Early 1960s Lorain County Property Tax Bills

Well, Lorain County property taxes for the second half were due a few days ago. (I hope nobody forgot to pay theirs!) 

Although I'm glad I don't have a mortgage to worry about any more, I miss the days where my property taxes (and insurance, for that matter) were part of that monthly payment – instead of coming in the mail as an unwelcome surprise twice a year.

Above you see two of my parents' Lorain County property tax bills – for the first halves of 1960 and 1961 – for the house they built at 1604 W. 30th Street in Lorain. The bills were part of a large box of old documents that I was recently taking to the Lorain County Collection Center on Abbe Rd. in Elyria to be shredded. I salvaged the two documents to examine them more closely.

What was interesting to me was seeing "W. J. Neuman Sub 2" on the bill, identifying where the property was located. W. J. Neuman (the subject of several of my blog posts) of course was the well-known dairy farmer whose acreage bordering Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road became a large westside housing subdivision that included the house my parents built. 

I noticed that the tax bills allow you to send a self-addressed stamped envelope so that you could receive a receipt. Mom did exactly that, obviously. A quick review of my current bill revealed that you can still do that in 2025 if you wish.

It's also neat seeing the old school technology used to generate the bills.

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The names of subdivisions are always interesting. I remember the first house I bought as an adult was on Lorain's east side on Nebraska Avenue, part of the Hoy Lo Mae allotment. At first I thought it was some kind of Indian name; later I found out that "Hoy Lo Mae" was derived from the first names of the developer's children.

Lorain Times-Herald Front Page – June 28, 1918

Back in June 1918, World War I still had another five months to go before Germany formally surrendered. 

But that’s not why I’m posting the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald of June 28, 1918. The thing that caught my eye is a little article entitled, “AEROPLANE LANDS HERE.”

As the short report notes, “An aviator was obliged to bring his plane to the ground this afternoon on the farm of William Neuman of Oberlin-rd.

“Great crowds gathered from all parts of the city and score of persons drove to the scene in automobiles. It was not learned what the trouble was that brought the machine to the ground.”

(Longtime readers of this blog might remember that the William Neuman dairy farm, located on the corner of Meister Road and Oberlin Avenue, has been a source of great interest to me. I’m still looking for a 1950s Journal article showing how the old farm house was moved from its spot on Oberlin Avenue to a new location on Meister only a few hundred feet away.)

Elsewhere on the page is the usual Lorain mayhem: a man arrested for attacking his son with a leather strap; a saloon brawl over an argument about a bottle of beer, ending with a man getting clubbed over the head.

There’s also a mention of the upcoming annual excursion of the Lorain shipyard workers to Cedar Point on the steamer City of Erie.

A Farm Mystery Solved – Part 4

Dennis was determined that the vintage photo of Annie Martin's farm get the proper "Then & Now" treatment.

"I can pinpoint exactly where the old photo was taken from," noted Dennis. "It was someone who parked their car on Jeager Rd and stepped over the fence. I have taken a photo from as close as I can get to that spot. 

"You can't really get there, the wetlands has replaced the tiny creek that was there and you would need a 20 foot tall ladder to get the exact photo. In fact, I did take a 6 foot ladder and stand it up at the roadside and climbed up to take my "now" photo. You can correlate many points on the old photo with the 1952 aerial including that point of trees by the left-most cow and the distant tree line."

Here's the photo Dennis took with his ladder.

I couldn’t resist trying to get in on the act myself, although I didn’t bring a ladder to get my version of the “Now” shot. So I ended up balancing my ponderous bulk on a guard rail post.

As you can see, it’s difficult to recreate the photo exactly with all of the underbrush. 

Here’s an aerial view. Dennis and I were shooting from Jaeger Road from where ‘X’ marks the spot. The large transmission tower is circled.

But getting back to Dennis’ commentary.

"Now there remains one mystery,” he observed. "What in the heck is the horizontal white line running in front of the farm everyone thought was a road? It isn't a road. Leavitt Rd is behind the house, as evidenced by the rural electric line you can see running on the back side of the buildings. It seems to have something to do with the fence line.

"So, what happened to the farm? This is a huge story. First of all, the buildings were removed when Leavitt Rd was widened. But the property has a long and hotly contended history since Anna died in 1964.

