Al Doane Remembers: The Tourist Home at 1219 West Erie

Partial 1931 City Directory Listing of West Erie Ave. 

I received an interesting email from well-known Lorain historian and author Albert Doane concerning my post about the tourist home at 1219 West Erie Avenue. Mr. Doane has a unique perspective about the tourist home – because it was right across the street from where he grew up at 1224 West Erie Avenue.

"I knew the family very well," wrote Mr. Doane. "This home was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Smith H. Stone. The Stones had three sons and one daughter. Son John started work for my father's electrical business that was conducted at 1224 West Erie in the rear garage."

John Stone also figures in a cute story Mr. Doane relates about when he was born.

"John always remembered when he and my older brother Bob came home from school, John beat Bob into my house to claim that he got to see the new baby – me – first."

The former tourist home at 1219 W. Erie
(now demolished)

Smith Stone's tourist home was a busy place that was host to both celebrities and working men. 

As Mr. Doane noted, "I remember John Stone, son of Smith Stone, telling me that one time Al Jolson came to Lorain to do a show at the Palace, and he roomed at the tourist home at 1219 West Erie. John also remarked that in the summer, the Army Corps of Engineers would come to Lorain to do repair to the harbor breakwaters with a crew of men and their tugs, crane, and barges. There would be some men renting rooms at 1219 West Erie for the duration of their time in Lorain."

Mr. Doane noted that Smith Stone had other business endeavors besides the tourist home.

"Mr. Smith Stone had a cigar store Confection store in the basement of the Verbeck Theater at the time of its fire (December 1905). The Stone family made popcorn balls in the barn for sale on Broadway."

1905 ad from the Lorain City Directory

Thinking about the tourist home reminded Mr. Doane of other pleasant memories of growing up in that neighborhood.

The former Doane home
at 1224 West Erie Avenue

"I remember the constant running of the street cars on West Erie all the time, and the steady stream of trailer trucks traveling on the street," he noted. "Our dog never got hit by the trucks nor the street cars. West Erie was a nice street to live. It was a short block from the lake, where we kids grew up living at the lake most every day."

Although the tourist home at 1219 West Erie is gone, the barn behind it remains – and Mr. Doane has a memory connected to it too. 

"My brother Bob and Bob Stilgenbauer each built an 18-foot sailboat in the barn in the rear of 1219 West Erie, and, with the help of their buddies, lowered both boats by rope and sweat from the second floor of the barn to the ground."

Special thanks to Albert Doane for his reminisces.

The Story of Bob the Parrot – November 23, 1923

Well, it’s November already. Before I get down to business with some planned updates of past posts, let’s have a filler or two to buy me some time.

First up is a cute story from the front page of the Lorain Journal of November 23, 1923. It’s about Bob, a unique parrot owned by the well-known Doane family of Lorain.

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Lorain Parrot Calls For Dog That Died Long Ago
Remembers Friend He Talked To When In Sandusky-co

Every day for the last two years Bob has called in vain for Brownie, his playmate who died long ago.

Bob is a parrot who had reached the age of 33 years and is the treasured pet of Mrs. C.E. Doane, 539 Washington-av.

Brownie was a little dog who was Bob’s playmate when the two were pets in the home of Mrs. Doane’s sister, Mrs. Minerva Miller, Jackson-twp, Sandusky-co., who has passed away.

When but a year old bird in a California home, Bob was shipped to Mrs. Meade McIntyre, another sister of Mrs. Doane, at Lansing, Mich., as a present to her daughter. He remained at that home five years and then went to other homes of the Dundore family of which Mrs. Doane is a member.

A.W. Dundore, Burgoon, O., a brother of Mrs. Doane, was owner of the bird more than seven years. From there he entered the Doane household two years ago.

Sings “After the Ball”
Bob has many accomplishments. He sings and whistles the chorus of that old-time song, “After the Ball,” written by Charles K. Harris, Milwaukee, when most of the men and women of today were children. In addition, he whistles “I Wish I Was in Dixie.”

In the warm spring months Bob’s cage is placed on the front page of the Doane home which is passed by hundreds of school children on their way to and fro from school. It is then that the bird is in his glory, for he takes much pleasure in mimicking conversation.

Bob is a joker as well as a mimic. One of his favorite stunts is to turn dogs that are on the trail of their way to and from school by a shrill whistle they mistake for that of their masters.

