Sandy’s E. 42nd St. Article – March 16, 1970

Earlier this week, I posted a 1970 Journal article about Tudy’s Spot Drive-in that was part of a special advertising section that the paper used to feature.

Regular reader and commenter Todd, who worked at the Journal, pointed out that the section was called the “Business & Industry” pages. As Todd noted in his comment, "The advertiser would sign a separate advertising contract that was for 20 weeks that included a business card size ad every week and 4-5 stories/photos over the contract period. If I remember correctly, these pages ran on Mondays. 

"We had a fellow on our ad staff that would go out and interview the store owners and take the photos. 

"This section was very popular while I was employed there in the 80s and 90s; however, I'm not sure when it officially began or ended.”

Anyway, the stories were very well-written and provide a nice snapshot of various local businesses during that time period.

And here’s another one from that same March 1970 time frame. It’s about Sandy’s and its chicken. This time, however, it’s the outlet out in South Lorain on E. 42nd Street off State Route 57. (Got to give it equal time, you know.)

Note that the article ends with, “Be Swift ’n Thrifty and eat at Sandy’s Southview Restaurant across from Southview High School.

Of course, fifty years later, Southview High School is gone. 

Thrifty savers, however, can bank their pennies at First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Lorain, which is located at Sandy’s old address on E. 42nd Street.

Arkansas Ave. House Demolition – March 11, 1970

The demolition of old buildings and structures has been a reoccurring topic on this blog for many years. I’ve written about demolitions that took place long ago, as well as many that are quite recent (no shortage of those).

I’ve featured historic houses (such as the Foote House, the Judge Henry Brown House, the Captain Aaron Root House) and not-so-well known houses (such as the Dembek farmhouse on Leavitt Road and the house at Kolbe and Jaeger, and some old farm houses on Colorado Avenue near Miller Road). Other structures include the City Bank Building in South Lorain, and buildings in Central Lorain that had to go to make way for senior housing.

There’s just too many demolitions to mention.

In recent years, the roll call of pulverized structures have included the original Lorain Yacht Club clubhouse, the old Oberlin Inn, a lakefront mansion in Avon Lake, Garwell’s Bait & Tackle, and even the Avon Lake water tower.

Too often the trend (in Lorain, at least) tends to be to tear down an old building that has been declared an eyesore, and then leave the lot vacant.

But apparently that idea is nothing new. Today’s post concerns the demolition of a house that was located at 112 1/2 Arkansas Avenue in Lorain. The article below appeared in the Journal fifty years ago today on March 11, 1970.

Despite the photo caption, I assumed the house wasn’t really 200 years old since it would pre-date the founding of the city by many decades.

So how old was it?

It’s hard to tell from the city directories. An address of 112 Arkansas Avenue was in the listings for many years before the 112 1/2 address joined it in the directory in 1950. I suspect they were both for the same house. 

Both addresses were vacant in the 1969 edition, and both disappeared in the 1970 book. Looking at the Historic Aerials website, only one house was torn down in that block during that time period – bolstering the argument that the home was originally just 112 Arkansas Avenue.

Nevertheless, the house next door – which you can catch a glimpse of in the photo – is still there on the street, at 116 Arkansas Avenue. In 1940, it was known as Pierce’s Convalescent Home, operated by Mrs. Pearl Pierce.

Anyway, today the location of the demolished home is largely empty, except for possibly a small addition to the neighboring commercial building that is currently for lease.

Passing Scene Surprise – March 7, 2020

Did you see it?

Forty-some years after it last appeared in the Journal, Gene Patrick’s Passing Scene comic strip made an appearance in the Morning Journal over the weekend.

The Saturday, March 7, 2020 edition included an “Another Viewpoint” feature written by Marcia Ballinger, President of Lorain County Community College (LCCC). The focus of the opinion piece was to encourage county residents to support Issue 17, which renews the original operating levy, along with an additional 0.5 mill.

About a third of the way into the article, it notes that at the time that it opened, "the Lorain Journal featured an editorial cartoon ... commemorating the gift for the public with the tag “From the people of Lorain County to future generations.”

The piece included the last panel from the Passing Scene comic strip of October 1, 1966 from my blog post of October 3, 2011.

Although it would have been nice if Gene's strip had been identified by name (as opposed to referring to it as an editorial cartoon), it was great to see his name and some of his artwork back in the Journal after so many years.

Tudy’s Spot Drive-in – March 9, 1970

Here’s another one of those types of features highlighting a restaurant or company that the Journal used to run on a special advertising spread. These pieces more or less masqueraded as a regular news article, but they were a great idea and fun to read. (The Morning Journal should consider reviving this particular gimmick.)

These features are nice in retrospect, because they usually say something about the owner of the business, and sometimes include a photo.

This one for the well-remembered Tudy’s Restaurant on Route 254, which ran in the Journal on March 9, 1970 – 50 years ago today – had both. Manager Art “Tudy" Diaz is mentioned halfway through the article.

Although the photo accompanying the article is a little dark, it shows the great neon sign design, (which unfortunately is becoming a lost art).

Anyway, I’ve mentioned Tudy’s before on this blog. This post from 2016 includes some photos of the building, a later sign, an advertisement and a photo of the owner, Mr. Diaz.

