Tornado-damaged House Then & Now

Here's another photo from that Lorain, Ohio 1903 Souvenir and 1924 Tornado book at the library. I recognized this house too and knew it was near Lakeview Park.

It's still a chilling sight to look at old photos showing the extent of the 1924 Lorain Tornado damage.

It's funny to think of it now, but as a young kid in elementary school, I used to worry about tornadoes a lot because of the 1924 Lorain Tornado. It probably didn't help that the The Wizard of Oz was on TV every year either, with its terrifying cyclone sequence! (The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado made it even worse – and proved that it could happen again!)

Anyway, here is the corresponding present-day photograph. Looks like that part of town healed pretty well.

Geo. L. Glitsch House Then & Now

Remember how last month I was looking through an old book at the library and saw the vintage illustration of the Gregg/Foote house? Then I decided to photograph how it looks now – and before I knew it, the whole thing escalated into something much bigger, involving a half-dozen fellow bloggers, researchers and history lovers. (The whole story is here.)

Well, recently I was thumbing through a copy of the Lorain, Ohio 1903 Souvenir and 1924 Tornado book at the library and saw some photographs of homes that were good candidates for a 'then and now' shot.

But this time, I knew for sure that the homes were still around. (No sense stirring up a big ruckus again!)

Here's the first one: the Geo. L. Glitsch House. Mr. Glitsch was with the law firm of Thompson, Glitsch & Cinniger, located in the Century Block.

I recognized this house immediately. I drive by it all the time, and strangely enough, it was across the street from where the Foote House was located.

Here is how the house looks now.

The house looks to be in well-maintained and in great shape. Except from a few porches that were enclosed, the house looks exactly like it did in the 1903 book.

Here's another shot taken a few days ago on a sunnier day so you can see some detail.

After the unhappy ending of the Foote House, in this case it's nice to see a grand old Lorain house survive.

Lorain High School Time Capsule

The whole 1914 Lorain High School Time Capsule story that has been unfolding during the last week is pretty interesting, don't you think? Here's the link for the original Morning Journal story.

Over the weekend, I hit the microfilm at the Lorain Public Library to see if there was anything interesting in the papers at the time the cornerstone was laid. The small article (below) appeared in the Lorain Daily News on Thursday, November 12, 1914. (Click on it for a readable version.)

According to the short article, originally there wasn't even going to be a ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone.

Another article (below) had appeared a few days earlier in the same newspaper. It sheds a little light on the contents of the time capsule.

The Lorain Times-Herald included this article on Thursday, November 12, 1914. (Sorry it's a little grubby – but it's still readable.)

Apparently it was a pretty bad day weather-wise when they laid the cornerstone, according to this account in the Lorain Times-Herald.

And here's the story from the Lorain Daily News about the ceremony.

Lastly, there seems to be a controversy brewing about the whole discovery of the time capsule last week! Click here to read the story in the Chronicle-Telegram!

Talkin' Turkey in the Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette

I was out at the Vermilion Farm Market this past weekend and noticed that there's still a short stack of free copies of the November issue of the Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette. In it, I have my latest article entitled The Wild Turkey: Fine Feathered Friend to Ohio's Pioneers. It traces the history of the bird in Ohio, and includes some interesting anecdotes by some Ohio pioneers about trapping and encountering wild turkeys.


In the article, I tell the story of how one pioneer watched the feathers fly when three hundred of the gobblers brawled right in front of him! (Hope he invited some of the losers to dinner!)


Anyway, if you're interested –  head out to the Vermilion Farm Market on US 6 soon and grab your copy! Or better yet, subscribe and you won't miss an issue! (My editor loves it when I say that!)

1960's Memories of Skyline Drive Wrap-up

Hope you didn't find my look back at growing up on Skyline Drive in the 1960's too self-indulgent! It was a pleasant walk down Memory Lane (East Memory Lane, heh-heh) for me, and it was nice to get it all down here before I forget even more. Thanks goodness my siblings have better memories than me – they're still coming up with stuff that I forgot to mention.

My sister recently emailed me and asked, "Remember hearing the peacocks over at the Davidsons'?"

I had to laugh. I had forgotten all about those peacocks. Yet we heard them every day for years!

Speaking of the Davidsons, I remember that sneaking onto their property (only to be chased off by their gardener) seemed to be a hobby of many of the thrill-seeking kids in the neighborhood.

Then there was the Skyline Drive Block Party, which my younger brother Ed remembered. It was shortly after we moved in, during the warmer months. The street was blocked off at Marshall Avenue, tables were set up and we had a big cookout.

It's funny to think of that now – a very quaint thing, the idea of getting to know your neighbors better.

But I'm sure my memories of Lorain back then aren't too unique. Every development and neighborhood has a history, a story to tell, by its longtime residents. It's a pity that we don't always remember to take pictures of things before they're gone.

There's been more change in many parts of Lorain County in the last few years than in the last thirty combined. You can drive by an old farmhouse for decades, and then all of sudden – it's gone! I've kicked myself time and time again for not snapping a shot of something that was demolished.

Anyway, be sure to document memories and stories of your neighborhood, especially if you have young children. They might find it interesting some day.

They might even use it in their blog!

1960's Memories of Skyline Drive Part 5

So far, I've talked a lot about things at the west end of East Skyline Drive. It's about time (as this blog series is drawing to a close) that I get to the east end of the street! That would be where E. Skyline Drive meets Palm Springs Drive at Willow Park.