"She willed the property to the YWCA in perpetuity to be used only for the benefit of women and other humanitarian purposes. Unfortunately, the Y had little money to develop anything, let alone 65 rural acres. Within a few years they began appealing the court to let them sell it. It was fought by everyone, neighbors, other civic organizations, etc. They finally won in 1994 when the court ruled it could be sold to another charitable organization still fulfilling Anna's wish. The land sold to the Church of the North Coast for some $317,000 dollars. The YWCA when belly-up anyway.

"The Church did some things. They built a picnic grounds, a ball field and a scale model western town used at Halloween time. They planned to build a huge sanctuary there, something like 10,000 seats. They didn't. They decided to sell it. Here we go again. This time the citizens formed organized resistance groups to fight it, especially the people in Martin's Run. I spoke to the main organizer a few times. 

"Well, big money won out. The Lighthouse Village Corp (Home Depot, et al) won, because the courts ruled they could make other charitable contributions equal to the present value of Anna's farm.  The land sold for over 3 million. Lighthouse Village donated one million to future projects. Here is their take on it:

http://liberty-development.com/experience/lighthouse-village/

"I asked the citizen's group organizer if Lighthouse Village set aside any land, and how much of Anna's land actually meets her stipulations. She replied, "Not one square foot." By the way, the site of her house is a Starbucks.

"There were about a hundred articles in the Chronicle, and many in the Journal about the situation.

"So, it is an interesting story about that old photo, even without the drama that followed,” concluded Dennis.

I agree. Thanks for solving the mystery, as well as the great story, Dennis!

A Farm Mystery Solved – Part 3

In addition to his field work examining the transmission towers in Lorain, Dennis Thompson also “drove” the route on the internet via Bing Maps. While doing this, he compared their locations to some 1952 aerial views available on the Historic Aerials website

"Tower Blvd itself was not built until the 1960s and that has always stymied me. But what if the towers were there, before the road?” wondered Dennis. 

"I carefully followed the present day Bing aerial view and located each tower in turn. And I managed to find every one on the 1952 Historical Aerials, way before Tower Blvd was built. It just followed the path of the 1924 towers. They are hard to spot, but I located every single tower from South Amherst to Broadway.”

By comparing the photo from the Lorain Historical Society, the 1952 aerials from HistoricAerials.com and the Bing Map views, Dennis solved the mystery.

"There is only one spot where that photo can fit,” Dennis noted. "In fact, it is the spot I have always favored: the corner of Leavitt Road and Tower Blvd, filmed looking more or less north.”

Here is the 1952 aerial showing the farm, located at the bend in Leavitt Road, as well as the two towers. As Dennis mentioned, Tower Boulevard had not been built yet. The ‘X’ marks the spot where the photographer was standing when he photographed the farm in 1932. (But more on that tomorrow.)

So what farm was it?

"The farm is Anna Martin's, which the Martins owned from the early 1900s,” stated Dennis. “Compare the buildings to what is shown on the BRHS photo. Every building matches. You can make out the little outbuildings, even the back porch on the house.

"There is no question the photo incorrectly labeled as the Neuman farm is really Anna Martin's farm.”

Here’s a 1930 Black River Township map with the Martin farm highlighted.

In the interest of being thorough in his research, Dennis also contacted the Ohio Department of Transportation. 

"I finally got a friendly contact, who searched their archives and sent me the file of the blueprints from when ODOT widened Leavitt Rd.,” said Dennis. "The prints are very complex with dozens of elevation and layout lines, call-outs, altitude markings, etc that clutter it up. It took me all day to cull it down to the necessary lines.”

Here’s Dennis’ cleaned-up ODOT drawing in which you can how the 1964-65 widening of Leavitt Road completely wiped out the Anna Martin farm. The two transmission towers are also indicated.

Next: Then & Nows

A Farm Mystery Solved – Part 2

Photo scanned from the Arcadia “Images of America – Lorain" book

Dennis knew that the transmission tower in the photo of the mystery farm was the key to identifying where the photo was taken. Unfortunately, the photos I posted did not provide him with a very good view.

So Dennis ordered a proper scan of the full photo from the Lorain Historical Society (LHS) from their archives and was in for a big surprise.

“Aha!” exclaimed Dennis. "The photo in the book has been cropped, and the full picture reveals a lot.”