No Chance for Burglars
The Doane home need never fear from burglars’ visits, for no matter at what time of the night members of the household enter they are greeted by Bob with a loud “hello” and a piercing whistle that awaken those who are slumbering.

When friends call at the home Bob insists on interrupting the conversation and assumes a hostile mood which vanishes when they depart. Despite Bob’s two-year residence in Lorain, the home of sailors, the bird has never learned to swear. Yet he repeats again and again, “Bob is a bad, bad boy.”

In the matter of food Bob is partial to that of his native state and clamors for fruit. Old age is taking its toll from Bob’s friendly nature. Years ago he greeted strangers in a pleasant way. Now he meets them with feathers rustled and many squawks.

When visitors depart Bob mounts his perch, smooths his feathers, emits ha ha’s and winds up whistling something that sounds like “Good-bye forever.”

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I found this article back in 2013 and forwarded it to local historian and author Al Doane. He thanked me for sending it. “I had heard talk about a bird in the house, but never had the entire story told to me at that time, as I was the younger brother that was always getting in their way,” wrote Al. “And now there is no one living who knew of and had seen the parrot.”

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So how does “After the Ball” go? Well, let’s hear (and watch) it sung by the man who wrote it: Charles K. Harris.

More Tornado-damaged Homes Then & Now

Clarmont Doane's house was on the left; at far right is the bungalow

I recently found online a terrific eyewitness account of the 1924 Lorain Tornado, as it was handed down in the Doane family of Lorain. It's called The Lorain Tornado of June 28, 1924 by Emily Grace Doane, as told to her daughter Jane Meitzke MacDuff. It's extremely well-written and really captures the fear and shock of what happened that day.

Of particular interest in the story is the fact that Clarmont Doane's house (which was destroyed by the tornado) was right down there by Victory Park at 5th and West Erie – the area that seems to always pop up on this blog.

The story also includes several interesting photos of the tornado damage, such as the one above. It shows the destruction of two homes – the Williams house as well as the Doane house to the right of it. Emily Grace Doane's story refers to the surviving house at the far right of the photo as "the bungalow" and marvels at how little damage it suffered.

Back here in the blog, I had mentioned these particular houses before. Local historian and archivist Dennis Lamont pointed out at that time that although two houses were destroyed at that location, three houses were rebuilt there.

Here's a slightly tighter "now" shot (below) of the same view shown above, showing the rebuilt Williams house, which partially obscures the two houses which replaced the Doane house.

The view is the south side of Fifth Street across from Victory Park

Here are the two homes that are crowded onto the former Doane property (below). The Doanes had sold the lot and built a new house on Parkview Avenue.

And here is a view of just the bungalow today (below). It's still a great looking house – and apparently tornado-proof.

Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter Now Available

The secret is finally out – and it's good news for anyone interested in Lorain history that wants to add an invaluable volume to their bookshelf.

Willis Leiter

The book Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter is officially on sale today from Arcadia Publising. It features the photography of Willis Leiter, who established a studio in Lorain in 1901.

Like many photographers, Leiter's business was creating charming portraits of local citizens that were suitable for framing. But much more importantly to today's historians, Leiter also documented the Lorain of the early 1900s – ship launchings, steel production, buildings, schools, churches, community events – through thousands of real photo postcards. Those postcards are the focus of the book, and with the best of them compiled into one volume, they provide rare, wonderful and unexpected views of Lorain.

The book was the labor of love of five people with the aim of bringing long overdue recognition to Willis Leiter: Albert Doane, Bill Jackson, Paula Shorf, Matthew Weisman and Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr.

The authors – (top row, from left) Paula Shorf,
Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr., Matthew Weisman, Bill Jackson;
(seated) Albert Doane

Albert Doane is the well-known local historian who helped found the Black River Historical Society (now known as the Lorain Historical Society). He helped compile Lorain Ohio, the first Arcadia Publishing book on Lorain, as well as being one of the authors of Lake Shore Electric, another Arcadia Publishing book.

Bill Jackson of Chardon, Ohio, has collected postcards for many years, with an emphasis on those produced by Willis Leiter.

Former Lorainite Paula Shorf of Concord, California is also a longtime collector of Willis Leiter real photo postcards. Paula regularly patrols Ebay in search of rare Leiter treasures to add to her growing archives.

Matthew Weisman of Elyria, Ohio is a longtime collector of Lorain Shipbuilding history and memorabilia. He also presents programs about Lorain Shipbuilding to historical groups. 

Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr., is a great-grandson of the photographer. He became interested in his ancestor's postcards when he saw a display of them at an exhibit depicting iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes.

How the book came to be is serendipity at its best.

Paula Shorf had been collecting Leiter real photo postcards since 2001 and had always hoped that he would get recognition for his work. At the same time, Paula and Matthew Weisman had been emailing back and forth about Lorain's shipbuilding industry, and the many Leiter postcards about that topic. A few years later, Bill Jackson – yet another Leiter collector – contacted the Black River Historical Society looking for information about the photographer. The Society put him in touch with Matthew, who introduced him to Paula. Before you knew it, the three were talking about writing a book. They were joined by Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr. and Al Doane – and finally all of the players were onboard to make the book a reality.

The book can be ordered on Amazon and through the Arcadia Publishing website. It will be available locally at the Lorain Historical Society (which is currently closed for the winter).

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As part of the celebration surrounding this book, my blog this week will focus entirely on Willis Leiter – his life, his work and even his former home on East Erie in Lorain. Plus, more about the book!

Early History of the Bait Shop

A 1930s view of the Lorain Yacht Club headquarters (at right)
with the Lorain Waterworks behind it
(Courtesy Al Doane Collection – Lorain Public Library)

As Al Doane pointed out to me yesterday, the small bait and tackle building down at Hot Waters that is going to be demolished has a pretty good historical pedigree.

The Lorain Journal of June 21, 1955 explained its origin in a story about water sports in Lorain County. It mentions how the Lorain Powerboat club was reorganized as the Lorain Yacht Club in 1927 and notes, “With funds from the old power boat club treasury plus money raised through the sale of subscription bonds, a clubhouse was built at Waterworks Park.

“John Dusendon, a popular Lorain small boat builder, and Dewey Moore supervised the construction of this building.”

1930s aerial view
(Courtesy Al Doane Collection – Lorain Public Library)

The article goes on to explain how the passing of L. I. Corthell, commodore of the Lorain Yacht Club in 1931, led to expansion of the building. He had left one-eighth of his estate to the Lorain Yacht Club and, as the article notes, “With these funds the clubhouse was expanded, the Bar and restrooms added and a permanent foundation placed under the building.

“This expansion took place in 1940 during Don Whyte’s term of office.”

In 1951 the Lorain Yacht Club purchased land on Alabama Avenue for a new clubhouse. As for its old one, “The club surrendered its old quarters to the Fraternal Order of Police in January 1953.”

So here you have a building that is Lorain’s oldest connection to its water sports heritage: the original Lorain Yacht Club headquarters. Plus, it has historical significance to the Lorain Fraternal Order of Police.

It not only needs to be saved and restored, it should have a historical plaque out in front of it.

Al Doane 1925 – 2021

It was very sad to learn of the passing of well-known local historian Al Doane.

I first encountered Al back in the 1990s at the old Spitzer Renaissance Hotel, where he was displaying a collection of vintage Lorain postcards. I was there with my parents, and was surprised when the gentlemen behind the event greeted my father by his first name (“Hi, Eddy!”). I guess everyone knew Al.

I officially met Al when I was just getting this blog off the ground. One day we were both in the local history area of the Lorain Public Library, and he struck up a conversation with me. He was doing some maintenance of his historical archives, which he had donated to the library to make them available to other researchers. His material filled a whole room of file cabinets. 

Al helped me a lot with my blog. In recent years, the first email of the day that I received was usually from Al, contacting me about something that I had posted on the blog that day. He was always graciously thanking me for writing about Lorain’s history, and usually provided some reminisce or information that I would then add to the post to make it more complete. There are many posts that were enhanced with Al’s generous help.

Al always wanted to share information with me. A couple of years ago, he invited me to his house in Amherst so that he could provide me copies of things he had in his home files that he knew I was interested in. I enjoyed the hospitality of Al and his wife that wintery night. He would also, right out of the blue, send me a package in the mail containing copies of old articles that he thought I might find interesting.

At least Al made sure that all of his knowledge of Lorain’s history would not be lost when he passed on, by collaborating on a series of books with his friends and fellow historians. (I wrote about one of them here.) There was even a book entitled, The Life & Times of Al Doane – Memories of Lorain, which he wrote with his friends Matt Weisman and Paula Short. 

Al was a nice guy and Lorain’s biggest champion of its history. He will be missed, and I offer my condolences to his wife and family.

