perch too, for sightseers, the bench looms some six and one-half feet above the sidewalk. One reaches the dais by walking up three steps.

View Not So Good
The view from the bench is neither one of beauty nor of grandeur. From the seat, a person cannot see the harbor nor the river.

Unless the sitter turns around and kneels so that he can look lakewards over the back of the bench, he has a view only of Erie-av traffic and with the south guardrail of the bridge approach for a background.

The former board of county commissioners approved plans for the structure and on May 31, 1940, awarded the contract to the T. J. Hume Co., Lorain, for its construction. All three board members – J. E. Davidson, E. W. DeChant and Oscar G. Dunn, who continues on the present board – voted approval.

The present county commissioners, including Dunn, have expressed themselves as opposed to the project.

However, they could not block the construction, according to Commissioner E. M. Wickens, because a subcontractor on the job had already cut the stone and if the county had refused to go ahead with the bench, it would have faced a damage suit.

Wickens, bitter against what he said was a waste of taxpayers' money, declared today:

"The thing's a monstrosity. It looks like a glorified shoe-shine stand."

Two weeks ago ago, the American Institute of Steel Construction gave the bascule span honorable mention in competition to determine the most beautiful bridge completed in 1940. The bench was not finished, however, until last week.

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Barbara's photo in the
1939 LHS Scimitar

And what about the young model that the Journal used for its photos?

Barbara Coley graduated from Lorain High School as a member of the Class of 1939. She married Julius A. Komlosy, and they were together an amazing 71 years before his passing in February 2014.

Here is a link to his obituary.

Here's hoping that Barbara is enjoying good health, and that she has had a happy life during the 75 years since her moment in the spotlight on the front page of the Journal.

Vintage Postcards of Lorain's Two Bridges

Vintage postcard postmarked 1947 (Courtesy of Ebay)

Vintage postcard postmarked 1950 (Courtesy of Ebay)

Vintage postcard (Courtesy of Ebay)

Here's some old time postcards of Lorain's two bridges across the Black River, both dedicated on the same day in September 1939. The Charles Berry Bascule Bridge is shown above on three vintage linen postcards, and below is the High Level Bridge (now known as the Lofton Henderson Memorial Bridge).

Vintage postcard postmarked 1950 (Courtesy of Ebay)

One of the reasons that I thought that the High Level Bridge was constructed later than 1939 was the fact that for years I had only seen this color postcard view of it (below). 

It's a shame that postcards are pretty much defunct anymore as a way for a city to publicize its civic improvements and beauty spots. 

I'm one of a rapidly dwindling group that still sends out postcards (when I can find them) while I'm on vacation, rather than posting my shots on Facebook where they may or not even be viewed by my "friends," but will certainly be forgotten.

Two New Bridges on the Way for Lorain – July 1939

The Bascule Bridge under construction, with the old
Swing Bridge in the background

Back on Wednesday, July 26, 1939, the Lorain Journal was celebrating its 60th anniversary. The front page of the second section (shown above) provided a photographic progress report of the two new bridges being constructed (after county voters had finally approved the bonds).

I still think it's incredible that both the Bascule Bridge and the High Level bridges were built at the same time and were dedicated the same day – September 25, 1940. I never knew that while I was growing up; I had always assumed the High Level Bridge was built much later.

Another upcoming improvement mentioned in an article was the plan to extend W. 21st Street so that it connected up with W. Lake Road. The article also mentions that Broadway had just been entirely repaved from the Loop to W. 28th Street with reinforced white concrete.

Judging from the tone of the newspaper articles, it was an exciting time to live in Lorain.

Digging around the old box of photos Part 1

Everybody has a shoebox full of photos that should have been sorted and put into albums. We tell ourselves that we'll do it during the winter, but we never do. (Besides, we have all those digital photos from this millennium that are piling up on our hard drives that need sorting and printing.)

   Anyway, it's much more fun to dip into the box, pull out a random stack and rifle through them, because every once in a while, you discover that you've unintentionally captured a bit of history. In this case, I found some slides from waaaaaaaaay back in August 1979, a year after I bought my first SLR camera, a Pentax K-1000.

   At that time, I had been looking for something interesting to photograph and ended up down at Riverside Park on Lorain's east side. Back then, it was very different than it is today. Erosion had eaten away much of the park, as well as the road going through it.

   The view is looking towards the shipyards. Who would have believed back then that someday American Shipbuilding would be gone?

   Compare the vintage view with the modern view (below), shot a week ago.