Referring to a comment left on my original blog post about the tower, Dennis noted, "First of all, one of Dan's readers wondered why another tower did not appear in the background. 

"The answer is simple: It does. It was cropped out!”

Here is Dennis’ new scan from the LHS showing two towers on the right side of the photo. You can see a lot more of the tower, as well as a second tower off in the distance behind the first.

Close-up of towers

Dennis studied the construction of the larger tower in the photo very closely, and then hit the road for some field research.

"I examined the closest tower very carefully and began driving the line, from where those types of towers began near Falbo Ave, to where I lost track of them south of Amherst,” he noted. "There are only two towers built like that one. The distinguishing characteristic is the additional horizontal brace at the top of the first bay, ten feet off the ground. Those two towers are the one where the line crosses Cooper Foster Park Rd near North Main St, and the one on Leavitt Rd at Tower Blvd. 

"Each location is a more stressed location. The one at Cooper Foster Park has an exceptionally long stretch to the next tower, and the one at Leavitt Rd is where the line changes direction and heads more south.”

Thanks to Dennis' meticulous attention to detail, he was able to determine conclusively where the towers are located.

Next: The Mystery Solved

A Farm Mystery Solved – Part 1

One of the longtime mysteries here on the blog involves this vintage photo, which appeared in the Arcadia Images of America – Lorain book. The photo was believed to be that of the old Neuman dairy farm in 1932, which was located at the northwest corner of Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road.

The problem is that the photo shows a transmission tower. There simply aren’t any near Meister Road, which made me wonder just where this photo was taken. (I explored the possibilities in this 2012 post, entitled "A Towering Mystery.”

It seemed to make sense that the photo was taken near Tower Boulevard, either near Oberlin Avenue or Leavitt Road, since the towers that are there today seem to be of the same style in the vintage photo. But I didn’t know for sure if the photo was even taken in Lorain.

Well, thanks to the tenacity of longtime blog contributor Dennis Thompson, we now know exactly where the photo was taken, and what landmark farm it depicts.

Here’s the story.

Like me, Dennis Thompson was intrigued by the above photo. "Dan had run the photo a few times,” he noted, "and generated lots of interest because it clearly does not match the Neuman farm that we can see in the older aerial photos.”

Here’s what Dennis is talking about. As you can see, the size and shape of the buildings in this 1924 aerial photo of the Neuman farm do not correspond with those in the other photo.

Dennis didn’t have a lot to work with in his hunt to identify the farm in the photo. "The only real clue was the high voltage tower in the photo,” he observed.

So Dennis began by looking into the history of the tower.

"Ohio Public Service started business in 1921 when Trumbull Public Service, Massillon Electric and Gas, Alliance Gas and Power, Lorain County Electric, and Utilities Construction Company merged,” he noted. "In 1922 the new company gained control over Ashland Gas and Electric and began to connect its subsidiaries by constructing a high voltage transmission system. By 1924 Ohio Public Service had purchased Sandusky Gas and Electric, Port Clinton Electric Light and Power, and Northwestern Ohio Railway and Power Company. Shortly after acquiring these companies, Ohio Public Service extended its high voltage transmission system to Toledo.

"So if the photo is accurately dated, that tower shown has to be one of the original high voltage towers in the area.”

Dennis believed that the tower was still standing, and he was determined to figure out where it is.

"I was going to find that tower if I had to walk the whole line!” he joked.

Next: Cropped out

More Davidson Musings

That's East Skyline Drive running horizontally across the photo, south of
the Davidson property. You can see where Marshall Avenue dead-ends.

I received an email asking about the status of the Davidson house today. It's still there (as shown above) – the estate is as beautiful as ever in its unique setting, sandwiched between the working class homes of Meister Road and East Skyline Drive. I believe it has been enlarged over the years.

In yesterday's post, I forgot to mention a few things. First, the peacocks. I can remember their unique squawks coming from the property on many a morning in the 1960s.

I also forgot to note that my father's favorite uncle – Uncle Ben – was in the same graduating class of Lorain High School as Everett Davidson.

I'm hoping that members of the Davidson family notice this post. Why? Because Lorain dairy farmer William Neuman's daughter (Phyllis) married Lorain attorney Everett Davidson. I'm hoping that a descendant may have access to some old photos or information about the farm, which was located just down Meister Road to the east.