Hole-in-the-Wall Part 2: the Claus Farm

1896 Map showing the two Claus (spelled Clause here) farms

While many local residents have fond memories of sneaking onto Hole-in-the-Wall beach near Oak Point as teenagers, the "other" Hole-in-the-Wall is much lesser known.

That's because as opposed to being adjacent to a resort area, this Hole-in-the-Wall was part of the Henry B. Claus farm, where Quarry Creek empties into Lake Erie.

Historian and archivist Dennis Lamont explained the story to me in several emails over the last few years.

First of all he pinpointed the location. "This is directly across from the little two stone graveyard on Route 6 between the power plant and the Fairlane yard sign. Before they rebuilt the road and filled in the valley, it was a pretty steep grade on each side."

Dennis pointed out that both the Nickel Plate railroad and the Lake Shore Electric Railway both had bridges over Quarry Creek. Both bridges had a built-in feature to allow the Claus family to access the lakefront.

"When the Nickle Plate came through, they had to build a cattle pass in the trestle so the farmers could take their cattle and horses down to the lake," Dennis noted.

According to Dennis, the Claus hole-in-the-wall was also the location of a terrible accident on the Nickel Plate Railroad. On July 17, 1912 an engine and baggage car were backing up from Lorain, heading west towards Vermilion to pick up a group of Crystal Beach picnickers. The cars jumped the track, and fell forty feet from the trestle into the ravine below.

Here is a Willis Leiter photograph of the accident. The view is looking west. The Lake Shore Electric Railway bridge is not visible in this photo, but it was just to the south of the Nickel Plate bridge.

The Claus family eventually lost their "Hole-in-the-Wall" beach access when Lake Road was improved between Lorain and Vermilion in 1933. But the family didn't give it up without a fight.

An article in the August 14, 1933 Lorain Journal and Times-Herald mentioned the Lake Road construction delay due to negotiations between the government and the family. It stated, "The strip now being improved cannot be connected at its west end with the present road unless the dispute between Henry B. Claus and the highway department is settled.

"The right of way is clear up to Claus hill, where the new road will join the old Lake-rd after cutting out several curves and hills.

"Claus wants $4,500, claiming that the new route will block off the present by-pass under the railroad and street car tracks, which allows access from his Lake-rd property to the beach. The state has offered $1,700. Efforts to bring the two together on a compromise arrangement are underway. G. A. Resek, attorney for Claus, says the case is near settlement.

Henry B. Claus eventually had to settle for less. The August 17, 1933 Lorain Journal and Times-Herald reported, "The last bar to the progress of the West Lake-rd. construction was cleared today with settlement of an injunction suit brought against the state highway department by Henry B. Claus, Lake-rd farmer.

"Claus procured a court order restraining the highway department from entering his property to locate a new section of the Lake-rd from Beaver Creek to Claus' hill. He asked $4,500 damages for this property to be confiscated by the state to lay down the new road. The state had offered approximately $2,000.

"The case was settled for approximately $3,000, it was learned today."

Here's an undated aerial photo showing the Henry Claus farm situated next to a widened Lake Road. At the edge of the photo, you get a glimpse of the culvert allowing Quarry Creek to flow under Lake Road. The photo was in a collection of photos at the Lorain Historical Society taken shortly before, during and after the construction of the Ford plant in the late 1950s. That's Old Lake Road winding its way down from the top of the photo.

Up until about four years ago, the Claus farmhouse still stood on the south side of  Lake Road just east of the small family graveyard on the other side of Quarry Creek.

Here's a 2011 aerial view (below).

And then suddenly – and quietly – the two buildings were torn down, along with the other buildings near the graveyard. Today there is no evidence that the farms were ever there – except for the two gravestones.

Here is a current Bing Maps view (below).

However, if you know where to look, you can see exactly where the "Hole-in-the-Wall" under the Nickel Plate Railroad bridge and the Lake Shore Electric steel trestle was located.

Al Doane and a friend visited the site in 2012 and took some pictures. He noted in an email, "The train workmen have marked where the hole in the wall is by the two painted white poles set in the Right-of-Way track bed.

Here is his photograph showing those poles.

Looking north at the location of Claus' Hole-in-the-Wall
(Photo courtesy of Al Doane)

Al also provided a great photograph showing how the filling in of the former ravine didn't entirely erase all evidence of what was there before. As seen in the photo below, according to Dennis, the stone part of the abutment is what's left of the Lake Shore Electric's bridge.

