Bonnie Dell Motel Then and Now

Last week I mentioned the Perkins down on US 250 near Ashland as being a favorite Sunday afternoon destination. Well, the road that is now US 250 used to be one of the early alignments of the cross-country Lincoln Highway, and it was dotted with lots of small motels like the one shown on the postcard above: the Bonnie Dell Motel.

Although the motel portion of the property is gone, the brick building near the highway is still there, and we pass it every time we go to Perkins. Here's a modern view.

The back of the vintage postcard reveals that the motel was apparently operated by Mr. & Mrs. E. R. Emminger, and J. & Bonnie Garn, so we know at least where the 'Bonnie' in the name comes from. The back also states that the motel was at "Route 250 at Studebaker Monument."

Studebaker Monument? What's that – and is it still there? Stop back here tomorrow to find out!

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UPDATE (April 21, 2020)
Click here to visit my new post about the Bonnie Dell Motel, with reminisces and photos provided by the son of one of the owners.

From the E-Mailbag #2: D'Agnese Restaurant/Pizza

At the very end of my series on the Deutschof (which ran back in May starting here), I asked if any readers wanted to share a reminisce or story about a Lorain business they had a personal connection to.

Kelli D'Agnese responded with a nice comment about her family's restaurant legacy in Lorain.

Kelli noted, "My grandfather was Peter D'Agnese Sr. of D'Agnese's Restaurant. My father and his brother were in their late teens at the time. He also had a popular sandwich shop on Root Road in the 70's. Growing up people would always comment about the subs there."

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D'Agnese Restaurant and Lounge was one of the businesses that was at the former Deutschof location at 651 Broadway.

D'Agnese's Pizza was located at 916 Root Road, which is still kind of unbelievable to me. If you drive past the location today, all you see are houses (which makes you wonder what kind of zoning was in place back then that allowed a business there). But I do remember getting subs there around 1978 or '79 – and they were really excellent. (They were the first hot subs I ever had, after growing up on cold cut subs from Meyer Goldberg's.)

Here's a vintage phone book ad for the D'Agnese Restaurant and Lounge.

And here's one for the pizza and sub business, circa 1977.

Thanks for sharing, Kelli! I'm sure many other Lorainites have fond memories of your family's restaurant and pizza & sub shop. Family businesses like yours were the heart of Lorain in its glory days.

I also believe that family businesses have to make a comeback for this city and country to ever bounce back.

October 1, 1966 Passing Scene

Readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of the old The Passing Scene comic drawn by Gene Patrick that used to run in the Journal on Saturdays in the 1960's and 70's, and here's another one. It's from Saturday, October 1, 1966 – 45 years ago. (Click on it so you can read it.)

The first panel of the comic mentions the classic Batman TV series that (according to this Wiki entry) ran on ABC for two and a half seasons. I just remember that it ran twice a week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and that my brothers and I loved it. (Here's a great blog with a list and pictures of all the TV show's villains.)

Also of interest is the October 1966 opening of my wife's alma mater, Lorain County Community College. Incidentally, I had no idea that it was the first community college in Ohio with a permanent campus, warranting an Ohio Historical Marker.

Perkins Pancake House

1966 Phone book ad

I don't go to very many chain restaurants, but there is one that I enjoy visiting every so often: Perkins. Nostalgia has a little to do with it, but I also really enjoy the food.

Like many other Lorainites, I grew up going to the Perkins Pancake House on North Ridge Road near Route 57. That particular location opened in the mid-1960's.

For my family, Perkins was a special occasion type of place. We usually went there when it was one of our birthdays – because if I remember correctly, the restaurant used to have a policy that your birthday dinner was free. They even sent reminders in the mail.

I ate a lot of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream there as a kid in the 1960's. (Now as an adult, I rarely order it – and when I do, halfway through I regret it! But I'll order it again, no doubt.)

As the years went by, my family went there less and less, and I more or less forgot about the place. The parent company tinkered with the brand a bit in the 1980's, even changing the name to Perkins Cake & Steak to entice the carnivore crowd. But the name change didn't help, and the N. Ridge Road restaurant closed around 1985. (It's George's Family Restaurant now.)

Later, I got reacquainted with Perkins by stopping at the one on US 250 near Ashland on the way home from Columbus. I've been to the one in Sandusky (which is very good) as well as the one in Avon – but the Ashland one is still the best. It's got the best service, best food and best servers. They've had the same hustling manager for years, and it shows. (Plus, I like the local clientele there – interesting country folk who pack the place on a Sunday afternoon and ask to sit in their favorite server's section.)

Anyway, I found this vintage postcard on the cardcow.com website. If my memory serves me right, the one on N. Ridge looked something like this.

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We stopped at the Perkins down in Ashland over the weekend, and enjoyed a fine meal as usual. It's the perfect Sunday autumn drive – about an hour one-way. Plus, you get to stop at Fin, Feather and Fur outfitters next door to the east, and Grandpa's Cheese Barn just behind the restaurant.

More Vintage Century Park Postcards

Here's a few more vintage pictures of Century Park, courtesy of the Black River Historical Society.

The beach shot (above) is scanned from the BRHS's Lorain Images of America book. The one with the view from the street-level vantage point of the (at left) is from the BRHS website.

It looks like that bath house was huge.

For a nice history of the park and dance hall, with special attention paid to the fact that the park was a stop on the Lake Shore Electric route, click here to visit the Lake Shore Rail Maps website.

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When I lived on the east side of Lorain during the 1990's, Century Park was a handy destination for a walk or jog. It's a nice little lakefront park, kind of a poor step-sibling to the better known Lakeview Park.

It's a little surprising that Lorain needs help maintaining such a small park.

Incidentally, the postcard publishers must have realized their error with the "Lake View Park" label on the Century Park postcard that I posted yesterday. A properly labeled postcard (below) turned up in a Google search.

Century Park Then & Now

I had seen this postcard before on several occasions, either online or in an antique shop. It's labeled "LAKE VIEW PARK BEACH, LORAIN, OHIO" and I had always thought that it depicted the pre-tornado Lakeview Park bathhouse.

However, the recent article in the Morning Journal about residents having to maintain Century Park on Lorain's east side (because the city wasn't) sent me looking for a vintage postcard of the park online. When this one came up, I disregarded it as being Lakeview Park – until I took a closer look and realized it was Century Park all the time.

Here's my shot from last night. (I couldn't duplicate the postcard view exactly because I was already at the far western end of the park.)

Here's a closer look at the Harbor House beach house to compare with the vintage postcard.

According to the above article, the beach house has been there since 1928.

Admiral King High School Memorabilia

During the dedication of Admiral Ernest J. King Elementary School, there was a nice display of Admiral King High School memorabilia, including an original dedication program (above). I like the simple layout and design, with the Admiral 'looking on' in spirit.

There was also an architect's rendering of the school (below).

Last but not least was a list of the school staff during that inaugural year (below).

I was surprised to see how many of my teachers during my years there (1973-1977) were there right from the very beginning, including Frank Hicks, Ben Cotton, Keith Larimore, Esther Lankenau and Ralph Pisanelli.

It was also interesting to see that the Lorain City School Superintendent that I remember as doing a great job, Dr. Joseph F. Calta, was the first very principal of Admiral King High School. Hopefully my beloved hometown of Lorain will get back to the idea of promoting from within – someone with roots in the community who cares about the city – as they search for a new superintendent.