I'm hoping someone in the family has a photo of the Neuman farmhouse being moved, or perhaps any other interesting tidbits about the Davidson home and how it came to be located on Meister Road.

Super's Sohio Grand Opening Ad – Aug. 17, 1956

Here's yet another Grand Opening ad for a business on Oberlin Avenue dating back from the early days of the development and growth of the west side of Lorain. This ad ran on August 17, 1956 in the Lorain Journal and announced the opening of Super's Sohio Service, which was located on the northwest corner of Meister Road and Oberlin Avenue.

Like all 1950s Lorain service station Grand Openings, this one featured free tumblers too!

The date of this ad is of particular interest to me, because I'm still trying to locate information about the old Neuman farmhouse (at left) that was moved a few hundred feet to make way for this service station. At least I know the service station was there by summer of 1956 – so the house was moved before then.

Before the service station opened, the Neuman family had already moved to a brick house further down Meister to the west. Unfortunately, I have been unable so far to find a newspaper article or photo of the old farmhouse being moved.

I wrote about all this about a year ago (here). Since then, I have looked through several years of mid-1950s newspaper microfilm trying to find something – to no avail.

So once again, if any of you have any ideas about all this, please be sure to post a comment!

A Towering Mystery

It's still driving me crazy wondering where that photo said to be of the Neuman Dairy Farm was taken.

The fact that there's a transmission tower in the photo – and one very close to the road at that – really convinces me that the farm in the photo is not located at Oberlin Avenue and Meister. There just aren't any towers in that area.

Besides, those towers tend to stay in the same place once they're constructed. They just don't disappear or suddenly get relocated.

What do I think? I think the tower in the vintage photo is still around – and either at the intersection of Oberlin and Tower Boulevard or Leavitt Road and Tower Boulevard.

Here's a look at each. Below is the intersection of Oberlin and Tower.

And here is the one at Leavitt Road and Tower (below).

Now, if the vintage photo really is of Leavitt Road, you might ask, "Okay, where's the tower off in the distance?" I already thought of that – and my answer is: it's hidden perfectly by that shade-providing tree!

What do you think?

Oberlin Avenue Farmhouses Part 1

(Color inset photos courtesy of the Lorain County Auditor's website)

Here's part of the 1924 aerial view of Oberlin Avenue that I've been using for my research on the Neuman dairy farm. At the top of the map you can see what is now W. 24th Street between the row of trees, and of course at the bottom is the Neuman farm property at Meister Road.

As you can see, all the farms are on the west side of the road. By comparing the 1924 aerial with some current ones from Bing Maps, as well as checking records on the Lorain County Auditor's website, I was able to identify all three of the houses. (Click on the photo for an enlarged view.)

I'm sure a few of them look pretty familiar to you if you're from Lorain. It's strange thinking of those three houses being the only thing out that way in the 1920s.

At the top of the photo is the brick house directly across from where George Daniel Field is now. Because of that landmark location, it's probably very recognizable to many Lorain Countians. It's also one of the oldest in the city, having been built in 1868.

I spent a lot of time in that house in the 1970s and 80s. That's because for many years, it was the home of the well-known Horner family: Edward and Betty, and their sons Doug and Bruce. Doug and I met as trombone players in the Admiral King Marching Band in 1974, and became good friends. For years after that, many happy times were spent at that house hanging out and visiting with the Horners.

I even sketched the Horners' house for Art class.

The unique house really became a symbol of friendship and fellowship. It always seemed to be full of friends old and new, and the Horners hosted many parties and simple impromptu gatherings where everyone always felt welcome.

Much later, Betty and Ed moved and ended up in Cleveland, where Doug is Pastor of St. Paul's Community Church. Sadly, Army Sergeant Bruce E. Horner lost his life in Iraq while serving his country, and Edward Horner recently passed away.

Here is the current view of the former Horner residence.

Tiller's Treasures: Neuman Dairy Bottles

Right on cue, I received an email this week from collector Jack Tiller. You might remember that he has that impressive collection of Lorain memorabilia that he is always happy to share with the readers of this blog. (I'm continually amazed that he is able to produce images of rare items that relate to what I am blogging about.)