(Photo courtesy of Al Doane)

Lastly, here's what the location of Claus' Hole-in-the-Wall looks like today (below). Note the two sewer pipes emptying into the lake. As Dennis observed, "It's hard to imagine a wooden trestle on the Nickel Plate and an 180 foot long steel bridge on the Lake Shore Electric – along with Claus' cattle pass and a beach."

Thanks to everyone who contributed historical information and photos for these two posts.

Lorain Historical Society Open House

It was good to attend the Open House this past Sunday down at the Lorain Historical Society. The place was packed with visitors curious to see the remodeled first floor of the Moore House, as well as the museum's collection of historical artifacts on the second floor.

For me, the Open House was an opportunity to meet  – in person, for the first time – some of the fine people who I have traded many emails with over the many months while they helped me with research for my blog.

In this case, I had a chance to meet the authors of Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter – Albert Doane, Bill Jackson, Paula Shorf, Matthew Weisman and Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr. – who were busy signing copies of their book. They seemed to be doing a brisk business, so apparently the book has been a big success.

(They autographed my book, even though it was a (ahem) freebie advance copy made available for promotional purposes.)

I also got to meet Sheffield Village Historical Society Director Dr. Charles "Eddie" Herdendorf, who has been helping me with some research for an upcoming April blog post.

Anyway, these are exciting times for the Lorain Historical Society with the upcoming move of the archives and many of the artifacts to the former Carnegie Library.

It's a great time to join if you're not a member already. Here's the link to the Society's website.

The authors busy signing books: (from left to right) Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr.,
Matthew Weisman, Bill Jackson, Albert Doane and Paula Shorf

Live Like Leiter at Thorn Beach

I've done several posts about Willis Leiter, the Lorain photographer who documented so much of the goings-on in the city during the early 1900s through his work (featured in the book Lorain: The Real Photo Postcards of Willis Leiter).

One of the photos in the book is of Leiter's own residence (shown above), often referred to – and labeled on his postcards – as Thorn Beach.

Well, now's your chance to own a piece of history and adopt Thorn Beach as your address. The former Leiter homestead at 2447 East Erie Avenue is currently for sale. (It went on the market around the end of June.)

Here's the link to its Russell Realty listing on Zillow.com. Joe Lacinak is the listing agent.

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Paula Shorf, one of the authors of Lorain: The Real Photo Postcards of Willis Leiter recently sent me this charming postcard image of the property, depicting a July outing of the University Club a long time ago.

Willis Leiter himself is identified as standing in the back row on the left.

Note that Claremont Doane – secretary and treasurer of the Leiter Studio and uncle of Albert Doane, one of the authors of Lorain: The Real Photo Postcards of Willis Leiter – and his wife and children are listed as being in the photo as well.

And here’s my shot from late June, showing the setting of that club outing that took place approximately a hundred years earlier.

Lorain’s Tucker Automobile Dealership

Last week I did a post about 939 Broadway, currently the home of Dabu Restaurant & Cocktail Bar, and for many years the headquarters of radio station WLRO. I’d mentioned in my post that there was a used car business at that location run by Arlington J. Popp in the early 1940s.

This triggered the memory of local historian and author Al Doane, who contacted me to point out something very interesting: that Arlington Popp had briefly operated a Tucker Automobile dealership at that same location.

It was pretty brief. An ad for the Tucker dealership only appeared in the October 1947 and October 1948 Lorain Telephone Company directories.

A 1948 Tucker Sedan at the Blackhawk Auto Museum
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Now, in case you’ve never heard of it, the Tucker Automobile was a revolutionary car conceived by Preston Tucker and known for its innovative design. 

Despite this, the car had only a brief life due to many controversial factors, and only 51 were produced before the company closed. (Preston Tucker and his cars were the subject of Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.)

Al remembered one of the unique features of the car. “As the front wheels turned,” he noted, "the head lights also turned with the wheels.”

This is explained further in the Wiki entry on the Tucker 48 automobile. It states, “The most recognizable feature of the Tucker ’48, a directional third headlight (known as the “Cyclops Eye”), would activate at steering angles of greater than 10 degrees to light the car’s path around corners.” 

Not surprisingly – since so few cars were manufactured – Al remembered that the dealership “was never able to get one of the Tucker autos in their new showroom.”

