Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House Revisited

December 22, 1946 newspaper ad from the Lorain Journal

Back here in 2013 I did a post on Fior's Spaghetti House, which was located on old "Routes 6 and 2" at Vermilion-On-The Lake, nine miles west of Lorain.

Shortly after that, I received a great email from Jim Bearden, who grew up on the east side of Lorain in the 1970s and 80s, but now lives in Vermilion. He passed along some wonderful vintage photos, including a few that reveal how the Fior's restaurant building was altered in the late 1950s.

The photo below circa 1950 shows one of the people behind the family operation. As labeled, it shows "Aunt Fior (on the left) and a waitress."

Another photo was dated July 6, 1950 (below) and shows the same two people and car in front of the Lake Road Spaghetti House.

As Jim noted, the note on the back of the photo stated, "This is the 'old' front of the building. It was moved when Lake Road was widened. Apparently they removed the front of the building and put it directly behind the store on Overlook Drive."

This unusual color photo (below) explains it all. The 'old front' of the building is shown in its new home around the corner on Overlook Road. (It's the building that appears bright blue.) The "new" version of the restaurant building – with the big FIOR'S on the front of it – faces the newly-widened Route 6 and 2.

The "old front" of Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House – still sits on Overlook Drive today (below). Jim mentioned that for many years it housed a salon.

And, here's what the "new version" of Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House looks like today (below). It's now the home of the Driftwood Inn. As you can see, another addition has been added on the west side since the vintage color photo was taken.

Special thanks to Jim Bearden for sharing his photos and information with me. And a special apology to him as well for my taking so long to post them!

Fior's Spaghetti House Ad – June 21, 1955

The former Fior's Spaghetti House
(Now the Driftwood Inn)

I first mentioned Fior's Spaghetti House on Lake Road just east of Vermilion back in June (here) as part of my series on the various businesses on Routes 6 and 2 on that 1957 Vacation Map. Unfortunately, I didn't know very much about the restaurant. This ad, from the June 21, 1955 Lorain Journal, fills in a little more of the story.

The ad notes, "Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House was started in 1948 by Mr. Jacob Fior and Mrs. Anna Fior, featuring home style cooking with spaghetti as a specialty."

I'll have something about the Vermilion On-The-Lake Clubhouse and Dance Hall tomorrow. (I gotta dig out my shot of that thing!)

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It's funny that you don't see many restaurants any more that feature spaghetti, at least around here. I used to go the Spaghetti Warehouse when I lived in Columbus, and never realized that it was part of a chain. I thought it was the only one.

I know there's a restaurant in Port Clinton called Phil's Inn that's supposed to have excellent spaghetti. It's very well-known for its sauce.

I don't know about you, but reading all this about spaghetti reminds me that we haven't had it for dinner for months, and I'm going to have to do something about it (providing that have some garlic bread to go with it).

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Be sure to visit this additional post on Fior’s Spaghetti House.

Fior's Spaghetti House on Routes 6 and 2

There wasn't very much information available (in the Lorain Public Library, that is) about Fior's Spaghetti House, one of the businesses on the 1957 Routes 6 and 2 vacation map that I posted last week.

Since the restaurant was almost in Vermilion, it did not make it into the vintage Lorain City Directories, making it difficult to research. There's no date listed on the Lorain County Auditor's site either as to when the restaurant was built.

The small blurb next to the restaurant's location on the 1957 map stated, "Absolutely the best spaghetti this side of Florence, Italy." The text indicated that if you dropped in, you could plan on "shooting the breeze with Dick Fior." It also mentioned the "new building."

Here's the 1959 Lorain phone book ad (below).

A very helpful anonymous commenter on that post pointed out that Fior's Spaghetti House eventually became Hanna House. I did find a listing for Hanna House in the 1968 phone book.

Here's the 1970 ad phone book for Hanna House, also known as Hanna's Italian Village (below).

I'm sorry that I don't have any information as to when the restaurant became the Driftwood Inn. The anonymous poster thought that it had been the Driftwood Inn for the last 20 years or so. (Thanks for your help with this!)

Here is the building at 3674 Liberty Avenue today (below).

Overlook Road in Vermilion – Then & Now

Last week I did my much delayed post about Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House in Vermilion that included several vintage photos sent to me by Jim Bearden.

I held one of them back – the one shown above. It's a view of Overlook Road looking north from the Fior restaurant property circa 1950. As Jim observed, "I thought it was a cool shot since it was before the Vermilion On-The-Lake development was completed."

