The Honor Roll in Washington Park

Back in June 1964, Lorain was making plans to replace the aging Honor Roll that used to stand in Washington Park (now Veterans Memorial Park). That's a photo of it above by Journal photographer Norm Bergsma.

Dismantling of the Honor Roll - May 1967
(Courtesy Loraine Ritchey)

The short caption that accompanied the photo in the June 17, 1964 Lorain Journal read, "Bearing the names of Lorainites who died in the service of their nation during World War II and the Korean War, the Washington Park Honor Roll is rapidly deteriorating and in need of replacement. Anthony J. Murello, inspecting the Honor Roll, and Michael Repas, foreground, looking over proposed plans for a permanent memorial, are co-chairman of a committee of the Lorain Memorial Association which will present plans at a meeting of the association at 7 p.m. tomorrow at VFW Post 451 Hall, 112 E. 19th Street. The present Honor Roll was erected by the Lorain Moose Lodge. Others on the committee with Repas and Murello are Mrs. Peter J. Carp, president, American Gold Star Mothers; Andrew Gall, a retired U.S. Army colonel representing the Moose Lodge; Joseph Stejno, clerk of the Lorain Park Board, and Francis (Toto) Kovach, veterans leader. The association meeting will be followed by a session at 8 p.m. of the Lorain Veterans Council at the VFW Hall."

It would be another three years before the Honor Roll was finally dismantled and replaced with the 12 foot monument that still stands near the fountain in the park today. (I wrote about it here.)

Here's a few other pictures of the Honor Roll through the years. It's a shame that it was taken down; it seems like a much more personal memorial to the fallen.

Amvets Joseph Mihalik and Joseph Nemeth standing guard in front of the Honor Roll on Memorial Day 1951
(Courtesy Lorain Journal)

That's Mrs. Louis Sivinski (left) and Mrs. Joseph Mihalik standing guard on Memorial Day 1963
(Courtesy Lorain Journal)

The Veterans Monument

I stopped by Veterans Memorial Park this past Friday to see what kind of shape the park was in after the recent vandalism (reported here by the Morning Journal). It looked pretty much the way it did when I stopped by a week earlier, except this time the fountain was working (see photo at top).

At first glance, the scene is attractive until you get closer. Then you can see the damage pretty well, with one piece of the monument missing and one torn loose. Strangely, the piece that was dislodged by the vandals is still on the ground in front of the monument (see photo below).

Veterans Monument on May 27, 2011

It's hard to understand why someone would do that. It's obvious they either didn't read the top of the monument (below) or if they did, they didn't care. I'd like to think they didn't read it.

Sadly, the park has a history of vandalism even though it is right across the street from the police station. I've been busy the last few months researching and compiling of a comprehensive history of the Civil War statue that used to be in that park for the Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette. The vandalism to that monument was pretty disgraceful as well, and the main reason you don't see it in the park today. More's the pity.

Anyway, here are the Lorain Journal articles that ran at the time the Veterans Monument was first installed and dedicated in May 1967. (Click on each for a closer view.)

Washington Park Then and Now – from Above!

Here's an interesting way to do a "then and now" – from the air!

The "then" photo is from the Images of America book. (Click on it so you can get a good look.) It shows Lorain circa 1937. Washington Park (now Veteran's Memorial Park) is pretty sparse; the trees are few and thin.

Walter A. Frey Funeral Home (which I blogged about last week) is pretty easy to find in the 1937 photo. It's opposite the park to the north and the Parkside Chapel is immediately to the right of the funeral home. The old Lorain City Hall is to the right of the chapel. If you really know your old-time Lorain, you probably recognize some long-gone buildings.

Is that a miniature golf course on the south side of Fourth Street, a half-block from Broadway? I'm going to have to find out!

I have two "now" photos. The upper photo is a recent screen grab from Google Earth, with my captions added so you can get your bearing. The second "now" photo is a screen grab from MapQuest. (You can tell the MapQuest map is more recent, because the demolished building on West Erie to the west of the City Center is still in the Google Earth photo.)

It's pretty fascinating to see how much the area has changed in more than 70 years. Lorain really changed the street configuration in that area by closing off Reid Avenue at Fifth Street (at that point Reid becomes part of the Meridian Plaza parking lot).

There sure used to be a lot of homes downtown!

Washington Park Then and Now

After blogging a few days ago about the old Civil War statue that used to grace the former Washington Park (now known as Veteran's Park), I decided to grab my camera and head over there this weekend to see what it looks like today.

I still remember riding my bike through here in the early 1970's. I don't remember the Civil War statue still being there (I'm sure it was long gone), but I remember that it was a nice, quaint park with Victorian-style light posts. Since the park was Lorain's original town square, it was a nice slice of history in a town robbed of much of it, thanks to urban renewal.

Flash forward to the early 1980's. 'Improvements' were made to the renamed park so as to accommodate various veterans' ceremonies. Unfortunately, the improvements resulted in paving over much of the park with the addition of a huge fountain and pavilion.

Today, the park has lost a lot of its ambiance. It appears that at least one of the trees in front of the Antlers Hotel are the same. 

I wish that the whole fountain area was torn up and replaced by green space again, with a brand new Civil War statue in the center. As we progress into the 2000's, I am afraid that much of this nation's history, specifically the Civil War, is going to be forgotten and probably rewritten. (My great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, so this is a subject about which I'm a little sensitive.)

But that's just my opinion. What do you think?

Civil War Statue in Washington Park Part 2

Here's a small article about Lorain's Civil War statue that appeared in the Lorain Journal dated May 5, 1952. It's a pretty amusing little prank – tame by today's standards!

I was excited just to see the photo of the statue in the newspaper. The statue looks like it was painted to make it more lifelike, and seems to match the appearance in the more recent postcard.

There isn't much information about the Civil War statue online or anywhere for that matter. The Images of America book on Lorain says that the statue was eventually taken down and given to the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry out on Route 6 in Sheffield Lake.

Last summer I paid a visit to the 103rd OVI since I was writing an article about it for the Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette. I asked them about the statue and whether it was on display somewhere on the grounds. Unfortunately, they told me that the statue had been in such poor shape that it was literally falling apart and was eventually scrapped.

Anyway, here's a link to a website on Ohio Civil War monuments that briefly mentions the statue near the bottom. And here's a link to an interesting discussion as to whether there is any significance as to what direction a Civil War statue faces.

Civil War Statue in Washington Park Part 1

Did you know that Lorain used to have a Civil War statue in the park across from Lorain City Hall?

There are a few vintage postcards that show it through the years. A reproduction of a postcard (top) dating from around 1908 appeared in the Images of America book, showing the statue atop an ornate fountain. A more recent postcard (from the 50's or 60's?) shows the same statue atop a simple pedestal (below).