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Al Doane was also able to tell me a little bit about J. Arlington Popp. Al reminisced, “Arlington was very much like a midget, very short in stature.

“He was so short that he would place a 2 x 4 to the car pedals so he could touch them and be able to control the car. He lived on Hamilton Avenue just to the west of Lorain High School.”

My mother remembered J. Arlington Popp as well, although she thought he might have been a dwarf. Nevertheless, Mr. Popp sounds like he was very well known character in Lorain, and successful at what he did.

J. Arlington Popp passed away on March 17, 1989 at the age of 75. He lived in Lorain all his life, and there were no survivors.

Meet Willis Leiter Part 2

The back cover to "Leiter's Souvenir of Lorain, O."
showing the 657 Broadway studio location

By 1909, Leiter had relocated his prosperous business across the street to 657 Broadway. (This location later became the home of Michael’s studio and currently houses Faroh’s Candy.)

From the new location, he published a pamphlet titled Leiter’s Souvenir of Lorain, O. The pamphlet contained photographs of many local area businesses and industry, plus a listing of the demographics of Lorain at that time. 

Leiter remained at this location until 1914, when he moved his business once again. His final move was across the street to 704 Broadway.

Due to its success, the Leiter Studio Company was finally incorporated in September of 1915. Claremont Doane, who was elected secretary and treasurer of the newly incorporated firm, was the uncle of Albert Doane, one of the authors of Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter.

From Lorain Daily News, Sept. 16, 1915

Around 1917, Willis Leiter left Lorain after 16 successful years in business in the community. He later made a career change – becoming a licensed chiropractor (along with his son Warren) and opening an office in Elyria in 1922.

According to the Ohio Obituary Index, Leiter passed away in January 1942 in California at the age of 77, and is buried in Clyde, Ohio.

Fortunately, an amazing photographic account of Lorain’s early history survives to this day – all as seen through the lens of Willis Leiter.

The Leiter Studio's 657 Broadway location today

Water Works Park

Late April 2017 View

The building that served as the Lorain Yacht Club’s clubhouse continues to be of interest to me.

Recently I discovered that it dates back to at least 1929. An article in the Lorain Journal on August 19, 1929 about the Lorain Yacht Club’s second annual regatta makes reference to it. It notes, “More than 200 visitors came by water to Lorain for the regatta, and many of them remained for the buffet luncheon and awarding of prizes at the club house, foot of Oberlin-av, at the close of the races.”

Although today we generally describe the building’s location as being at Hot Waters, in its early days it had another address: simply Lorain Water Works Park. That’s how it appeared in several issues from the early 1930s of Motor Boating – The Yachtsmen’s Magazine.

Water Works Park was featured in the book, Lorain: The Real Photo Postcards of Willis Leiter. The book included the photo of the lakefront park below.

The caption noted, “The huge brick chimney on the left was the location of the steam boilers that powered the water pumps for the city water supply. The park was located behind the Lorain waterworks on First Street at the north end of Oberlin Avenue.”

Here’s another vintage postcard view (below).

An internet search reveals that many municipal water works seemed to have parks adjacent to them. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of available information about Lorain’s park. It’s hard to know when the park was apparently lost to the expansion and upgrading of the Water Department facilities.

It looks like change had already occurred in these 1930s views (courtesy of Al Doane).

Today, the Water Works Park area is unrecognizable (below). The towering chimney seen in the vintage views is long gone, along with the older Water Department buildings.

But at one time, the property provided a nice lakefront park for residents, and a good home and address for the Lorain Yacht Club.

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Here’s a view of Oberlin Avenue and First Street from yesterday afternoon. As you can see, the tall building in the background is in several of the vintage photographs.

Tornado-damaged Homes Then and Now

Archivist and historian Dennis Lamont sent me this vintage A. B. Reinhart photo (above) of some homes damaged from the 1924 Lorain Tornado. They're located on 5th Street, right across from Victory Park, which fronts West Erie Ave. (US Route 6).

Here's my 'now' shot from this past Saturday (below).

He also sent me this neat graphic comparing the September 1924 aerial view with the current one. According to Dennis, the Doane home is the one that is leveled in the vintage photo. "It was replaced with two smaller ones that are there today," says Dennis.

Thanks, Dennis! I never get tired of looking at Lorain Tornado damage photos (despite the fact that as a kid, I was always worried about another tornado coming back to wipe Lorain off the map once and for all).