I thought it was pretty neat too, and drove out there this past weekend to grab my "now" shot (below).

In case you're wondering, I couldn't quite determine if the house beyond the tracks in the 1950 photo is still there today. There's a few candidates, but it's pretty hard to tell.

Vermilion On-The-Lake Clubhouse Then & Now

Yesterday I posted the 1955 ad for Fior's Spaghetti House, which also included the above photo of the Vermilion On-The-Lake Clubhouse and Dance Hall. Apparently Dick Fior operated the Clubhouse in addition to the Spaghetti House.

Vintage postcard

The Clubhouse was originally built in 1919 as a private community center for the Vermilion On-The-Lake lakefront development. The Vermilion-on-the-Lake, Ohio website (here) includes an interesting history of the Clubhouse through the years.

During the 1950s, the Clubhouse hosted a variety of popular bands. The two upcoming bands mentioned in the ad yesterday were Big Jay McNeely (spelled wrong in the ad) and Rusty Bryant.

Today, the Clubhouse is owned by the Vermilion on the Lake Historic Community Center Charitable Trust. It's available for lakefront wedding receptions or as a meeting place. Click here for more information.

Oh yeah, before I forget, here's my obligatory "today" shot.

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I played at the Clubhouse several times in the 1980s for either wedding receptions or dances with various big bands. It's a beautiful, rustic building, and the Vermilion-on-the-Lake website notes that the very trees that were cleared to make way for the Clubhouse were used in its construction.

Archibald Willard & Wellington – Ohioana/Spring 1965

My post on July 4th featuring a photograph of Wellington’s monument in memory of its war veterans reminded me that I had this article in my files.

It’s from the Spring 1965 issue of Ohioana: Of Ohio and Ohioans, which was a nifty little quarterly publication produced by the Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library Association. As its name implies, the booklet promoted and celebrated all things related to Ohio, including its history and culture. I have a few issues of the publication, which I picked up at a Friends of the Library book sale last year when the Lorain Public Library decided to unceremoniously dump its entire collection.

The Spring 1965 issue included two pages devoted to the various ways that Wellington had honored Archibald Willard, the painter of "Spirit of ’76,” including monuments and signs.

Note the photo of the monument honoring war veterans.

What interested me in the montage of photos was the small marker that was on State Route 58 in front of the American Legion Post in Wellington.

Along with the Uncle Sam mailbox, the American Legion marker was one of those Route 58 landmarks that I watched for whenever I went through Wellington.

The marker was there for decades. I even photographed it back in 2009 (below) when it wasn’t in the best of shape. By then, it was even missing the small Spirit of ’76 emblem.

Anyway, the marker's gone now.

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UPDATE (August 5, 2020)
Shortly after this post appeared on my blog, I received a nice email from longtime reader Jim Bearden. Jim noted, "When I read your blog about those markers, I thought they sure look familiar to me. I realized I drive past two of them 5 days a week. 

"The American Legion marker was moved to Route 18 (eastbound) near fairgrounds road. I’m not sure why or when they moved it, but it appears to be fully restored to its original condition. Strangely, they placed it directly behind another Archibald marker."

Jim even sent some photos (below).

"If you zoom in on pic #2,” he wrote, "you can see the American Legion marker in the background. Thought you might want the pictures for your collection.”

All of this stirred my interest, so I had to take another drive out to Wellington. It turns out that there is also an American Legion marker on State Route 58 (southbound) on the northern edge of town, in front of the Mercy Health Wellington Medical Center.

Typical bad through-the-windshield shot

At the southern edge of town on State Route 58 (northbound) there is the classic die-cut historical marker.

And I couldn’t resist photographing the two signs on State Route 18 that Jim wrote to me about.

Jim has helped me before. Back in 2013, he contributed some great photos and information about Fior’s Lake Road Spaghetti House in Vermilion, which appeared on this post. 

Thanks, Jim!

Four Winds Drive-in Grand Opening Ad – Oct. 1956

Many of us that grew up on the West Side of Lorain may remember that there used to be a Manners Big Boy down at the end of Oberlin Avenue where it meets Cooper Foster Park Road. The restaurant building was located on the northeast corner, where today there is a broad, sweeping turning lane for those heading north on Oberlin Avenue – with no evidence that anything was ever there.

Well, back in the mid-1950s, Four Winds Drive-in called that location home. The full-page ad (above) for the Grand Opening of the drive-in appeared in the Lorain Journal on Friday, October 19, 1956.

