Vermilion “Harbour Town” Renderings – Feb. 1972

Vermilion’s “Harbour Town – 1837” district has been the subject of a few posts on this blog.

The whole concept of “Harbour Town – 1837” and the argument for pursuing a plan was presented in this post. The advertising campaign that was unveiled in November 1968 was featured in this post. And this 1970 Journal article envisioned “Harbour Town – 1837” as sort of a lakefront Williamsburg.

By 1972, drawings of what a revitalized downtown area would look like were being prepared. The two articles below revealed part of the proposed look.

It was quite an ambitious plan to revive the downtown area and make Vermilion a tourist destination. It took some time, as well as an ongoing commitment by the public and private sectors, but judging by the results fifty years later, the effort ultimately was a success. Even on winter weekends, I see people going from store to store along Liberty Avenue and Main Street even when there is no special event.

Vermilion’s Harbour Town: A New Williamsburg? – 1970

Fifty years ago, the Journal was examining the idea of Vermilion becoming another Williamsburg.

At that time, Vermilion was three years into the planning process of revitalizing its central business district with the historic (and tourist-friendly) theme of “Harbour Town – 1837.” In the article below, the newspaper tried to draw some comparisons between the successful restoration project that took place in Virginia, and what Lorain’s next-door neighbor to the west was hoping to accomplish.

The article – which continues on the Urban Renewal theme from last week – appeared in the Journal on August 2, 1970.

I wrote about the "Harbour Town - 1837" concept back here and here.

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Can Vermilion Follow in Williamsburg’s Footsteps?

By TOM ONEY
and SHEILA McCARTY
Staff Writers

VERMILION – The “Friends of Harbour Town - 1837” know what the problems are with their plan to revitalize the city’s central business district. Now they are looking for solutions.

Tomorrow night, they will ask city council to enter into a second contract with the Lorain County Regional Planning Commission to come up with recommendations for solving them.

“We will present the request to council, with complete financing arrangements and ask them to proceed without city funds,” said Art Crow Jr., chairman of the city’s Chamber of Commerce Business and Industry Development Committee.

The second phase of the fact-finding report will cost $3,900, bringing the total to over $7,000 spent by the “Friends” for the surveys.

“WE HAVE several things in mind to raise funds,” Crow said. “Entirely without city help. We are not asking for tax monies,” he said. “We will present the request for the contract with the initial down-payment and a letter guaranteeing the balance.”

Crow said that he had been approached by a number of “reliable businesses” interested in investing in the project.

“I am hopeful that new capital can be raised through these investors,” he said.

Vermilion has a heritage that is sleeping in many existing documents and buildings – a history of a ship building, sailing and of a booming fishing community of the 1800s.

Captain William Austin helped make Vermilion one of the outstanding yachting centers on the Great Lakes. He built one of the first boats on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 which was called “The Friendship.”

THE IMPORTANT ship building industries were located just north of the Huron Street dock frontage near the water works and near the present Liberty Avenue Bridge. Evidence of these ship building activities has been found along the West Bank of the river in the form of wood chips, pegs and irons.

What many Vermilion residents have in mind is something similar to the restoration project at Williamsburg, Va.

In October 1780, Betty Harrison Randolph, the widow of the first president of the Continental Congress, made her will, providing for the disposal of the heirloom of two distinguished American families.

Today, a Williamsburg visitor finds the Randolph House remarkably well preserved, a white frame dwelling of ample proportions, its paneled interiors the finest surviving examples in town.

Guests enter the doorway where Peyton Randolph was once cheered by local militiamen as he prepared to leave for Philadelphia to preside over the first Congress; where French officers came to headquarters in the closing days of the Revolution; and where an aging Lafayette once addressed the people of Williamsburg on his farewell tour of America.

EIGHTY-FIVE other restored and reconstructed buildings are preserved in the Colonial Williamsburg area – following painstakingly difficult historical research.

Vermilion’s Harbour Town, its idea originating in 1967, is on the move. The hopes and dreams for the “Revitalizations” of the central city are moving slowly through the channels of city government, businessmen and private citizens.

The first problem survey, pointing to the problems of parking, traffic flow, decline of the downtown business area and land usage, was released this month following an almost two year study.

“What we need is parking,” said Paul Ludlow, owner of Ludlow Studio on Main Street. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

He, like fellow businessman John Muth, who operates The Ship’s Galley on Liberty Avenue, believes the program needs enthusiasm.

“I THINK it is a good idea, but you have to find the enthusiasm,” said Ludlow. “I was for this kind of thing 20 years ago, but basically there’s not many merchants left. What we really need is a new bridge – a covered bridge – with two more lanes,” he said.

“I’m all for Harbour Town,” said Muth as he was busily preparing steaks at his small restaurant. “I think all businessmen should contribute, however.”

The Harbour Town concept was characterized by Theodore Wakefield, who spearheaded the ‘revitalization’ beginnings in 1967. He now sees the ball he once carried being carried by more and more people.

“Its idea, in essence, is urban renewal via private enterprise in appreciation of its history,” he said. “It’s building an aura around a product or place that causes you to want to be there.”

The building where he has his office on Main Street was once a bankrupt laundromat. When an architect began tearing down the plaster and pine boards, large wood beams were exposed – bringing to life a sail loft of the early 19th Century.

“THIS BUILDING and office has been revitalized,” said Wakefield. “We have incorporated the beams with modern furnishings and have given the room aesthetic harmony.” The Sail Loft now houses professional offices and a modern French restaurant.

Wakefield estimates more than $450,000 has been spent in the Harbor Town area to date. This money includes construction of a wing at the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum, the revitalized Sail Loft and several other buildings on the corner of Main Street and Liberty Avenue and money spent by downtown merchants.

