Lorain National Bank North Ridge Branch – Then & Now

Although I never banked at this branch of Lorain National Bank, located at the intersection of North Ridge Road (State Route 254) and Lake Avenue, I passed it many times on my way to Midway Oh Boy and Dog 'N Suds. I admired its architectural design.

Above is the ad announcing the impending Grand Opening of the branch. The ad ran in the Journal back on August 29, 1964.

Like many people, I felt somewhat wistful when Lorain National Bank was sold to Northwest Bank, and the 'Lorain' in its name disappeared forever. (I blogged about it here).

At least the branch was converted to a Northwest Bank branch. Here's a Google Maps view from 2019.

The branch's location, and modern consumer banking practices in general, probably led to its closing. With Midway Mall no longer a major destination, North Ridge Road not as heavily traveled as in the old days, and the convenience of online banking, there just weren't enough customers to keep it open. Eventually the building was for sale. Here's a 2021 shot from Google Maps.

And here's a 2023 view.

Happily, today the building is being used for its original purpose (rather than becoming a tattoo parlor or payday loan outlet) by Buckeye Community Bank, who did a magnificent renovation of the property.

By the way, I don't bank there – but I'm really impressed that Buckeye made the commitment to the community by having their own building, and beautifying that intersection by relocating from the shopping center.

Here's the story from earlier this year in the Chronicle-Telegram. (I would link to the Morning Journal more often, but every time I try to access a story online, I'm told I reached my limit - which is apparently 0 articles per year.)

Lorain National Demolishes Its Neighbors – July 23, 1972

Downtown Lorain's streetscape has changed so much over the last fifty years that sometimes it's good to be reminded of what it used to look like – even if you were living in the city most of that time.

Case in point: the photo and caption above, which ran in the Journal on July 23, 1972. As the caption notes, " The face of the city is ever changing. This time Lorain National Bank is demolishing two old buildings to provide off street parking for 30 to 40 cars for both its main and East Sixth Street offices. Access to the additional parking, which will be ready in a few weeks, will be through the alley behind Broadway. 

"The old buildings were the former Shane Furniture company, next to the bank, and the T. C. Metzger building, to the extreme right or south."

Today the streetscape looks like this (courtesy of Google Maps).

Of course, Lorain National Bank is no more, having become Northwest Bank – leaving First Federal of Lorain as the last of the local banks that still have 'Lorain' in its name.

New South Lorain Branch for Lorain National Bank – Jan. 2, 1968

Fifty years ago this month, Lorain National Bank was making preparations for a brand new branch in South Lorain at Pearl Avenue and 29th Street. Temporary quarters at that location would be utilized until the new building shown in the ad was completed.

It looks kind of like a college building to me.

Anyway, the finished building looks only vaguely like the building shown in the architectural rendering.

Courtesy Google Maps

Today, of course, the former LNB location at 2850 Pearl Avenue is a branch of Northwest Bank.

A recent view

Goodbye, Lorain National Bank

One of the news stories from 2014 that might have been missed by transplanted Lorainites in other states was the sale of Lorain National Bank to Northwest Bank in the middle of December. You can read about it here.

(I've mentioned Lorain National a few times on this blog, including this post about the opening of the Oberlin Avenue branch and this then-and-now feature.)

The loss of the "Lorain" name follows the trend of other local banks over the years. It has been many years since Lorain County Bank became PremierBank & Trust. PremierBank & Trust in turn was later acquired by FirstMerit Bank (which itself was the former Elyria Savings & Trust).

The various news stories about Lorain National's sale downplayed the name change, but I think it's a bigger deal than commonly accepted. The bank has been part of the business community in some form since 1905, and through the years became a symbol of local financial strength

While I'm happy that the local branches will remain open with no job losses, I'm disappointed that one of the few thriving enterprises with 'Lorain' in its name will soon lose that historic heritage.

1968 ad

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UPDATE (August  30, 2015)

New signage for the changeover to Northwest Bank was installed a few weekends ago. The removal of the old Lorain National Banks signage revealed some of the bank’s history.

Comments on Facebook seem to agree that the new Northwest sign is a bit on the puny side.

Remember my remark above that "the local branches will remain open with no job losses?” Well, while that was technically true, as it turns out, 99 local jobs ended up being lost in the headquarters as well as the operations center (which the Morning Journal covered here).

Lorain National Bank Grand Opening at Lorain Plaza – Sept. 8, 1961

I'm sure everybody remembers when Lorain National Bank had a branch at the Lorain Plaza. Well, here's the full-page Grand Opening ad for it. It ran in the Journal on Sept. 7, 1961, the day before the big event on Sept. 8th – 53 years ago yesterday.

The circus-themed ad has a nice rendering of the plaza branch, along with some very stylized cartoons of circus flunkies.

I used to bank at that LNB branch in the 70s, especially when I had my Money Mate card. Actually, I spent a lot of time at the plaza with friends while I was growing up, usually checking out the turtles and other pets at the W. T. Grant department store.

It's too bad that Lorain National moved out of the plaza when it did. I'm sure the space was much too small for it to stay, but the plaza was never the same as losing so many of its longtime anchor businesses.

Lorain National Bank Then & Now

I happened to be in Downtown Lorain on Wednesday afternoon and stopped at a light, when I looked up and realized the building in front of me was the same one as in the small National Bank of Lorain ad from the 1937 Brookside yearbook (that I posted yesterday).

So, of course I had to grab a shot while turning the corner (no one was behind me).

Although I don't bank at Lorain National Bank, I've admired this stately building for some time. It looks like a bank should, and gives you confidence that they're going to protect your money, in the same way their neighbor down the street Fifth Third does.

1968 Lorain Part 2

Here's an ad for Lorain National Bank from that 1968 Greater Lorain Chamber of Commerce promotional booklet. As a graphic designer myself, I find a lot of things about the ad kind of interesting.

First of all there's the bank's logo. Although it is somewhat generic, there is a powerful simplicity about it that seems appropriate, especially since at that time Lorain was quite an industrial powerhouse. (Since then, both Lorain National Bank and its competitor, First Federal Savings of Lorain have both adopted logos (at right) that emphasize the whole "vacation playland by the lake" aspect.

The thing I really like about the ad is the use of illustration. It's a nice little montage by some unsung commercial artist. Custom illustration (and photography as well) is certainly a dying art in this age where you can buy some pretty good stuff online for twelve bucks.