This part of the neighborhood has gone through a lot of change since the mid-1960's. Back then, E. Skyline Drive did not connect up with W. 35th Street to the east. Since it didn't connect with Leavitt Road either, you had to access it by Palm Springs Drive or Marshall Avenue.

The aeroplat map from the early 1960's (below) shows why it didn't connect up with W. 35th Street. (Click on it for a larger view.)

The property outlined in red was in the way.

And what was on that property? It may seem hard to believe now, but that is where the Louis Hait Stables were located. The earliest city directory listing I could find was in 1964 at 1475 W. 35th Street. The last listing was in 1969.

I can still see the large barn on the property in my mind. It was towards the W. 35th Street end and the top of it was visible from Palm Springs Drive. I remember seeing horses there too, perhaps from some Willow Park vantage point.

Although I never ventured in close to get a good look at the barn, I happen to know someone who did – my brother Ken! He and a few pals checked it out on a few occasions.

Here are Ken's observations (right from the horse's mouth)!

"They referred to it as "Doc Heights' [sic] Horse Barn." It was dark, had stalls, and was full of horse crap.  As I recall, the building was in pretty good shape. We only went in a few times, it was hard to get to but I don't remember why, a lot of brush or barbed wire maybe. Also there was absolutely nothing to do in there, no horses.  It was pretty well hidden in the brush.

Anyway, the property was developed in the 1970's. Edgewood Drive was extended north from W. 38th Street across the property to meet up with W. 35th Street, and W. 35th Street was finally connected to E. Skyline Drive.

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Willow Park was the scene of a lot of memories in the late 1960's. There was the creek, that was fun to explore, and good for catching turtles, crayfish and minnows. Plus, Lorain had a really good Parks and Recreation Department back then, and I remember some great summer programs at the park. It seems there was always something going on – crafts, games, etc. –  to keep the local kids entertained. The summer employees at the park that coordinated the activities were really nice.

The playground equipment at the park back then (long since removed and replaced) was of the standard variety; a wooden carousel that you could spin around on (and get pretty dizzy) and the 'spring riders' that the small fry could bob around on.

The shot at left, while not from Willow Park, shows what I'm talking about. It's from a great flickr® site of vintage Ohio Spring Riders, which you can access by clicking here.

Willow Park, as many of you remember, was not only for play. The park and its well-known bridge over the creek was an important hub for getting to school.

Kids who lived over by Meister Road had to walk through the park to get to Masson Elementary and Masson Junior High; those of us who lived by Masson had to go through the park to get to Admiral King (unless you wanted to walk all the way to Ashland Avenue).

For those of you who walked to Admiral King through Willow Park, here's a 'virtual tour' down the ol' sidewalk, photographed this summer. (Click on each for a larger view.) Hope there's no bullies on the bridge!

Of course if you followed the sidewalk across Meister Road, you hooked up with the sidewalk that I knew as 'the blacktop' (discussed here).

You'll notice that the bridge looks a little different. Apparently it was replaced in the 1990's, judging by a dated plate mounted on it.

Willow Park is still an impressive neighborhood park, and it was well-maintained when I walked through it. Here's a view of the creek looking east from the bridge. (The creek looks like it's still in its natural condition, although not as deep as it used to be.)

And here's the view to the west from the bridge.

Here's what the park looks like these days.

And if you were going to head home, back up the sidewalk to Palm Springs and/or E. Skyline Drive, it looked like this.

The Louis Hait Stables would have been to the left of the white house at the top of the sidewalk, beyond its backyard and a wee bit south.

1960's Memories of Skyline Drive Part 4

When my family reminisces about the early years on Skyline Drive, thoughts and memories inevitably turn to a man we nicknamed, "The Farmer." I don't believe we ever met him, although we caught glimpses of him from time to time.

He lived at 3507 Leavitt Road (State Route 58) next to where E. Skyline Drive would eventually be built. It is my understanding that all of the land in the area had been part of his property at one time. The aeroplat map of Amelia Meadows seen in Part 1 of this series seems to confirm that all of the various lots were connected to each other and to where the Farmer lived.

He and his family lived in an old white house that was barely visible from Leavitt Road. We saw the back of it from our house, along with some ramshackle barns and other small buildings. The view to the west (across the field) from our kitchen window looked like this.

(Fortunately I had drawn it as a sketchbook exercise for my high school art class.)

Since the whole area was part of Black River Township until the late 1950's, it is difficult to research the property and its residents. I did manage to find one listing of it in the 1954 Lorain County Farm & Business Directory:

DEMBEK Leo M (Amelia: Dolores 14, Leona 19) Owner; 111 acres - general livestock poultry, 35, State Route 58 3507 Leavitt Road Lorain

My guess is that his wife's first name was lent to the Amelia Meadows subdivision.

The view never really changed from the sketch above, even when the new homes replaced the field and Temple Avenue was constructed behind his house. The old house and structures were just something that you got used to seeing, year after year, until you didn't notice it anymore.

Then one day, I saw this in the newspaper and my heart sank. (Click on it for a larger view.)

June 9, 1999 Journal clipping

I felt almost sick to my stomach. Not because something that I associated with my childhood was being demolished, but because the house was apparently one of the oldest in Lorain.

Here, the first time I actually get a good look at the front of the house, it's being demolished. What I would have given to just walk through the house – or its grounds – before it was gone. I'm sure the property had a story to tell, through artifacts in the soil.

But that's the way it goes, especially in Lorain. Here is roughly the same view today. I wonder if the homeowners are aware of what was on that property before their houses?

Southeast corner of E. Skyline Drive and Leavitt Road