Mari-Dor Beach Cottages Revisited

I love driving west of Lorain on Route 6, and enjoy seeing all of the old cottages that time has somehow forgotten. Not surprisingly, they've been the subject of numerous posts on this blog.

Back in 2011, I did a post on Mari-Dor Beach Cottages. The business had just celebrated its 150th year in July of that year, and the Morning Journal did a nice write-up of the event.

Well, late last summer I received a nice email from Doug Kishman, the fourth-generation owner of Mari-Dor Beach cottages in Vermilion. He wrote, "I just happened on to your site about nostalgia postcards and such.

"I noticed you have one of our 1964 cards on it. That particular shot was taken looking west down the long drive that the cottages are on and the lake is definitely on the right. I was 5 years old when that was taken, and I am standing playing tether ball in the picture.

Here's the postcard Doug was talking about (below).

Doug was nice enough to send me a few vintage postcards.

He noted, "One is from the entry back in the 1930's including the general store that used to be at the entrance. They found the cottages brought in more revenue, so they took the store, moved it lakefront, and started renting it as a cottage in the early 1950's."

Here's that postcard featuring the general store (below).

Doug also sent a few more vintage cards (below).

Doug revealed his future plans for the business. He wrote, "We're still in business and my kids (5th generation) have started to help out and hopefully will be taking it over when I can't do the work anymore. Business is very good and we have many families still coming whose parents and grandparents started coming clear back to the early 1900's. We've updated some things but tried to keep the feel of our nostalgic vacation get-away. We do have internet now though! Hope you enjoy these pics.”

My thanks to Doug for sharing his memories and postcards. Here's wishing Mari-Dor Beach many more years of success, and my hope that it continues to serve not only as an oasis for those desiring a timeless, relaxing lakefront cottage experience, but also a vacation from the stress and hassles of modern day life.

Here's the link to the Mari-Dor Beach website and Facebook page.

A 1970s view

Mari-Dor Beach Cottages

Here's a postcard of the Mari-Dor Beach lakefront cottages out on West Lake Road (US 6) in Vermilion Township. The Morning Journal ran a really nice story on Sunday (here) of the 150th anniversary of the place.

According to the fourth-generation family operator, the rental cottage community was named by his grandfather  for his daughters, Marion and Doris. Mari-Dor Beach has been run by the same family since 1861.

The business has a Facebook page (with plenty of photos), as well as a nice website.

The cottages are rented by the week and have no cable TV, no telephones and no internet! (It sounds to me like a great place for a vacation, but I'm not sure if my wife would agree!)

(By the way, I tried to get a 'then and now' photo of the place a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the view above is not from US 6; I'm pretty sure it is looking west, with Lake Erie to the right of the picture.)

So congratulations to Mari-Dor, and I hope the family continues to hang in there for their customers for many more years. It sure is nice to see that sort of commitment by both the business and their cottage renters in this day and age.