Also hired by private funds was Thomas A. Smith, a Bowling Green State University graduate student who is doing his master’s thesis on the history and heritage of Vermilion.

He will research the historical foundations of Vermilion through documents and then, according to Wakefield, historical markers will designate buildings of the area.

The small Virginia town, Middle Plantation, was renamed in 1699 and Williamsburg is now a “restored" city of 170 acres, 85 buildings, 100 families, 17 craft shops and 3,000 employees.

IT TOO developed slowly, but carefully. To date, over $83 million has been spent in the area and a million people visit annually. Were it not for such men as the late John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and a pastor with a sense of preservation, Williamsburg would have been killed by the asphalt jungle of our modern society.

Vermilion has no Rockefeller, but many people are uniting behind the Harbour Town idea hoping that others will have the foresight to see the city’s potential and save its business life.

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And here’s a follow-up article from November 1, 1970.

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As I have only lived in Vermilion for a few years, I am fairly ignorant of much of the city’s history and what has happened here in the last fifty years or so. But I have to say that I am impressed with the success of the Harbour Town project. There doesn’t seem to be a day that I drive through the Downtown area that I don’t see tourists poking their heads into the small stores and shops, or going into (or coming out of) the eateries.

Harbour Town 1837 Vermilion Ad – Nov. 1968

Part of the effort to restore the historical spirit of Vermilion 1937 consisted of an advertising campaign designed to draw attention to the progress.

The advertising framework above, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 12, 1968, became a familiar feature in the newspaper’s pages. Longtime Vermilion mainstays such as Elberta Inn, Kishman Fish Company and McGarvey’s supported the Harbor Town theme by buying ads, along with newer businesses such as the Harbor Store.

Thus the local businesses worked together under the Harbor Town banner to present a united front that strengthened the idea of Vermilion as a tourist destination.

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I had forgotten about the Harbour Store at 5542 Liberty Avenue until I saw its ad above. Here are a couple postcards of it currently on Ebay.

And here it is as it looked on Saturday (below).

I’ll be featuring a multi-post series here very soon showing Vermilion in postcards through the years.

Harbour Town 1837 Vermilion

Today, Historic Downtown Vermilion is vibrant.

It's a popular destination for many tourists who enjoy the wonderful collection of restaurants and shops situated in an authentic, historic maritime setting. New businesses (such as Brewed Awakening, a coffee shop) seem to pop up all the time, adding to the many reasons to visit or live in Vermilion. 

But this did not all happen by accident or chance. 

It took a long-term, financial commitment by public and private entities, a continuing marketing effort, plus the ongoing support of the community and tourists, to make it a reality. 

The article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 5, 1968, tells the story of the 1960s restoration efforts that contributed to making Downtown Vermilion what it is today.

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Vermilion of 1837 Comes Alive,
Through New Restoration Effort

VERMILION – Whatever happened to Vermilion of 1837?

To the heralded Firelands, the refuge of Connecticut residents who were burned out by the British?

To the “splendid” buildings?

To the harbor, “not surpassed by any place on the south shore of Lake Erie?”

The village left a legacy not only to its descendants but to the history of the Great Lakes. She is the home of no less than 50 lake captains, the birthplace of 42 schooners, four steamships, seven steam-driven tugs and three gas-driven tugs. Five fishing companies located on her shores.

Much of this is recorded in the Great Lakes Museum, some of it is related in history books, and some of it is captured forever within the walls of the great homes built by the settlers.

An effort to preserve the spirit of the village and to restore historic landmarks within her boundaries was introduced last year.

The concept is called “Harbor Town – 1837.”

The philosophy behind the movement is to subtract the bad, retain the good and add more good.

In a year, five projects have been completed – the north wing of the Museum, the Sail Loft with its professional offices and French restaurant and three stores, the Harbour Store, the Captain’s Chair and the Ship’s Galley. The restoration was done through private funds.

It is comparable on a small scale to the German Village in Columbus. The little German community was blighted and abandoned until private enterprise formed the German Village Society and began an extensive program of restoration and preservation. That was in 1960.

Today the village is a sought-after place to live. It attracts not only tourists, but families who once moved away and are now returning.

VERMILION'S historic downtown has also been neglected. Vacant storefronts have replaced the thriving businesses of the 1800’s. This isn’t a new problem in the village. As early as 1908 it is chronicled in Betty Trinter’s “The Way It Was,” that… "With better means of transportation, village shoppers were beginning to wander and local storekeepers were doing all in their power to avert this new evil. Stores stayed open six evenings a week and on Saturday nights, when the raffles were held, their doors were often open until 10 or 11 o’clock. As a further enticement, the Baumhart Drug Store was featuring Merchant Stamps."

The newest building in Vermilion’s downtown is the Fisher Block, built in 1913. Risk-capitalists have avoided the area ever since.

One remedy to the downtown’s plight could evolve from the non-profit corporation, Friends of Harbor Town, working jointly with the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce, co-chaired by Theodore D. Wakefield and Richard Gehl.

This group, working with the Vermilion Planning Commission, has asked the Lorain County Regional Planning Commission to provide a plan for the restoration of the old part of town. The plan would also include a population and economic analysis.

The cost of recommendations by the professional planners will be $6,344. In order to raise the money, the Friends of Harbor Town are sponsoring a $100-a-couple dinner at L’Auberge du Port this Friday. A few tickets are still available for the gala event. Reservations can be made with Mrs. David Shattuck at the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce.

SKEPTICS still ask, “”Why save an old part of the city?”

Friends of Harbor Town echo the sentiments of the German Village Society.

“We save it because we love it, because ‘This is our basis, our beginning.’ We save it because of our need to learn from the past, to remember our ancestors and to be proud of our heritage.”