On the Trail of Trailer Parks – Part 1

Lakeshore Mobile Home Park (mentioned here on the blog last week) wasn’t the only trailer park located along that stretch of West Erie Avenue between Leavitt Road and the undercut. It was the last surviving one, but at one time that area was a real hotbed of trailer-related businesses.

Vintage city directories and phone books at the Lorain Public Library provide a nice timeline of how it all happened.

The 1947 Lorain phone book has one of the earliest listings of a trailer park. During that time period, they were apparently catering to tourists, as the phone book category was “Tourist & Trailer Camps.” The modern motel didn’t really exist as a concept yet; cabins and tourist homes were much more common.

1947 listing

Most of the listings seemed to be in the Vermilion area, including Cask Villa and Moat’s Cabins. The only place listed in Lorain was Hialeah Tourist Court at Stop 108 (near today's Lake Shore Colonial Apartments).

Here’s the 1948 phone book listing. By this time, Anchor Lodge Hotel in Lorain was open, and two trailer parks joined Hialeah Tourist Court at Stop 108: Lakeview Trailer Park and Lake Erie Trailer Ville (which advertised overnight and permanent guests).

1948 listing

The 1950 phone book is still heavy with tourist camps, but a few more trailer parks appear, including Wiemels Beach Trailer Park at Stop 107 (near the Elyria Water Works on West Erie Avenue today). 

1950 listing

By the time of the 1953 phone book, Robby’s Lakeside Trailer Park and Kelly’s Beach Trailer Park were also listed at Stop 108. Lake Shore Trailer Court (the trailer park that I wrote about last week) was listed at Stop 104. Trailer courts also were popping up in other non-tourist areas of Lorain, including Broadway at W. 36th Street.

Here’s the 1953 phone book listing. Note that the heading is now “Tourist & Trailer Parks."

1953 listing

The 1953 phone book also included categories for “Trailers – House & Utility” which listed companies that would sell you one. One of the companies was Thornburg Trailer Sales at Stop 108.

As the 1950s progressed, new trailer parks advertised in the telephone directory. The 1956 edition included listings for Ted’s Trailer Haven at Stop 111 1/2 and Carl Johnson Trailer Court & Restaurant at Stop 112. Note that Cask Villa had changed hands.

Veterans Day in Lorain – 1965

It’s Veterans Day, the U. S. federal holiday honoring military veterans, observed each year on November 11th.

It was originally known as Armistice Day, commemorating the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany which ended the hostilities of World War 1. It took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all veterans.

During the 1965 Veterans Day ceremony in Lorain, three local World War I veterans appropriately participated in the hosting of the American Flag at City Hall. Gust Schroeder, Vince Sofra of Amherst and Herbert Buchanan were the three who did the flag raising honors.

Read all about it in the article below, which appeared in the Journal on Veterans Day 1965. (Note the old Lorain Police Station in the photo.)

Also on that same front page of the Journal is an encouraging article noting the widespread public support for the men fighting in Viet Nam, despite the media’s publicity of the demonstrations against U. S. policy there.

Lorain Trailer Park Hits the Trail

Mobile home parks have been a common roadside site to anyone driving west out of Lorain on West Erie Avenue (U. S. Route 6). These unique communities provide casual and affordable lakefront living – that is, if you don't mind the occasional train rumbling close by.

The smallest mobile home parks seem to be most prevalent in Lorain and along its outskirts. Vermilion has a few big ones that look pretty nice, including Harbourtown and Shore Acres. And a few are located on the outskirts of Huron, including Queen Of The Lakes, and Vacationland.

Anyway, once you are used to driving by a mobile home park for decades, it's a bit jarring when it suddenly disappears. Only recently, I noticed that the Lakeshore Mobile Home Park property at 2928 West Erie (located just a little west of Chris' Restaurant) has been entirely cleared of its homes. Earlier this year I saw that a gate had been erected.

The mobile home park had been at that location since at least 1950. I found it in that year's edition of Polk’s Lorain City Directory listed as "Lakeshore Trailer Court." Mrs. Fern J. Isaac was the manager.

Here’s a shot courtesy of Google Maps showing the property how it looked for many years from Route 6.

And here are a few aerials, also courtesy of Google Maps.

Just as Sheffield Lake is slowly losing its cottages to new development (which I wrote about here), Lorain may eventually see more of these small trailer parks disappear.

Corner Drugstores Fade Away – Nov. 1968

Although I’m a regular customer of both Ohio-based Discount Drug Mart and national chain Walgreens, like many Baby Boomers I still remember when my parents got their prescriptions from a Mom and Pop drug store.

Since we lived on the west side of Lorain, Whalen Drug was our pharmacy of choice. It is pleasant to think back about going into the store as a kid (to check out the comic books) and being greeted by June, his clerk and seeing Mr. Whalen filling prescriptions.

But the article below, which appeared in the Journal on November 17, 1968 pretty much predicted the end for many of the local corner drug stores. There are many reasons explored in the article, including the lack of pharmacists willing to work for a small operation.