Noting the blog's subject matter the last few days, Jack sent me these two images of Neuman Dairy Company bottles – one with J. Neuman as the proprietor (above) and another with J. H. Barres (below) as the man in charge. I guess I'll have to do some more research.

I was fairly surprised to see these bottles, because I was always under the impression that the Neumans were primarily dairymen that sold their milk to someone else who bottled it. But as these images show, the Neumans apparently operated a facility to bottle their own milk.

So far, I've only come up with one address for the facility, in the 1919-20 Lorain City Directory. It had Neuman's Dairy Company at 1002 W. 22nd Street. It's a residence now, with the Lorain County Auditor's website saying that the building dates from 1900 (which usually means before that).

Anyway, thanks again to Jack for sharing parts of his great collection!

William J. Neuman Dairy Farm Part 3

Here's another copy of the photo with the cows that I shot from the original in the BRHS archives. It enlarges with a little more detail than the one I copied from the Images of Lorain book, so you can get a good look at those buildings in the background.

Personally, I wonder if the 1932 date on the photo is correct. If it was 1922 instead, it might make a little more sense. Perhaps the buildings in the background had been torn down and thus weren't in the 1924 aerials.

And since yesterday, I've begun to wonder if that is really Leavitt Road in the background. (Note: It isn't, as noted here in a later post.)

Anyway, there's one final component to this mystery: the Neuman farm house.

My parents told me many years ago that an old farm house originally stood where the gas station is located on the northwest corner of Meister and Oberlin, and that the house had been moved slightly west down Meister Road.

The city directory seems to bear that out. A few years after the Neuman name was no longer listed at that corner, Super's Sohio Station appeared around 1957 – and a house appeared on Meister immediately west of the gas station. It originally was listed as vacant for a few years before receiving a new number address and a tenant – which might make sense if you consider that the house had been moved and would need some work.

The house is still there today (below), and seemingly of a different era than the other 1950s ranch houses next to it.

Was I able to positively identify the above house on the Neuman farm in that 1924 aerial shot (below)? It's hard to tell.

My go-to man down at the Black River Historical Society – Frank Sipkovsky – says that the grey house on Meister is the old Neuman farmhouse. So that's two votes in favor of that belief.

I'm currently trying to contact one of the families that lived in it to confirm it.

Until then, if any of you old-timers have any knowledge or memories of the Neuman Dairy Farm (or that house), please be sure to leave a comment. With the years rapidly passing by, information and recollections about things like this are rapidly fading away in peoples' memories.

William J. Neuman Dairy Farm Part 2

One of the things that has bugged me for a while is wondering what view of Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road was being shown in the 1932 photo of the Neuman Farm. There is that paved road in the background which I assumed was Oberlin Avenue, but was that Meister Road on the right?

To try and find out, I headed over to the BRHS to examine the original photo in their archives and see if there was any more information written on the back. Unfortunately, the photo was simply labeled, "1932 Neuman's Dairy Farm."

But then I remembered that Dennis Lamont had provided me with a collection of aerial photos of Lorain from 1924. Sure enough, there was the Neuman farm on the northwest corner of Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road (below). That's Oberlin Avenue running from north to south. (It's hard to believe that a gas station has been at that location since the late 1950s.)

Unfortunately, the aerial photo didn't provide any answers – it only made things more confusing.

The full 1924 aerial photo of the area reveals that all of the farms close to the Neuman property were on the same side of Oberlin Avenue – the west side. So I was unable to find a vantage point from which you could photograph part of the Neuman farm and have another farm in the background across the street.

Groan. The last thing this blog needs is yet another mystery.

Could the barn with the MAIL POUCH sign and other buildings be the Neuman farm? I doubt it. I was unable to match up any of the buildings in the two photos. The other elements of the photo of the cows grazing – the seeming junction of two roads, the electrical tower and the telephone poles – didn't help either.

Anybody got any ideas?

William J. Neuman Dairy Farm Part 1

The photo above, which appeared in the Black River Historical Society's Images of America book on Lorain, has fascinated me since I first saw it.

The caption in the book states, "This picture is from 1932, when there were nine dairies located in Lorain. Newman's [sic] Dairy Farm was one of them. It was situated on the northwestern corner of Oberlin Avenue and Meister Road. It seems difficult to believe that cows once grazed there. This farm was later turned into an airport and then a commercial and housing development."

