What Happened to the O'Hara Turkey? Don't Axe! – Nov. 24, 1954

Thanksgiving as observed by the Lorain Journal in the 1950s and 60s often meant a front-page photo to celebrate the event. There was a variety of photo subjects: a cute kid eating a drumstick; children praying in church; a homemaker about to shove a turkey in the oven; a flock of turkeys; or maybe just a simple shot of a cornucopia or hands clasped in prayer. The photos were almost always cute and interesting, chosen to trigger feelings of faith and family.

That's why I found the photo above, which appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal on November 24, 1954, so hilarious. As the caption notes, "Seven year old Althea O'Hara, ax in hand, shows a 25 pound white Holland who's boss when Thanksgiving draws near. Althea, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vance O'Hara, 2308 Leavitt, is accustomed to seeing turkeys fall under the ax – her father operates a turkey farm. The smile comes from memories of how the turkey's father tasted last year."

Many people that are familiar with O'Hara's Beverage Spot on Leavitt Road might not know that the family business at that location was originally a poultry farm. I wrote about it and interviewed Ralph O'Hara back in a two part series (here and here) in 2017. And an earlier post in 2011 revealed O'Hara's "Poultry Past."

Ad from Nov. 19, 1958 Lorain Journal

O’Hara’s Beverage Spot Sleigh – Dec. 1960

Here’s a nice little article circa December 1960 about well-known Lorain business O’Hara’s Beverage Spot and its unique Christmas decoration: an 150-year-old sleigh.

The article ran in the Lorain Journal back on December 26, 1960.

What’s interesting is that even though it is shown on the roof of the building, the antique sleigh was going to be pressed into service once the owner was able to buy a pony.

Back in 2017, I interviewed Ralph O’Hara about his family’s longtime Lorain beverage store, which you can read here. Since then, Ralph and his wife have sold the business and hopefully are enjoying retirement.

O’Hara’s Revisited – Part 2

Vintage O’Hara Business Card from the early days

After my tour of the O’Hara’s property, Ralph O’Hara invited me inside his family home to enjoy a cool drink and examine some cherished mementoes of the family business.

This included an original business card that predated the Leavitt Road location (shown above) as well as some vintage newspaper ad clippings (below).

Here’s a 1963 photo of the Pearl Road Drive-in menu board that includes small promotional signs for the drive-in's suppliers, including O’Hara’s Lakeland Poultry Farm (at the upper left hand corner).

Ralph also had a few vintage shots of the store, including one from when Leavitt Road was under construction.

Another souvenir was a December 1971 copy of the Central Sentinel, the newsletter of the Central Security National Bank of Lorain County. In it was a nice capsule history of O’Hara’s Beverage:

“In 1945, Vance and Grace O’Hara started in business – this was right after Vance was discharged from the service. They raised chickens and turkeys at that time. Vance O’Hara bought the present site, then built a two-car garage where they conducted their sales transactions. At that time, there were no paved roads around the store.

“They later decided there was not much security in chickens and/or turkeys so Vance started a small grocery store. Grace was a bit skeptical about the store at first but he convinced her that this particular location would soon be that he called “the heart of Lorain.”

“After a few years of dealing in groceries, they applied for and received their liquor license at which time they added on another section to the store and at the same time started building their home.

“Grace said, “We had several opportunities to sell the business but held on.”

“Vance passed away in 1965 after a long struggle with cancer. Grace recalls that this was the same year they paved Leavitt Road. After Vance’s death, Grace assumed the double burden of running the store and came to rely heavily on her part-time employees. Her two children, Althea and Ralph, helped her out tremendously and as Grace says, “We did it together.”

“Grace built on another section to the store and followed through with the exact plans her husband has envisioned.

"When asked for advice to pass on to others who might be thinking of going into the grocery business, Grace said, “Be prepared to give a lot of hard work and time. You really must be dedicated and believe in yourself to be a success.”

“Grace O’Hara is very proud of the fact that her daughter, Althea, graduated from Ohio State and is now teaching the second grade at the Garfield school. Her son Ralph shows a great deal of athletic talent, playing offensive center and guard at Edison High School.

“On February 15, 1972, Grace will lease the store to someone else and take a long needed rest.”

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Ralph and I continued to chat about the timeline of the store. The service kept him away for a while, and afterwards he helped run the business in the 1980s.

He got out of it for a while when the store was sold, but he returned to the business in 2012. Once again, the O’Hara family owned the store and was back in charge of day-to-day operations.

Ralph is not sure what the future holds, but for now he really enjoys running the family business.

The store as it looks today, with new attractive signage recently added

It’s obvious that he and his family are proud that the business – one of Lorain’s oldest – has survived for so long, thanks to hard work and loyal customers that continue to “Hit the Spot” for their beverage needs.

