"A Good Place to Drop Anchor" (Vermilion Part 3)

In this final post for my Vermilion ride we will be taking a look at a few historical sites in the original part of the city known as Harbour Town.

The Vermilion River was first explored by the French during the late 1600's into the mid 1700's. This is where most of the names in the area derive from, including Vermilion, which means "red" due to the red clay in the area that the Native Americans used as paint. People started moving into the area in the early 1800's from Connecticut. During the American Revolution many homes were burned in that area and the residents were offered land in a previously unsettled territory. This new territory was known as the Firelands (for obvious reasons), and present day Vermilion was part of that newly offered land.

This sign is posted at the border of Lorain County and Erie County

The first house in the area was erected in 1808 at the mouth of the river. In the year 1820 Vermilion Township's population was listed at 520. In 1837 Vermilion became a village and is also when the look of present-day Vermilion started to take shape. The first industry in the city was shipbuilding, followed by lumber and stone shipping. Vermilion eventually became a city in the 1950's.

Top: Downtown Vermilion 1900. Bottom: Vermilion today, 114 years later. As you can see, besides the road it hasn't changed much. (Top photo credits: Dennis Lamont)

Bridges and Lake Shore Electric Station

The Current Vermilion River Bridge was built in 1928.

Top: Vermilion River Bridge 1928. (Pearl Roscoe) Bottom: 2014

Before the current bridge over the Vermilion River was built there were two bridges just to the South. One of the bridges was the original road bridge and the other was for the Lake Shore Electric Line.

This sign is located at the park that the LSE used to run through. It is now home to the Vermilion water tower.

Top: On the left is the original road bridge and on the right is the LSE tracks in the early 1900's. (Dennis Lamont) Bottom: How the same spot looks today. On the left the stones mark where the road bridge was and you can see where the rail lines were removed on the right cutting across the brick section.

Top: Southwest Fish Company. You can see the road bridge on the far left and the LSE tracks on the far right. (Pearl Roscoe) Bottom: Similar view today. Romp's marina now sits where SW Fish Co. once was. On the left you can see the crumbling road bridge abutment.

View from the other side of the bridge. You can see the old abutments for both bridges, road on the right, LSE on left.

There was also a Lake Shore Electric Railway station just East of the Main Street and Liberty Avenue intersection. It still remains today as an insurance agency for boats.

Top: LSE Station in the 1930's. (Vermilion Ohio News) Bottom: Similar angle today.

The original plaque still remains today.

Bottom Left: LSE Interurban Car passes Davis Brother's Pharmacy in 1901. (Dennis Lamont) Top Right: Same building today. It is now Big Ed's Soda Grill.

Big Ed's close up. Fun Fact: The original soda fountain is still in use today. Part of the lease states that is cannot be removed from the building. (Vermilion Views)

The Lighthouse

The final landmark in Vermilion that will be discussed is the lighthouse. The current lighthouse sits next to the (former) Inland Seas Maritime Museum and what many people don't know, especially younger people is that it is actually a replica of the third Vermilion lighthouse.

The original lighthouse was built in 1847 and there are no pictures. After the pier fell into disrepair the state appropriated funds to build a new pier and lighthouse. This light was built in 1859. (Lighthouse Friends)

Second lighthouse in 1859. This lighthouse was made of wood. (National Archives)

In 1877 it was noted that the wood on the lighthouse was decaying due to harsh weather and was in danger of causing the light to collapse. Fund were appropriated for a new iron lighthouse. The new lighthouse was made from the iron cannons used in the civil was at Fort Sumter. It was built in Buffalo, New York and transported via barge to Vermilion, stopping in Cleveland to pick up the lantern, workers and lime and lumber to build the foundation on the way.

The lighthouse was where all of the teens hung out. This was the place where first dates happened and/or proposals were made, but in 1929 that all came to an end when two teenagers, Theodore and Ernest Wakefield notice that the lighthouse was leaning out toward the lake. After this was reported the U.S. Corps of Engineers they responded and deemed that the lighthouse was indeed unstable (it was undermined by ice in the Winter) and had to be removed. It was dismantled a week later and replaced with a skeletal tower.

Left: Replica of the third Vermilion Lighthouse. Right: Third Lighthouse in 1906 (Michel Forand)

The replica of the third lighthouse was finished in 1992 after years of struggle. Ted Wakefield, one of the teens in 1929 that noticed the original lighthouse leaning decided that a perfect addition to the maritime museum would be a replica of his beloved lighthouse. After years of newspaper articles, brochures, and collecting donations at the museum he had finally raised the $55,000 needed to build the replica. In 1992 the replica was finished and an 1877 gold coin was placed in the base. Later that year Mr. Wakefield died, but not after he saw his dream become a reality.

Thank you for reading and sticking with me all the way through part 3. Stay tuned for more posts from rides, which will now include better "now" photographs taken with an actual camera.