The article isn’t all doom and gloom, however. A more positive view is shared in the article by E. Joseph Shoemaker of Shoemaker’s Pharmacy, which was located at the corner of E. Erie and Kansas Avenues. He points out that “We’re in a profession as well as a service. We’re on call 24 hours a day. You don’t get that kind of service from discount stores.”

You sure don’t. Anyway, here's the article.

Lusca’s Pizza

Lorain has long been blessed with several family-run pizza parlors specializing in the real thing, with recipes straight from Italy.

It’s incredible just how many there were in the city during the 1960s and 70s. Although some cities might only have one or two dominant businesses, Lorain had at least a half-dozen longtime favorites, each with its loyal fans.

I’ve written about Yala’s, Selenti’s and Rosie’s here on the blog, mainly because I’ve eaten a lot of each of them over the years – and still do. Happily, they are all still around, along with Eliseo’s and Giovanni’s. Together, they help make Lorain the Pizza Capital of Lorain County.

I’ve also written about D’Agnese’s, Chicken Delight Pizza, and a family-run pizza joint in Avon called The Pizza Hut (not the national chain.)

But there is one well-remembered Lorain pizza that I never tried, although I have heard great things about it: Lusca’s. It was suggested as a topic here on the blog in a comment left a few weeks ago, and I thought it was only right to give it a little attention since so many people loved it.

Lusca’s first showed up in the Lorain City Directories in the 1955 edition. The original address was 2940 Grove, although by the time of its next listing it was at its longtime home at 2853 Broadway.

The original names attached to the listing were George and Mary Rufo. Within a few years the listing changed to Mrs. Mary and John Rufo.

A short history of the business appeared in Mary Rufo’s obituary at the time of her passing in 1990. It noted, “She and her husband attended a pizza-making school in Chicago and returned to open Lusca’s Pizza. Mrs. Rufo operated Lusca’s Pizza for 26 years, from 1954 until she retired in 1980.”

Here’s a great 1957 phone book ad featuring Mary.

1957 Lorain Phone Book Ad

As a Lusca’s fan noted in a comment left here on the blog, Lusca’s was ahead of its time in that it was one of the first pizza places in Lorain to offer delivery. The commenter observed, "They had a couple of brand new Volkswagen Bugs in the early 60's to do their delivery in."

Indeed, while other pizza parlors promised that their pizzas would be ready when the customer arrived, Lusca's was still the only one advertising delivery in its telephone directory ads in the early 1960s.

Here’s a simple phone book ad from 1961.

After Mary Rufo retired, Lusca’s Pizza apparently carried on for a few years, appearing in the city directory until its listing disappeared in the 1988 edition. The building was later acquired by its neighbor, American Slovak Club, which demolished the building sometime around 2009.

Woody Wins – Election Day 1965 & 1967

Well, it’s Election Day 2019.

I’m going to be busy, as I’m one of those volunteer poll workers who sit at a table and processes voters, asking them for a form of I.D., etc. It’s an interesting way to spend 15 hours (although every time I do it, I tell myself that it’s the last time).

Anyway, today the blog looks back at Election Day 1965. On that day, Mayor Woodrow “Woody” Mathna was re-elected, to his third term as Mayor. (I covered his victory in 1963 when he won his second term here.)

But back to 1965. The Journal photographer apparently stuck to Mathna like glue on Election Night, taking the series of photos shown below depicting his emotions during the evening.

From the November 3, 1965 Journal

Mathna’s victory also made the first panel of Gene Patrick’s "The Passing Scene” comic strip on November 6, 1965. I always liked Gene's simple caricature of the Mayor. The comic also shows that it was a tough election for getting anything passed that was going to cost the taxpayers more money.

From the November 6, 1965 Journal

I can see now why it seemed that Mathna was Mayor during most of my childhood. He was Lorain Mayor from January 1962 until January 1972.

Here’s the “Passing Scene” from two years later when Mathna won his fourth term.

From the November 11, 1967 Journal

Boy, that's an unflattering caricature of Joseph Zahorec. But he went on to enjoy a long career as Lorain Mayor, from January 1972 until January 1980, and then again from January 1984 until his tragic death in a car accident on New Year's Eve 1984.

And of course we also remember that Zahorec owned, operated and performed at the Lincoln Park Ballroom from the mid-1950s until the early 1960s.

South Broadway Extension Opens – Nov. 1967

If you grew up in this area in the 1960s like me, you’re probably familiar with the Lake Road being referred to in the old days as “6&2” – a short way of saying U. S. Federal Route 6 and Ohio State Route 2.

But at some point, it lost its destination as State Route 2, (although the lonely highway is still U. S. 6).

And the article above, which ran in the Lorain Journal on November 2, 1967 shows the actual moment when that happened. The article covers the ribbon-cutting ceremonies of two major highway achievements in Lorain County: the extension of South Broadway to meet Middle Ridge and the relocation of State Route 2 from Lake Road to the new, limited access highway.

The article is a little confusing. That new highway had been referred to in many different ways while it was being constructed. (I wrote about it several times, including these posts). But when the highway was finally done, State Route 254 was not one of the ways it was designated.

Looks like some nice hand-drawn maps courtesy of cartoonist Gene Patrick. After reading so many of his "Passing Scene" comic strips, I recognize his lettering!