The well-known O’Hara leprechaun sign

Special thanks to Ralph O’Hara for the opportunity to learn more about the history of his business, and my apologies for the long delay in preparing this post!

O’Hara’s Revisited – Part 1

O’Hara’s Beverage Spot as it looked in September 2016

On Wednesday’s post, I mentioned that there wasn’t much out there on Leavitt Road near W. 21st Street back in the late 40s and early 50s. But there was one business run by the O’Hara family that was in its early years, and is still around today.

You know it as the popular O’Hara’s Beverage Spot.

Ralph O'Hara

I had done a post on it back in February 2011 that briefly told how the beverage store business had started out as a poultry farm. But then last summer I received a nice email from Ralph O’Hara.

He wrote, "I want to thank you for the great history of my family business. My wife and I currently operate the business  and it is doing great. 

"I have spent all but ten years of my life on this property.  I am currently sixty-one. There are some other side stories about this property/business. 

"I would be more than happy to  tell you about them if you want to update the story.”

I couldn’t refuse an offer like that. And so – on one of the hottest Saturdays of last summer – I paid a visit to O’Hara’s Beverage Spot, where I enjoyed the hospitality of Ralph O’Hara and his wife, Beverly. 

I met Ralph in the store. Customers were coming and going, with regulars greeting him by name.

The store does a good business selling lottery tickets. “Did you know we’re the number one online retailer of Ohio Lottery tickets?” he asked proudly.

Ralph also pointed out that the store’s customers were not just looking for cold beer. His clientele actually have discriminating tastes in wine and craft beers.

After chatting in the store for a while, it was time for us to tour the grounds and talk about the history of the business. 

Ralph told me how his parents, Vance and Grace O’Hara, started their poultry business after Vance was discharged from the service. They raised chickens and turkeys.

Then they bought the property where the business is today. Vance built a two-car garage where he conducted his sales transactions.

That garage still stands today. Taking me behind the beverage store, Ralph showed me that the white portion of the building was the original garage structure.

We then walked to the rear of the O’Hara property where Ralph pointed out a white building (below) that’s currently used by a church. However, it had a very different function when it was part of the O’Hara poultry business.

“That’s where the chickens were slaughtered,” he explained.

Ralph also told me that at one time the grounds behind the store were known as O’Hara Park. There was a rental hall, and it was used for union picnics.

"Of course, they had to buy their beer from O’Hara’s,” Ralph smiled. 

Next: the rest of the story

The Poultry Past of O'Hara's Beverage Spot

Here's a place that should look familiar to Lorainites: O'Hara's Beverage Spot at 2300 Leavitt Road, just south of W. 21 Street. It's a real landmark on the west side of Lorain and has been for years.

Beverage stores usually don't seem that interesting, but O'Hara's has a surprising past. While at the library a few weeks ago, I found this article that tells a bit about the history of the store. It ran in the Lorain Journal on June 21, 1955.

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Poultry Farm Growing Big

A World War II veteran of the U. S. Navy, Vance O'Hara is the owner of O'Hara's Poultry Farm Store which he established in January, 1946, on a five acre site at 2308 Leavitt Road.

O'Hara became interested in raising chickens in the early 40's when his parents operated a small poultry farm in a barn in the rear of 887 W. 23rd Street.

He started in the poultry business in the city but zoning restrictions forced him to purchase the present site in 1947 on which he and his wife, Grace, erected a home. A large building comprised of raising rooms for chickens and turkeys, processing room and sales room was also constructed.

When O'Hara started his business, he had an inventory of 1,500 chickens and processed 100 per week. Today he has an average inventory of more than 4,000 chickens and 400 turkeys and processes more than 350 chickens and turkeys weekly.

The O'Hara's have erected several smaller buildings for hens and starting turkeys and have put up a run for turkeys.

Fresh poultry, whole or cut up, and eggs are always featured in the store operated by the O'Hara's at their farm.

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It may seem strange to think of a poultry farm at that location on Route 58 now, but for many years, there just wasn't much out there in that neck of the woods except for the airports.

I did dig a little bit in the Lorain City Directories to see what else I could find out about O'Hara's. For the first few years in the directory, the store was listed as O'Hara Lakeland Poultry Farm. By the mid-1950's, the store became O'Hara's Poultry Farm Market.

And when did O'Hara's apparently chicken out and switch from birds to brewski's? In 1961, O'Hara's Beverage Spot made its first appearance in the city directory.

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UPDATE (August 20, 2015)
Here's the Grand Opening ad for O'Hara's Poultry Farm Market that ran in the Lorain Journal on June 27, 1958. The big event was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 29th and 30th, 1958.

It's interesting to see the launching of the first version of the store that's still there today. I'll bet the chicken and fresh eggs tasted great.