Description: Middle Avenue runs along the east side of Elyria's town square. The Lorain County Courthouse sits on 2nd Street, which is on the south side of the town square. The intersection shown here is to the left of the front of Lorain County Courthouse. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_284
Subjects: Streets--Ohio; Stores and shops; Automobiles; Small business--Ohio; City and town life
Places: Elyria (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio);
 

Description: The Bicentennial barn-painting program was an inexpensive, grassroots marketing campaign that painted the official logo of the Ohio Bicentennial on a highly visible historic barn in each of Ohio's 88 counties. Over 2,000 farmers and landowners submitted their barn descriptions to the committee for consideration. Beginning in 1998, artist Scott Hagan spent five years painting the logos, tailored to every barn's unique character. Typically, the barn owners hosted a celebration at the completion of their barn painting. This photograph is an exterior view of Barn #27, the 27th barn that Hagan painted, located on State Route 58 south of Route 113 in Lorain County. The logo has since been painted over. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08548
Subjects: Centennial celebrations; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Barns; Ohio Bicentennial, 2003
Places: Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph depicting the Oberlin Rescuers at the Cuyahoga County Jail in April 1859. These twenty men were arrested upon attempting to free an alleged slave from his captors. The event became known as the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03156
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Cuyahoga County (Ohio); Oberlin (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "Works Progress Administration in Ohio. Federal Writers Project. 902 Municipal Building Akron. Sept 11, 1937. Lorain County. POI & Educational Institutions. First Congregational Church-Oberlin, Ohio (1842- ). See 'Oberlin College Alumni Catalogue 1833 - 1936' Page 20. for full description of this church. Dist. 6 files." "Erected 1842 A.D." can be seen, in stone, above the main entrance to the square brick building. The construction of the First Congregational Church was begun in 1842, and the building was enclosed that year. The Oberlin College commencement exercises were held in the building in August, 1843, although it was still unfinished. It was completed in August, 1844, and at that time it was the largest building west of the Allegheny mountains. Its total cost was $12,000. It was built of brick and was characterized by rare simplicity and proportion. the audience room furnished seating capacity for 1400 people, and upon many occasions more than 2000 people have been crowded into it. It was used for church services, the Commencement and other public exercises of the Institute and College, and for town meetings. It was the church home for all Oberlin people from 1843 to 1860. In 1860 a membership of 1545 seemed to make necessary a division, resulting in the organization of a second church, called the Second Congreational Church. In 1908, and again in 1927, extensive repairs, alterations and replacements were made. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F16_001_1
Subjects: Church buildings--Ohio; Oberlin College
Places: Oberlin (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Elyria's town square sits across from the Lorain County Courthouse on 2nd Street and is surrounded by Broad Street, Middle Avenue and Court Street. This image was taken between 1969 and 1982. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_285
Subjects: square (open spaces)
Places: Elyria (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio);
 

Description: G.A.R. members in Lorain, Ohio, ca. 1915. The Grand Army of the Republic was one of the largest and most influential veterans organizations to be established following the Civil War. It was founded on April 6, 1866, by Benjamin Stephenson, who intended to form an organization that would provide veterans with political influence and opportunities to meet socially. Any veteran who was honorably discharged from the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps qualified for membership. National membership in the organization peaked in 1890 at a little over 409,000, and membership in the state of Ohio peaked at 49,011 in that same year. The GAR continued to operate until 1956, when the final member (Albert Woolson) died at the age of 109. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC398_03
Subjects: Grand Army of the Republic; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Veterans; Military Ohio
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: A group of boys and girls from Lorain County, Ohio, posed outside the Cleveland & Southwestern inter-urban car that they road to school in Elyria, Ohio, ca. 1907. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01118
Subjects: Street-railroads--Ohio; Cultural Ohio--Education; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Rural life
Places: Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture postcard showing the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Lorain, Ohio, following the devastating tornado of June 28, 1924. Large sections of the walls and roof of the church are crumbled and missing. The deadliest tornado in Ohio history struck Lorain and Sandusky on Saturday, June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain. The Lorain Tornado formed over Sandusky Bay and passed eastward, striking the northern edge of Sandusky at 4:35 PM. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in the town, and there were eight deaths. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore at the Lorain Municipal Bath House in Lakeview Park. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain. All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 15 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. Dozens of doctors and hundreds of nurses arrived in Lorain Saturday night from Cleveland to attend to the injured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC169_004
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Climate and Weather;
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture postcard looking north on Broadway from 4th Street in Lorain, Ohio, following the devastating tornado of June 28, 1924. Businesses can be seen lining the street as residents work to clear rubble. The deadliest tornado in Ohio history struck Lorain and Sandusky on Saturday, June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain. The Lorain Tornado formed over Sandusky Bay and passed eastward, striking the northern edge of Sandusky at 4:35 PM. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in the town, and there were eight deaths. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore at the Lorain Municipal Bath House in Lakeview Park. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain. All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 15 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. Dozens of doctors and hundreds of nurses arrived in Lorain Saturday night from Cleveland to attend to the injured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC169_010
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Climate and Weather;
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture postcard showing the ruins of the State Theater in Lorain, Ohio, following the devastating tornado of June 28, 1924. The caption reads "100 people killed. 'Sacrifice' was being played on the piano." Despite the figure on the postcard, there were 15 confirmed dead after the theater was crushed by a seven-story building next door which collapsed. The property would later be razed on June 30, 1924. The deadliest tornado in Ohio history struck Lorain and Sandusky on Saturday, June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain. The Lorain Tornado formed over Sandusky Bay and passed eastward, striking the northern edge of Sandusky at 4:35 PM. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in the town, and there were eight deaths. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore at the Lorain Municipal Bath House in Lakeview Park. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain. All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 15 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. Dozens of doctors and hundreds of nurses arrived in Lorain Saturday night from Cleveland to attend to the injured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC169_007
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Climate and Weather;
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture postcard showing a neighborhood at the corner of E Street and Delaware Avenue in Lorain, Ohio, following the devastating tornado of June 28, 1924. Residents move through the rubble of damaged and missing houses. The deadliest tornado in Ohio history struck Lorain and Sandusky on Saturday, June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain. The Lorain Tornado formed over Sandusky Bay and passed eastward, striking the northern edge of Sandusky at 4:35 PM. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in the town, and there were eight deaths. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore at the Lorain Municipal Bath House in Lakeview Park. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain. All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 15 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. Dozens of doctors and hundreds of nurses arrived in Lorain Saturday night from Cleveland to attend to the injured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC169_003
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Climate and Weather;
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture postcard looking north on Broadway from Erie Avenue in Lorain, Ohio, following the devastating tornado of June 28, 1924. A ship can be seen in the harbor, as well as damaged businesses, cars and streetcars. The deadliest tornado in Ohio history struck Lorain and Sandusky on Saturday, June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain. The Lorain Tornado formed over Sandusky Bay and passed eastward, striking the northern edge of Sandusky at 4:35 PM. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in the town, and there were eight deaths. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore at the Lorain Municipal Bath House in Lakeview Park. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain. All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 15 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. Dozens of doctors and hundreds of nurses arrived in Lorain Saturday night from Cleveland to attend to the injured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC169_006
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Climate and Weather;
Places: Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)