Nick Serbu's Tavern

Courtesy Dennis Lamont and Drew Penfield

In the years before French Creek Reservation was created, there wasn’t much out there on French Creek Road, except for farms and woods. But for a time beginning in the early 1940s, there was Nick Serbu’s Tavern.

And it was located right near the entrance to what would later be French Creek Reservation.

I had first heard about it back in 2011 from Drew Penfield, webmaster of Lake Shore Rail Maps, the internet home of the comprehensive history of the Lake Shore Electric Railway interurban line. Drew was researching a former Lake Shore Electric car (No. 178) that had been purchased by Nick Serbu of Lorain and used as a tavern.

Drew provided the photo shown at the top of this post showing LSE 178 at its new home. You can see “SERBU’S” on the roof of the ‘house' portion of the building. 

Drew knew the house had been located on French Creek Road, near Abbe Road; we just didn’t have an exact location – yet.

The vintage Lorain city directories provided some information about the business. From about 1942 until the mid-1940s, Nick Serbu and his wife Eufrasina operated the tavern. But in those days, the bar didn’t have a numerical address; indeed, French Creek Road wasn’t even listed in the directory; the tavern’s address was simply, “Lorain Road.”

It was several years later (in 2018) when I ran across the photo below in the Arcadia book about Lorain County Metro Parks.

The photo caption noted that, ”Some homes on acquired land are historically significant; some homes are not. Then there is this French Creek Reservation home. Simply called the Bogdom [sic] home, this house shows ingenuity and history. The rear of the home was actually a former interurban electric railcar.”

Now we knew that the house was on land acquired by the park district. Surprisingly, the photo caption did not make note of the tavern business.

The “Bogdom home” mentioned in the caption was actually the home of Mary Bogdan, the sister of Nick Serbu.

It remained for longtime blog contributor and researcher extraordinaire Dennis Thompson to tie up some loose ends with a visit to the Lorain County Records Center, as well as the Lorain County Auditor.

As Dennis noted, the 1930 Sheffield Township map did not include the Serbu name, but it did reveal a previous owner of the property: William A. Day. 

You can see the Lake Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad tracks indicated as crossing French Creek Road near what it today the entrance to the park. Yesterday’s blog post included a 1970 article that mentioned, “The Pine Tree site is in the Burrell Woods area of the park and will be reached from French Creek Road by an access road built along an old railroad spur.”

According to Dr. Charles "Eddie" Herdendorf of the Sheffield Village Historical Society, "The Lake Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad (LE&P) was formed in July 1903 to build a rail line from Lorain to Youngstown and eventually on to Pittsburgh. The 105-mile projected route ran in a direct line between Lorain and Youngstown, passing through Berea and Ravenna. It was not intended as a passenger route, its clear purpose was to form a direct link between lake industries and the coal reserves of the Mahoning and Ohio valleys. The section between Berea and Ravenna appears to have been completed early on, but the portion in Lorain County was not completed until 1917, in conjunction with the new Cromwell steel mill.”

But getting back to Dennis Thompson’s research.

Dennis found this 1962 tax map showing both the Bogdan and Serbu names on the property. (See area outlined in red on large map and rotated close-up map below.)

Finally, Dennis obtained two aerial maps – from 1952 and 1962 – from the  U. S. Geological Survey website. He indicated in red where the former Serbu’s Tavern was located.

1952

1962

Lastly, here’s the same area today.

Thanks to Dennis for sharing his findings.

French Creek Reservation Takes Shape – March 1970

Current Map (Courtesy Lorain County Metroparks)

The French Creek Reservation of the Lorain County Metropolitan Park District is one of my favorite parks.

Although I no longer live just a few minutes away from it, I make it a point to walk its wooded trails several times during the year, especially in the fall. The trails are just the right length if you don't have a lot of time to spare. Plus it's especially nice that the Pine Tree Picnic Area hooks up with the French Creek Nature and Arts Center on Colorado Avenue, if you feel like hiking a little farther.

But back in March 1970, French Creek Reservation was still being planned. The article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 1, 1970 provides some background information as well as a map.

The current layout of the main picnic area doesn't match the 1970 drawing exactly, but it's pretty close. Here are some aerial views, courtesy of Google Maps.

Manners Fish 'N Chips Ad – March 1970

It seems like Lorain was crazy for fish & chips back in March 1970. Or at least the restaurant chains thought so.

We’ve already seen that Arthur Treacher’s had just opened in Lorain at that time. And the Olde English Fish ’N Chip Shoppe on Oberlin Avenue had introduced the English delicacy to the local market the previous year.

Well, now it seems that Manners was trying to mussel, I mean, muscle in the fish & chips racket as well. The above ad ran in the Journal on March 14, 1970.

Unfortunately, bland typography and an unappealing description of the dish (“crispy golden coating over flaky, white-meated blue water fish”) doesn’t exactly make me want to reach for a bottle of malt vinegar. The realistic fish and lure clip art doesn’t do it for me either.

I think Manners did a lot better job with this October 1966 ad for good ol’ Lake Erie perch (even though it features the same fish art). It looks fun and you don’t have to squint at any fine print.

But then again, a real perch-loving Lorainite probably would have headed over to the Slovak Home if it was Friday.

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Manners has long been a favorite topic on this blog, including multi-part series on the Hoop/Manners Story, and The Restaurants of Richard W. Head.