East of the Black River (Lorain Part 2)

....and now the finale of the Black River posts. Sounds exciting, right?

In this post we will be exploring the East side of the Black River in Lorain.

The red line is the divider between West and East Lorain

So we will pick up where we left off, on the Charles Berry Bridge.

The Black River facing South

After leaving the bridge I rode South on Arizona Avenue to the old American Ship Building Company.

The Shipyards are now luxury condominiums with boat docks.

Ships of all sizes were built and launched here, including a frigate.

The bottom right of this photograph is where I took my pictures. Early 20th century picture. (Lorain Historical Society)

Ship before launch. Unknown year (Lorain Historical Society)

The Frigate USS Lorain was the only Navy warship to be built in Lorain. Picture 1944 (Navsource Online)

The American Ship Building Company was founded in 1898 and was one of the first industries in Lorain and served as the main yard for the company until 1984 when it closed due to labor disputes. This land is now being used for upscale housing as seen in the pictures above.

The "USS Lorain" (pictured above) was used during WWII and was decommissioned in 1946 after the war had ended. It was then sold to France in 1947 and renamed "La Place". The ship was sunk off the coast of France by a mine in 1950. (Navsource)

Another major ship that was built at the Lorain Yards was the bulk carrier "Roger Blough". This ship was state of the art and had a new style of unloader that could be moved out of either side of the ship.

Roger Blough being constructed (Boat Nerd)

The ship was supposed to be launched in July of 1971, but was delayed due to an  engine room fire that killed 4 shipyard workers.

Firefighters attempt to subdue the fire (Boat Nerd)

The ship was finally launched a year later on June 5, 1972 and is still in use today.

Roger Blough 2013 (Boat Nerd)

I snapped a few photographs of what I believe to be the only remaining original structures from the shipyards. One of them is a water tower and the other a huge brick building that is now used as a yacht club and a housing office.

This is the old water tower. I am unsure of how old it actually is.

This is the old brick building that I believe dates back to the beginning of the yards, with an updated facade.

The rear of the building though looks incredibly unchanged from what it probably looked like in the early 20th century.

Another structure with some history lies directly South of the old shipyards. It is the Norfolk and Western Railroad Lift Bridge.

The bridge stays lifted for ships to pass through until a train approaches. Also there is a tiki bar that I felt needed to be shared in the bottom right corner.

Boom! There is is!

So anyway, back to the bridge.

Construction of the lift bridge to replace the swing bridge 1974 (The Morning Journal). The red circle is where I took the picture from (can you see me waving?).

Another view before they removed the swing bridge in 1974. (Chronicle-Telegram)

The swing bridge for the railroad was built in 1907 to replace a previous swing bridge that was in disrepair. The lift bridge was built in 1974 and as you can see in my picture above, is still in use. These tracks were very important as they led directly to the rear of the Lorain U.S. Steel Mill (which will be covered on another post). It is not used as much anymore due to the mill not being as productive as it was during war time.

I then traveled back North to Lakeside Landing. There is no history lesson here, just a few pictures (I know your relieved, don't lie).

In the distance is the Lorain Lighthouse

Due to the lack of zoom on my phone's camera (and the fact that I haven't installed the rack on my bike so I can carry a real camera on rides), this is as close of a shot as I could manage. Luckily we have this fantastic contraption called the world wide web that has a plethora of magnificent Lorain Lighthouse pictures taken by real photographers.

Lorain Lighthouse 2013 (Boat Nerd)

Lorain Lighthouse 1920 (Lorain Public Library)

The current lighthouse was built in 1917. Before then the lighthouse stood on the mainland on the West side of the river. In 1939 the United States Coast Guard took over operations and actually had 3 men stationed in the lighthouse at all times. In 1965 the lighthouse was decommissioned and scheduled for demolition and was to be replaced with a new fully automatic light, but was saved by being purchased by the Lorain County Historical Society.

The end of my ride took me back to the Charles Berry Bridge and I thought of an old photograph that I had seen before that looked similar to one of my shots.

The swing bridge that existed before the current bridge. (Willis Leiter)

Aerial view of the old bridge (Lorain Historical Society). I took my picture from the red circle and the swing bridge picture was taken from around where the green circle is.

Swing bridges were all the rage in the later 1800's and early 1900's. The one that is pictured above was the third swing bridge and was built in 1900. It was eventually replaced by the Charles Berry Bridge in 1940. The Lake Shore Electric Railway ran across the old bridge, but since it stopped running street cars in 1938 tracks were not needed on the new Bascule style bridge.

LSE Car on the Lorain Swing Bridge 1934 (Ralph A. Perkin)

And there you have it. The major structures in the city of Lorain, Ohio summed up (well, besides the steel mill, but that's a post in itself). I hope you enjoyed what you saw/read and I will leave you with one last shot from the bridge. This time facing North.

It may not be as pretty as it once was, but it is still home.

If you want to be a nerd like me and read more about the history of Lorain visit The Lorain Public Library.
If you wish to learn more about the LSE in Lorain check out Lake Shore Rail Maps.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for a new city.