Lorain, Ohio

By The Black River Historical Society

The City of Lorain was incorporated in 1874 by the town council. It was named after the county, which had been named by Heman Ely, who thought the area looked very much like the Province of Lorraine in France. Lorain's location next to Lake Erie and the early arrival of the B&O Railroad in 1871 made the city a hotbed for industry. The Hayden Brass Works built a large plant on Elyria Avenue. Captain Thew, a ship captain on the lakes, developed an improved gear system for a steam shovel, and that started the Lorain Thew Shovel Co., which became known worldwide. Lorain grew tremendously in the 1890s. Construction of the Johnson Steel Rail Company started in 1894, and in just ten years, the population of the City of Lorain tripled. In 1894, the American Stove Works built a plant in Lorain, where they made heaters and furnaces. Three years later, the American Shipbuilding Company built a yard and launched hundreds of ships before it closed in 1984. Lorain, Ohio, certainly did its part during World War II; many men went into service, and Lorain produced its own share of heroes. The shipyard was also put to work by the government to build the USS Lorain, a frigate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439626993

The Black River Historical Society

As basic industry has shifted in America, the City of Lorain has been able to keep up. The area's tourist industry and the wealth of resources on Lake Erie continue to provide growth for Lorain. Join the Black River Historical Society on this photographic glimpse into the history of a fascinating American city.

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Charleston.

INTRODUCTION

Over 10,000 years ago the area that is now known as northwestern Ohio was covered with ice from the glacier that was hundreds of feet thick. That glacier ground out and formed the Great Lakes and leveled the hills into plains.

About 1,000 years ago the glacier had long since left, and forests covered the area. They were so thick that the normal way for humans to travel was by use of the water routes. Only 500 years ago Native Americans moved through the area, including the Delaware, Wyandot, Seneca, and Erie tribes. The Wyandots often lived in the area of a river they named the Canesadooharie, which means River of Black Pearls.

Early Europeans came to the area around 1533, when a French trader named Louis Vagard carved the date 1533 and his name in sandstone in the southern part of Lorain County. Much later, David Zeisberger, a Moravion missionary, started to establish a settlement at the mouth of Black River after he and his Christian Native Americans were forced to leave their settlement in Gnadenhutten. The Wyandots came and told them to leave the area and they moved to the Sandusky area.

Ohio became a state in 1803 and in 1804 Connecticut opened the land in northeastern Ohio for settlement by veterans of the Revolution. That caused many people to move to the area. In 1807 Azariah Beebe came from Vermont as a scout for Nathan Perry Jr. and established the first permanent settlement on the east side of the mouth of Black River. John Reid settled on the west bank of Black River in 1811 and built a trading post. Eventually, a post office was established that was named the Mouth of Black River. Later the name of the post office was shortened to just Black River.

By 1819 the first ship built here was the General Huntington, and that was the start of many shipyards on the banks of the Black River. The town was soon known for its shipbuilding.

The town was a shipping port for goods brought by wagon from the south to the port for transportation to the Lake Erie markets. To provide better transportation it was decided to build a plank road from the lake, south to Elyria. This toll road followed what is now Broadway to about Fifth Street, and continued south behind the present buildings to connect with Elyria Avenue near Seventeenth Street, where it went on eventually to Elyria, and by 1850, all the way to Medina, Ohio.

By 1834 the business people of the town, led by John Reid, decided that it was time to organize the town. A plat of the town was drawn and sent to the Elyria courthouse and forwarded to the State of Ohio. The plat listed the name of the town as Charleston. Within three years, the first steamboat was built in the town. Circuit-riding preachers built the first churches.

S.O. Edison built the first blast furnace in 1860 at the foot of Ninth Street. It lasted for only a few years before it burned to the ground. The town was beginning to diversify into different industries. In this same decade the town served as a way station on the Underground Railroad. Escaped slaves often were taken by ship to Canada.

With the coming of the first railroad, the B&O in 1871, the town really began to grow. The town council hired its first police officer, the city school system was founded, and commerce was gaining a foothold.

In 1874 the town council petitioned and became incorporated as the City of Lorain. The name was taken from the county. Heman Ely founded Elyria. He had visited the Province of Lorraine in France and thought it was very much like this area, so he chose to name the county Lorain County. An election was held in town and Conrad Reid became the first mayor of Lorain. He and his wife ran the Reid House, a hotel where the Spitzer Plaza is now located at the corner of Erie Avenue and Broadway. He died in 1883 and three month later, the hotel burned to the ground.

During the 1880s industry began to take Lorain seriously. In 1881 the Nickel Plate Railroad was the first east-west railroad to come through town. The Hayden Brass Works built a large plant on Elyria Avenue near Eighteenth to Twentieth Streets, which created 400 jobs. By 1888 Captain Thew, a ship captain on the lakes, developed a better way of loading and unloading ships. He developed an improved gear system for a steam shovel, and that started the Lorain Thew Shovel Company that became known worldwide.

During the 1890s Lorain grew tremendously. Tom Johnson owned a steel plant in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. When that famous flood occurred, much of his plant was destroyed. He decided to rebuild at a place where the coal from Pennsylvania and the ore from the Mesabi Range could meet. After visiting all the ports of Lake Erie, he decided to build his plant in Lorain. Construction of the Johnson Steel Rail Co. started in 1894. In just ten years, the population of the city tripled.

In 1894 the American Stove Works built a plant in Lorain. Here, they made heaters and furnaces. In St. Louis the company became famous for the brand name Magic Chef. Mr. Meacham of Lorain invented the Lorain Oven Heat Regulator, which was the first thermostat for kitchen ovens.

Three years later the American Shipbuilding Company built a yard and launched hundreds of ships before it closed in 1984. The yard built the first steel-hulled ship on the Great Lakes, the Superior City, and many 1,000-foot long lake freighters. During the Second World War, the navy had the yard build the U.S.S. Lorain, a frigate.

Lorain continued to grow during the following decades. During the Second World War, the industries of Lorain geared for the war. Many men went into the service. Admiral Ernest J. King became Commander of the Fleet and was responsible for all U.S. Navy troops around the world. Loften Henderson became a hero when he was killed as he lead his torpedo squadron against the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway. Charles Berry was a marine in the invasion of Iwo Jima. When a grenade landed in the