FORGOTTEN- NOW GONE!!!!!!!

by Loraine Ritchey thatwb@yahoo.com

It always amazes me how little significance is given to this area’s history by the majority of residents that live here.

-Is it lack of ownership in a community, the fact the majority of us are all “foreigners” to this area- the “olde” families gone or their offspring unaware of their roots ?

-Is the fact that the majority of people are “passing through” or have only one or two generations in their Lorain County family- as we came for work in the steel plant , the shipyards and automotive plants and now our own offspring leaving this “dirty old town”?

-Is that why the culture and history of far away lands is celebrated and held in high esteem and yet the “home history” does not hold the same importance to this community, could it be because they feel closer to the history of eastern Europe, African Continent, Mexico, Ireland, the British Isles and Puerto Rico etc?

Yet the homes, buildings and resting places of the men and woman who carved out this land for our benefit , their history is tossed aside like so much trash after a festival.
As a “foreigner” to these shores, from a city and country that celebrates all of its history, I do not understand why the majority of Lorain city and county cannot see the romance, the adventures of her past- the debt owed by so many to so few – and why I, who have no historical stake in Lorain- can be charmed and excited by her tales and heroes. Maybe , because I live in the “olde town” look out at the very same homes and streets these pioneers walked and talked and planned for a future,- laid their loved ones to rest Captain Wilford Home
Home of Captain Male ( a founder of Lorain Public Library 6th Street ( see plaque at entrance to the Library ) Artist rendition Frances Cellozzi

– maybe their energy and commitment to this community somehow still lingers . I don’t know what it is -maybe I am just a tree hugging, crank and blowhard (mj editorial) . Well maybe I am!

We have all passed the red brick home on Broadway to get to 90,
photo Diane Medina

We have driven past the gas stations, the junk cars, the McDonalds, the insurance office- maybe you glanced at the red brick house with the gingerbread trim as you stopped at the light – did you ever wonder why it was there, who built it – looked beneath its worn exterior and thought anything about the people who built this “home”. Did you care? Probably not -and now you will no longer be reminded because it is yesterdays news .

The news of yesteryear, the guts, determination and sheer will- their “bricks and mortar ” forgotten and gone – no longer significant are they- their names, lives and accomplishments – these people who were here BEFORE steel , who opened up the inland seas so a steel mill could exist, and from their hard work a very city and county was carved out of the wilderness.

Why is it their story, their legacy , their homes are so unworthy of our notice, why the lack of respect? Why are they not given their rightful place of recognition and honor in this city/ county built upon a maritime history ?

Personally, I find it incredible that a county and community with a mere couple of hundred years under its historical belt doesn’t embrace and care about what very little history they have. (Black River Bicentennial Logo – Chris Ritchey)

If it wasn’t for the few, The Black River Historical Society , Diane Medina and the citizens of the Lorain Lighthouse (among the front runners ) this town would be historically bankrupt. But now, another piece of this Port of Lorain legacy
Lorain Harbor 1894 – Click on photo to enlarge – Source
early shipbuilding
and a mere 33 years later thanks to ship builders and captains who pulled civilization and industry from the swamp and wilderness
Steel Lorain 1927 Source

has gone the way of the bulldozer.
Captain Samuel Flint Home Circa 1860 – Drawing 1879- History of Lorain County by Williams Brothers
Click on to enlarge

and now he and this home , like so many others in the community are gone and forgotten………
Where once history stood – photo Henery Hawk
to be continued……..