Blue Hole in the News Over the Years

Did your family ever make the drive out to Castalia to see the Blue Hole? I'm guessing every Baby Boomer and their family saw it at least once in their lives, before it closed in 1990. Since then, a couple generations have grown up who never saw it, much less heard of it. It was just a nice, peaceful place to visit on a Sunday afternoon.

But while the Blue Hole will always seem linked to the 1960s to me, since that's when my family first visited it, it's easy to forget that it was popular for a long, long time. Here's a sample of clippings and ads from over the years, culled from the pages of the Lorain Journal. I've inserted a few vintage postcards here and there too where appropriate.

Here's a mention in the society column of a visit by a Lorain couple and their out-of-state guests from the Sept. 9, 1924 edition.

This article from the June 11, 1925  includes an interview with Andrew Englert, angler and forester, "the only man in Castalia who really knows the true history of the hole." His version of the story of the Blue Hole dates from 1875. The article notes that it is a "two-hour ride by motor car or trolley from Lorain to quiet little village of Castalia."

Circa 1926

Here are a few clippings from 1930.

Feb. 8, 1930

July 2, 1930

This two-part article from July 13, 1932 provides a nice history of the Blue Hole, and claims that it was discovered in 1760 by a man named Robert Rogers.

This article from May 21, 1934 notes that the Blue Hole was being illuminated at night, and that a new entrance had been constructed.

This clipping from April 4, 1940 reminds us that kids liked to toss pennies into the Blue Hole.

In the 1950s, advertisements for the Blue Hole began to appear in the Lorain Journal.

July 29, 1953

Aug. 12, 1959

The Blue Hole

I spent a lot of time out in Castalia a few months ago while researching the Crystal Rock Caves, and thus grabbed this shot of the entrance to the Blue Hole as it looks today.

It's kind of sad that the Blue Hole isn't open for tours anymore. I remember seeing it as a kid with my family, and later on in the 1980's before it closed in 1990. It was just a nice relaxing thing to do on a sunny Sunday.

Here is what the 1940 Ohio Guide said about the Blue Hole:

On State 269 is the BLUE HOLE (adm. 10 cents–15 cents), 2.1 m (L), a beautiful spring, 75 feet in diameter, that daily exudes 7,000,000 gallons of water into the winding race near by. The spring's blue measureless depths reveal iridescent wonders: the simulacrum of an Alpine village, or a mountainside farm, or a medieval castle. The Indians believed the waters were medicinal, and white men marveled at the spring as early as 1761. Visitors have come to it from all parts of the world. When Cold Creek was dammed in 1819, the regurgitant river enlarged the Blue Hole to its present dimensions.

I remember the ubiquitous round signs for the Blue Hole along Route 6.  To me, the Blue Hole made Castalia a magical place – along with the Crystal Rock Caves and Deer Park.

Anyway, here are a few postcards to rekindle some Blue Hole memories.

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For more information about the Blue Hole, click here for a Wiki entry that also mentions the 'other' Blue Holes in the area. To read some reminisces, you can check out the Roadside America's website or click here for some more interesting recollections on another website.

The best source for information and fantastic photos, however is the Arcadia Publishing book by Glenn C. Kuebeler, Castalia, Cold Creek and the Blue Hole. It's a terrific book and a must-have for your book shelf.