The Neuman name had long been associated with that property.

The 1891 Lorain City Directory (the oldest in the library) listed Hermon [sic] Neuman as a farmer on Oberlin.

In 1905 edition, the whole family was listed, including parents Herman & Fredericka as well as Rudolph C., William J., and John W. Their address was the "Oberlin Avenue extension."

By 1909 the family dairy firm was known as the Neuman Brothers.

The firm had the distinction of being the only one that was in compliance with a controversial August 1909 ordinance requiring dairymen to test their cattle for tuberculosis. The ordinance resulted in a temporary milk famine when dairy farmers balked at the expense and cut off the city's milk supply. The issue eventually went to court and the city backed down, with the end result that Dr. Oden, the city inspector would make the tuberculine test of all cattle himself at no charge to the dairymen. The Neuman Brothers then asked that they be reimbursed the $140 spent on the tests, but according to the Lorain Daily News report, it appears that city officials were "unable to see how they could compel Dr. Oden to pay them for cattle tested a year or more ago."

By 1915, William J. Neuman owned the farm, and the 1915 Farm Journal Illustrated Rural Directory of Lorain County provided some information about it The directory listing reveals that the farm in Black River Township consisted of 25 acres, with 25 cattle and 5 horses.

Here's the list of dairies in Lorain according to the 1915 Farm Journal Illustrated Rural Directory of Lorain County.

Many of the 25 acres of the Neuman farm were later sold to become part of Port Mills Airport, which was dedicated on Saturday, July 27, 1929. But there was enough farmland left for William J. Neuman to continue to run his dairy farm well into the 1930s, according to city directories.

He also lived at the corner of Meister and Oberlin until the early 1950s (see listing below), when the commercial development along Oberlin Avenue began to really take off as discussed in the Hank Kozloski article last week.

1950 Lorain City Directory Listing

Next: Another Mystery

Hank Kozloski's History of Oberlin Avenue Part 2

Here's the rest of the article from the Lorain Journal of April 2, 1989 written by well-known Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozloski about the history of Oberlin Avenue.

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Widening Horizons Part 2

Oberlin Avenue grew from farmland into busy commercial center

Lowell Knizell, of the Lorain city engineer's department, observed that the widening has attracted offices, especially professional medical buildings.

The widening project from West 30th Street south to Cooper Foster Park Road was estimated to cost $1.8 million and actually cost $3.4 million. Knizell figures it would cost an estimated $7.75 million to do the project today. Work began on Aug. 7, 1973 and completed Sept. 12, 1975 with final acceptance by the city two months later.

Vlad Nickoloff, former Lorain builder now residing in Key Largo, Fla., recalled how the construction company once forgot to put up barricades and signs after pouring concrete.

"Some lady was shopping at Jay Jursinski's Food Market," Nickoloff said. "She wasn't paying attention when she pulled out of the parking lot and drove right into the wet concrete."

1956 Willow Hardware ad

Before construction began, Oberlin Avenue was best known south of Meister Road for the Neuman dairy farm, woodlands, the site where the Barnum and Bailey Circus pitched its tents, and at the far south end, a well-known night spot known as Old Stone Villa, which today has become TNT Antiques. In between, of course, was Airport Tavern.

Before Lorain Plaza was developed in the 1960s to anchor Oberlin Avenue at Meister Road, it was the southwest corner of Oberlin and Meister that set the pace. It began when Steve Navalinsky built Willow Hardware.

Robert Whalen saw the business possibilities and built Whalen's Pharmacy followed by Jay's Food Market, a business Jay Jursinski later moved further south. That would become Meyer Goldberg's Supermarket, then Gray Drugs and, today, Rite Aid Drugs. In quick order, other businesses appeared on Oberlin Avenue, first Lezber Floors, then Bob Nagy's Plastering.

Dom Rebman, owner of Rebman Recreation Inc. bowling alleys at the southern extreme of Oberlin Avenue, remembers the days long before developers began turning lush farmland along Oberlin Avenue into valuable apartment complexes.

1962 Reman's ad

"When I was a kid my dad was in the meat packing and grocery store business," he said. "He would bring me out here (where the bowling alleys are now located) to the farms to pick up livestock. It was a gravel road then.