As you can see, the ad promotes the restaurant’s “authentic, old world recipe” pizza, “baked as it is in Sunny Italy... right before your eyes... not in pans, but on the tiles of our open hearth.”

The ad copy certainly wins me over. It notes, “In any language it means just plain delicious, for Neopolitan pizza is truly royal pastry. Though originated in the 17th Century, no one really knows when the pizza came to America, but all know it is the most popular of all Italian creations. Crisp, succulent, flavorful, aromatic, the pizza is either a snack or a meal.”

Four Winds Drive-in was an early player in Lorain’s pizza wars. Although Yala’s had opened in 1954, there were only four pizza places listed in the Lorain phone book in 1956 in that category: Four Winds Drive-in, Lusca’s, The Pizza House (located where Rosie’s Pizza is now) and Motto’s Pizza & Spaghetti House. (By the time of the 1957 book, the listings also included Giovanni’s, Fior’s Lake Road Spaghetti House and DeLuca Bakery.)

Here’s the 1956 phone book ad for Four Winds Drive-in.

By 1958, the Four Winds Drive-in had become the fourth location of Richard Head’s burgeoning empire of Hoop Restaurants. But as you can see from the ad below from the 1958 phone book, the Hoop still featured the popular Four Winds Pizza.

By 1961, the Hoop was still promoting its pizza in phone book ads, but without the 4 Winds tie-in.

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Just as the Four Winds Drive-in was getting started on Lorain's west side in October 1956, the Hoop over on Henderson Drive was introducing a high-tech gadget. What was it? Stop back here tomorrow to find out!

1970 Vermilion Liberty Avenue Streetscape – Part 2

Continuing with my look at the businesses located on Liberty Avenue (U.S. Route 6) between Baumhart Road and The Pit, circa 1970, and what is at their locations today.

The Cheese House was located at 3509 Liberty Avenue. (It’s interesting that there were two cheese places within a mile or two of each other.) The building has undergone a quaint transformation during the past few years and most recently has been home to a salon.

Before the Remodeling (Courtesy Lorain County Auditor)

It’s nice to see the listing for Village Motel at 3537 Liberty Avenue in the 1970 directory and know that it has survived for so long (especially when all the motels in Lorain on Route 6 are gone). Today the motel is known as Village Inn.

Willard’s Gulf Service Station was at 3594 Liberty. For many years it was a Marathon station, but recently became affiliated with Sunoco. (For me, it’s been a place to pick up a newspaper and a Mallo Cup before heading home.)

Herb’s Union 76 was located at 3655 Liberty. Today, it’s not obvious at all that the building – currently housing Liberty Ag Feed & Supply (below) – was home to a service station.

Hanna House – at 3674 Liberty Avenue – has been mentioned on this blog before. It was preceded at its location by the popular Fior’s Lake Road Spaghetti House before becoming Hanna House sometime in the late 1960s. Today, the building is the home of Driftwood Inn. The Inn recently experienced a growth spurt during which the second story was significantly enlarged.

Ad from the August 27, 1970 Vermilion Photojournal

The newly enlarged Driftwood Inn

Another view of the newly enlarged Driftwood Inn

Gino’s Lounge was the business in the brick building located at 3700 Liberty Avenue. It most recently was the home of Blind Perch.

Next: The time machine trip continues

Lake Road To Be Widened – Jan. 31, 1955

Seventy years ago this month, the headline of the January 31, 1955 Lorain Journal had some big news that would impact countless businesses located on Lake Road (U.S. 6 and State Route 2) between Lorain and Vermilion.

"Three hundred parcels of land will be sliced this year and many buildings moved when the state highway department widens Lake Rd., extending 8.9 miles between Lorain and Vermilion," the article noted.

"The extensive slicing of properties, including some buildings, became known today when state highway officials revealed the highway will be widened from the existing 30 feet to 52 feet."

The widening of Lake Road really changed the landscape forever, completely wiping out some businesses that were located very close to the highway. Other businesses were isolated with the creation of those odd frontage roads.

The highway widening has been a regular topic on this blog, with posts covering a variety of aspects of it, including: reaction by highway property owners (including the Pueblo) to the announcement of the widening (here); how the Bohemian Tavern was affected (here); and how Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House was impacted (here).

Elsewhere on the front page: the first appearance of Dennis the Menace in the Journal; some Lorainites put their personal safety on ice (literally) by taking a stroll on frozen Lake Erie; and a former Lorainite makes the FBI's 10 Most-wanted list.