His father later bought some of that farmland and built the bowling alleys. It was 24 lanes then. Today, with 48 lanes, it's the largest bowling establishment in Lorain County.

Knizell said he expects Oberlin Avenue to be almost "totally commercial within 10 years" even though a considerable portion of property is still zoned residential.

"The only request we have for rezoning now is from a doctor (Dr. Alexander Boye-Doe, presently at 2100 Reid Ave., Lorain) who wants to build his new medical offices on the west side of Oberlin Avenue just south of Westwood Drive," Knizell said. "Before the year is over, however, I expect many more rezoning requests."

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Oberlin Avenue at its southern end never did go completely commercial, despite the 1989 article's prediction.

The ubiquitous 'dollar stores' seem to be the only national chains interested in Lorain, and the Family Dollar in the old Meyer Goldberg's store and the newer Dollar General further south on Oberlin Avenue seem to bear out that point.

Hopefully the long overdue repaving of Oberlin Avenue will give that main north-south corridor of Lorain a much-needed shot in the arm.

Hank Kozloski's History of Oberlin Avenue Part 1

Here's a great article from the Lorain Journal of April 2, 1989 that's kind of timely in view of the current repaving of Oberlin Avenue. It's a nice history of that road, written by well-known Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozloski.

The article is interesting not only for the historical aspects, but also because of the late 1980s time frame during which it was written. At that time, Oberlin Avenue's property values were apparently going up. Now, more than 20 years later, the southern part of Oberlin Avenue sadly seems to be going into decline.

The article's kind of long, so I'll split it into two parts. Here's Part 1.

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Widening Horizons
Oberlin Avenue grew from farmland into busy commercial center

By Hank Kozloski
Journal Staff Writer

Oberlin Avenue from Meister Road south to Cooper Foster Park Road is a 1.7-mile stretch of residential and business activity in high gear.

Prior to 1953, when the building boom took off, the only attractions were the William J. Neuman dairy farm at the Oberlin-Meister intersection, a golf driving range and the Airport Tavern at West 37th Street.

Everything else was either woodlands or farms.

Not any more. Since Steve Navalinsky built Willow Hardware in 1953, at least 88 businesses – ranging from gas stations to medical office buildings – have altered the city's primary west-side artery into what many consider the fastest growing business area in town.

A vacant lot today might easily turn up tomorrow as a new orthodontist's office, a gas station, a pizza parlor. Property valuation has skyrocketed.

It has also become a traffic nightmare with rush hour testing even the most patient driver.

It wasn't always that way. Prior to 1940 it was a narrow gravel road which carried Model T's and horse-drawn wagons.

The biggest decade of business explosion was 1960-69, when 28 permits were issued. There were 23 in the decade 1970-79 and 15 from 1953 to 1959.

Only a dozen permits are documented from 1980 to 1988, but nine of those came during 1987-88, including five medical office buildings.

Three medical offices were built in the last year: Dr. Yun-Lai Sun Medical Building, 5295 Oberlin Ave.; Dr. Kumar Swamy Medical Building, 5065 Oberlin Ave.; and Dr. Yi-Wen Lai Medical Buuilding, 4520 Oberlin Ave.

Medical office locations are by far the most dominant with 19, followed by eateries and/or lounges (13), apartment complexes (10) and gasoline service stations (5).

The major growing pains occurred in two phases: when Lorain began annexation of what used to be Black River Township in the 1950s and with the widening of Oberlin Avenue to four lanes in the 1970s.

Making Oberlin Avenue four lanes didn't come easy. Most residents and businesses south of Meister Road, including St. Peter Church and School, fought it tooth and nail. They formed an association to combat the project and hired prominent attorney William G. Wickens Sr. to represent them.

"It resulted in a lawsuit involving the assessment of property owners," Wickens recalls. "The association met in large conclaves in the halls of St. Peter's Church to determine what they would do. They didn't want it."

The property owners felt they would bear the brunt of the cost to pave something that was going to be for the general public's use rather than for the homeowners, he said.

"They were going to have problems getting in and out of their driveways and traffic was going to be very heavy through there," Wickens went on. "It was going to create a hazard, they felt. The width of four lanes would be a problem for children crossing over to St. Peter School. Consequently, they felt imposed upon."